Angadi Theru Movie Review- Where Dreams Get Sold

Not all people who come down to Chennai from the smaller towns & villages of Tamil Nadu end up making the journey to become the next superstar or C.M. For a lot of people the metro city represents the land of opportunities to them. One such place in the city which plays host to the endless stream of migrants from the ‘districts’ is the bustling Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar where everything is organized yet completely incomprehensible for the regular people, who just view it as a major shopping destination.
The street plays host to a number of multistoried buildings which act as “one stop shop” malls by selling a host of products across categories. The street also plays host to a lot many smaller retail outlets and some independent “roadside” businessmen. The “one stop shop” malls/superstore follow the typical South T.N business model where the entrepreneur/owner (called annachi ) runs the store with the help of staff picked up mainly from the smaller towns & villages. The owner takes care of the boarding and lodging of the employees and they work together as a cohesive unit. In my FMCG and retail days I have seen so many such stores in Chennai and elsewhere, following the same model.
On my visits to these stores at times I have wondered if there’s anything more than what meets the eyes or is there a story behind the story. But then the game stopped there as I never went beyond thinking slightly on these lines and never even organized my thoughts on the same. Now wait a minute why am I going on & on about all this, isn’t this supposed to be a movie review? Of course it is and you will find out shortly why I have been saying all this. Vasantha Balan the director of the acclaimed Tamil film ‘Veyyil’ is back again with ‘Angadi Theru’ (market street, AT from hereon), which is again refreshingly fresh and a realistic film at heart.
AT is all about life in a “one stop shop” in Ranganathan Street, T.Nagar. On regular intervals they keep recruiting youngsters ( male & female ) from the ‘districts’ and during one such recruitment drive , the hero Jothilingam ( debutant Mahesh ) and his friend Marimuthu ( ‘Black’ Pandi ) join the store. Jothilingam had to take up the job after his father’s untimely death which cuts short his plans to study further.The boys are made to soon realize that life there is not going to be easy. Right from the long working hours to the cramped living arrangement and the unhygienic staff ‘mess’ ( dining area ), everything is a testimony to the fact that they are almost like bonded labour over there.
After some feelings of distrust between them, Jothilingam and Kani (Anjali of Katradhu Tamizh) slowly start liking each other, even as they work alongside each other. But life is not going to be easy at all as they also have to contend with the floor supervisor ‘Karungali’ ( director A.Venkatesh ) who is a terror to all the junior employees. The journey further for Mari and Kani puts them through so many situations that gives us so much more insight into life in the market street i.e AT.
What one needs to understand and prepare one self for is the fact that AT is not about a fairy tale romance of a young couple but a harsh realistic portrayal of a certain section of society, a society we are exposed to but yet remain ignorant of. AT tells you that there is a story behind every single person around us. Not only is the movie a fairly well made take on how the “system” of a “one stop shop” in Ranganathan Street works, it also tells you about the lives of so many other people living/working in the street. So there are a number of other characters all of interesting dimensions who come our way through this film.
Now when I look back at the movie it is very clear that Vasantha Balan has tried something very interesting in this movie. In fact in the first 15 minutes or so of the film itself one can get to know in brief how the movie will turn out to be- but for that one has to look out sharply, very sharply. In terms of the casting one can easily say that the actors fit into their characters completely, thus elevating the film. Mahesh makes a reasonably good debut but the actual honours go to Anjali and ‘Black’ Pandi. Anjali had put in a good performance earlier in Katradhu Tamizh and now with AT she signals that she certainly has the potential to pull of roles of substance.
In a rather serious tale like this if there is any mild relief in between , then the sole reason for this is ‘Black’ Pandi as he provides some genuine light moments without resorting to buffoonery of any sorts. Director A.Venkatesh also leaves a strong impression with his role. The music of the movie (Vijay Antony & G.V.Prakash Kumar) works in sync with the pace with the film. ‘Aval appadi onrum’ is one of my favorite soulful songs in recent times.The sound design provided by Tapas Nayak ( Bheja Fry, Paa, Puthiya Mugam etc) lends a nice spark to the sharp BGM ( Vijay Antony ).
One of the pillars behind the movie’s output is the cinematography by Richard Maria Nathan (a former assistant to K.V.Anand) whose innovative use of hidden cameras actually brings to life the elements of Ranganathan Street fairly well.Also praiseworthy is the art work by G.K & Muthuraj and the editing by Sreekar Prasad is effective. Jeyamohan’s dialogues also help in lifting the narration considerably.
Long after you finish seeing the movie, you still carry so many images behind with you. For those in Chennai, visiting Ranganathan Street will be a different experience after you watch this film. All said and done the next time you see someone selling cotton ear buds or hand kerchiefs in the local trains or streets in a Mumbai or Chennai or anywhere else, please remember there could be a story behind that person too.

Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/yky9npo

Kerala Cafe- Do Step In Here for a While

After a fairly satisfying Pazhassi Raja the next Malayalam movie that I was looking forward to was Kerala Cafe for a variety of reasons. For one the movie is an anthology of short films made by 10 different directors with separate cast and crew. The cast comprises of most of the well known names in Malayalam cinema and also has a fair number of younger actors as well. Also the directors are all part of the current new generation of filmmakers who have already made waves with their movies or have recently embarked on their cinematic journey. Holding all the strings together is Renjith, the man referred to as the “chief architect” behind this project.
The movie basically is about 10 different short films, all of which have one common connection- “Kerala Cafe “, a railway cafeteria in one of the busy railway stations in Kerala. All the stories in some way or the other are connected to the café & finally they are bound together in the café itself in a very unassuming manner. So let me begin my journey of revisiting Kerala Café-
1.Nostalgia- Directed by M.Padmakumar, this short film is the first one in the series and it talks about a character (Dileep) who is an NRI in Dubai and is typically facing a conflict of thoughts. While in Dubai he is shown in a nostalgic mood while catching up with friends and talking about Kerala. But when he visits Kerala with his wife (Navya Nair) and kids his real sense of reasoning takes over. It is clear that he is there only to make money and doesn’t care for family or friends either. This is certainly not a great start to the movie primarily because there’s nothing too novel about the plot of this short film. Not a bad attempt but not something that certainly calls for your attention.
2.Island Express- Directed by Shankar Ramakrishnan, this one probably has the most number of characters and also the most number of stars (Prithviraj, Jaysurya, Rahman etc). Based on the gruesome Perumon Train tragedy of 1988, this one starts as a very hazy, disjointed and confusing film. But slowly as the missing links get filled you realize that there is certainly a charm to the whole short film. I liked the last scene in particular which was shot on a bridge.
3.Lalitham Hiranmayam- Directed by Shaji Kailash, this one talks about a man (Suresh Gopi) who is torn between his wife ( Jyothirmayi ) and his mistress ( Dhanya Mary Varghese ). Though the topic of infidelity is handled reasonably well, the sequence of events as they unfold and also the characterization makes it look very ordinary.
4.Mrityunjayam- Directed by Uday Ananthan, this one stands out from the rest of the short films – not because it’s the best of them all. But because it’s a horror film and doesn’t really fit into the construct of the anthology. Its all about a so called haunted house that’s under the care of a Tirumeni (who else but Thilakan) and one day a T.V crew arrives there headed by Fahadh Fasil to check out the place. It’s a kind of misfit in the movie- probably intended just to show some variety.
5.Happy Journey- Directed by Anjali Menon, this one certainly draws our attention due to the simple plot that’s well told and for the brilliance of Jagathy Sreekumar. Jagathy plays a middle aged insurance surveyor with a lecherous eye. During a bus journey from Ernakulam to Calicut he comes across an attractive young girl (Nithya Menon ) who frightens him by revealing that she’s a terrorist with a bomb on board the bus. With the suspense enhancing the interest levels, this one is a pleasure to watch.
6.Aviraamam- Directed by B.Unnikrishnan, this one talks about the effects of recession on a happy family. Siddique is an I.T entrepreneur and one day sends off his wife ( Shweta Menon ) and children for a vacation to his in- laws place. He doesn’t want to go with them since he knows that he’s very badly caught in a debt trap and can’t figure out a way to get away from it and so decides to do the inevitable. It’s a fairly ordinary story but thankfully the performances from both Siddique and Shweta elevate the proceedings considerably.
