Manmadhan Ambu Movie Review : Cruise away for a good time

Warning- Spoiler Alert K.S.Ravikumar and Kamal Haasan have always been a successful combination at the box office. K.S.R is probably the most successful commercial director in Tamil Cinema right now, having worked with almost all the major actors. K.S.R & Kamal Haasan have earlier worked on films together like Avvai Shanmughi, Tenali, Panchatantiram and Dasavatharam. So we have come to expect something in particular when these 2 personalities come together to work on a film. After Kamal Haasan’s Unnai Pol Oruvan last year there was a lot of talk about what would be his next film. Initially it was supposed to be a film with Mysskin, but due to some creative differences apparently that film was dropped. So then after a lot of confusion about the film it was announced that it would be a film with K.S.R once again-Manmadhan Ambu. This announcement brought about varied reactions from people.

While a lot of his fans rejoiced considering that the combination has made successful commercial films, some of the critics and people who like serious cinema wondered why Kamal Haasan had to fall back upon K.S.R again as they felt it was probably going to be another comedy film, something that we have been seeing quite often from the combination. I kept my fingers crossed in anticipation. While I knew that it wouldn’t be a serious film, the choice of actors like R.Madhavan and Trisha Krishnanmade me feel happy since there was the probability that it wouldn’t be a Kamal Haasan centric film like Dasavatharam. With Manmadhan Ambu getting made in reasonably good time and with the backing of a big production house like Udhayanidhi Stalin’s Red Giant Movies, there was some unnecessary comparison withRajnikanth’s Endhiran as well in terms of how the movie would turn out.

Before I go on to talk about why I feel the comparison with Endhiran was unnecessary, let me share my feelings about the movie itself. With a storyline that’s extremely thin like a paper napkin, you expect the film to have some really strong moments and some amazing performances if you need to connect to the film. And that’s what Manmadhan Ambu is all about (and while Manmadhan Ambu means Cupid’s Arrow, the title of the film actually refers to the 3 main characters of the film- Mannar,Madhan and Ambu ). Madhanagopal ( R.Madhavan ) is a rich businessman who is suspicious of his fiancee Nisha aka Ambujakshi aka Ambu ( Trisha Krishnan ), a popular actress. Ambu tries to keep a distance away from Madhan and goes off on a Euro cruise from Paris with her friend Deepa (Sangeetha) and her two children.

With his suspicion levels at its peak, Madhan enlists a private investigator, Major Raja Mannar (Kamal Haasan) to follow Ambu and check on her. Mannar takes up the job as he has to pay the hospital bills of his friend Rajan (Ramesh Arvind) who is suffering from cancer. With a story line like this you are initially reminded of films like There’s Something About Mary which has even had its desi adaptations. But that being the case it’s an easy and fun film to watch while not being an out & out comedy either. A strong reason for making us connect to the film is the writing (story, screenplay & dialogues are by Kamal Haasan himself) of the film. There are a lot of genuinely interesting moments strewn throughout the film. Characterization is another major aspect that goes in favour of the film.

And in terms of characterization I’m not just referring to the main characters- Mannar,Madhan and Ambu. All the other characters like Deepa, Rajan, Mrs. & Mr.Kurup (the Malayali wife & producer), Deepa’s kids, Mallika (Rajan’s wife), Indira (Madhan’s mother) are all well etched and carry enough scope for the respective actors to perform. Sangeetha as Deepa is very good and it’s a pleasure to watch her in such a light and energetic character after mainly having seen her in some heavy duty roles in recent times. Ramesh Arvind as Rajan the cancer patient and Urvashi as Mallika his wife are so effective that in the portions they appear you almost feel that they are essaying true to life characters. And its nice to see Malayalam actors Mohandas and Manju Pillai essaying the roles of the Kurups as they fit into their characters effectively. Usha Uthup is always a delight to watch – whether she is singing or acting ( occasionally like this ).

Kamal Haasan with Trisha Krishnan

That R.Madhavan is a good actor is something that we all know and we also know that whenever he works in a Kamal Haasan film like Anbe Sivamor Nala Damayanthi (co-written and co-produced by Kamal Haasan ) he’s managed to get an interesting character to enact. It’s no different in case of Manmadhan Ambu either. As Madhanagopal the suspicious businessman who keeps getting drunk and throws tantrums, he is simply wonderful and natural. Check out the scene in the washroom where he drops his mobile phone in the urinal by accident and also receives a call at the same time- simply hilarious. I had been reading a lot about the film and even saw the audio release function on T.V where Kamal Haasan made it clear that he personally insisted that Trisha must dub in her own voice. In the same audio release function both Kamal and Trisha enacted/read out the Kamal Kavidhai but it didn’t really impress me all that then.