7.Off-season- Directed by Shyamaprasad, this one is the only light hearted story among the entire anthology. Suraj Venjaramood plays a tourist guide in Kovalam who one day meets a couple from Portugal. Thinking that this is his big ticket he showers attention on them only to know that they are penniless themselves . This short film helps in kind of bringing up some funny moments in an otherwise serious anthology of short films here.
8.Magal- Directed by Revathy is a serious social commentary on issues like poverty, adoption and prostitution all in a single short film. While most part of the film remains quite average the ending more than compensates, making it quite a heart touching short film.
9.Bridges- Directed by Anwar Rasheed, this is probably the best among the entire lot. It starts off as something hardly impressive- a boy in Fort Cochin has sneaked in a kitten at home which his father disapproves off. On the other hand there is a poor family somewhere in the rural hinterland not far away from Cochin. Here the husband and wife ( Salim Kumar and Kalpana ) keep squabbling over Salim’s old mother ( Shantha Devi ) who is almost blind and difficult to look after. Some stunning visuals by Suresh Rajan ( DOP ), brilliant performances and a very well executed closing shot makes this a treat to watch.
10.Puram Kazchakal- Directed by Lal Jose this is about a bus journey where Sreenivasan the narrator is traveling from Valparai to Chalakudy and in between there’s a mysterious man (Mammootty) who boards the bus and is perennially impatient and so is ridiculed by the others on board. While the narrator was busy lost in his thoughts about the girl whom he had lost, he is rudely shaken up when the reason behind Mammootty’s irritating behaviour unfolds in a brilliant manner. This one does great justice to the presence of powerhouses of talent like Mammootty and Sreenivasan.
The movie works overall to a reasonably extent not just because quite a few of the short films are indeed redeeming and well shot. Of course these short films, the cast and crew do help in the overall process, but there are a few other redeeming features seen in this project. To start with the entire team has believed in the concept of coming up with an interesting anthology of short films and they have managed to come up with something that meets the objective reasonably well.
It has also allowed some of the directors to experiment and do something away from what they have been doing conventionally. Like Anwar Rasheed who has made a mark by making blockbusters like Rajamanikam, Chota Mumbai and Annan Thampi has made something completely refreshing with his short film (Bridges) over here. Shaji Kailash is known again to make large than life movies like Commissioner, Narasimham, The King etc and this time he has chosen to make an emotional family subject. Shyama Prasad who is well known for his unusually different choice of subjects for his movies has tried his hand at making a very light hearted feel good short film over here.
The project has also allowed directors to focus on issues close to their heart (Revathy- Magal) or think out of the box (Shankar Ramakrishnan- Island Express). Also the movie has brought in a balance of both experienced artistes and those who are fairly new. As an experiment the movie certainly does put in a reasonably commendable show. It’s nice to see the work of so many talented actors and technicians being brought together on a common platform like this. I wish that there are more such attempts made in Malayalam Cinema. For those who are going to cry hoarse by asking why are we celebrating even some small attempts to make something decent- I just have this to say- Kerala Cafe is in no way a modern classic, but certainly an interesting experiment. And such experiments definitely need all the encouragement.
And of course before I conclude I would certainly like to congratulate Renjith in particular for conceiving the entire project and bringing on board the entire team to showcase Kerala Cafe in front of us.

Originally posted in PFC- check it out here- http://tinyurl.com/yg8qq7d