But on screen when you actually listen to Trisha you really feel that Kamal was right. There’s even a scene where Mannar asks Nisha as to why she doesn’t dub in her own voice for her films and her response is a stark reminder of what actually happens in Tamil Cinema these days. The Kamal Kavidhai is a wonderful piece of poetry and shows Kamal Haasan and Trisha enacting it and pulling off very well. Unfortunately the piece has been chopped off from the film courtesy protests from some right wing religious groups. I think only those who saw the film on the first day (outside Tamilnadu) were lucky enough to see the song in the film as the portion got chopped off soon. There is a shorter version of the same which plays in the background towards the end of the film though.

The absence of the kavidhai does rob the audience of a crucial moment in the film (you need to see the film to understand it), but then one cannot do much about it. Talking about the songs one must mention that Devi Sri Prasadhas done a wonderful job indeed with the songs. There are no unnecessary item numbers or typical opening song idolizing the hero. Even the only mass song- Oyyale is present in the film for a valid reason. The pick of the songs are of course Neela Vanam and Kamal Kavidhai. The picturization of the song though inspired from Monica Belluci’sIrreversible and the music video of Coldplay- The Scientist, is still a very interesting attempt indeed to convey almost the entire back story of Mannar.In fact Kamal Haasan has also written the lyrics of all the songs here except for Oyyale, which has been penned by Viveka.

Cinematography by debutant Manush Nandan is quite impressive and he brings alive the exotic locations like Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Venice etc through his images. Bollywood editor Shan Mohammed enters Tamil Cinema with this film and does a good job and one of the best examples of the same is the way Mannar’s introduction segment is shown- you get to see Kamal Haasan the star, but there is nothing shown in excess. Now this brings me to Kamal Haasan, the actor in the film. While there are a few detractors who are already saying that he doesn’t have much to do in the film, I would beg to differ. It’s interesting to see him playing the lead hero and yet not hog the entire limelight. And it’s delightful to see a youthful Kamal Haasan enjoying his antics on screen. With his introduction set against the strains of Andrea’s Who’s the hero playing in the background, he looks very comfortable as Mannar whether it is in the serious portions while discussing his past with Ambu or when chatting with Rajan and Mallika or even in the lighter portions spread through the film.

And yes its nice to Kamal breaking into an impromptu jig with the Dhagudu Dhattham song. I went to watch it expecting an entertaining film and in the end came out feeling not just entertained but also having seen some really interesting aspects which elevate the film beyond a regular entertainer. Yes there are people who complain that there is a forced attempt to induce madcap humor in the end, a fact that I partially endorse. But my personal feeling is that it is still a lot subtler than what you would have seen in a lot of films. K.S.R and Kamal could have gone overboard and all out, but the very fact that they kept themselves in check speaks some volumes. The film is as much K.S.R’s as its Kamal Haasan’s and this time both of them complement each other to give us a smart movie. I call it a smart movie because of the content and also because it will make the investors to make money thanks to the way it is being promoted and reaching out to the audience.

Here is where I’d like to also add that thankfully the producers have not bitten the bait and tried to model this film on Endhiran. While Endhiran was a lot about style and a large canvas, Manmadhan Ambu is a lot subtler and a tale that is mainly set during a cruise. So go and enjoy the cruise as long as it lasts as 2010 ends on reasonably good note for Tamil Cinema with Easan and now Manmadhan Ambu.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/manmadhan-ambu-movie-review-cruise-away-for-a-good-time/

Why Kamal Haasan should never watch Kambakkht Ishq

Ok so Sajid Nadiadwala entrusts a debutant filmmaker Sabbir Khan to make a movie. So like all Nadiadwala productions they decide to make another lavishly mounted project with A listers Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. There are also top notch Hollywood stars like Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards featuring and to top it all they decide to shoot the movie against the backdrop of Hollywood. And what do they do about the story – well they just decide to look down south and rip apart a Kamal Haasan’s Tamil movie.

Followers of Tamil cinema and fans of Kamal Haasan would remember a movie called Pammal K.Sambandham (referred to as PKS hereafter) which had Kamal Haasan and Simran in the lead. Directed by Mouli and with hilarious dialogues by none other than Crazy Mohan, the movie was a simple tale of a stuntman and a lady doctor, who both have distinct identities of their own. This movie was shot without too much of grandeur in Chennai except for a couple of songs which were shot abroad.

But in case of Kambakkht Ishq (referred to as KI hereon) there is nothing called originality. In fact exaggeration is too weak a word to describe the happenings in the movie as virtually everything is over the top. The plot is extremely silly and it’s all about Viraj ( Akshay) a Hollywood stuntman who doesn’t respect women & has them literally falling all over him. Viraj arrives at his brother Lucky’s (Aftab Shivdasani ) wedding to Kamini ( Amrita Arora ) to admonish Lucky for getting married. That’s where Viraj bumps into Simrita ( Kareena )who is Kamini’s best friend and who in turn admonishes Kamini for getting married to Lucky, as she doesn’t trust men.

The die is cast and there’s a virtual ego clash between Viraj and Simrita now. So after numerous silly jokes, some illogical situations and some constant love- hate banter between the two, the movie ends on predictable lines. Akshay Kumar seems to have literally sleep walked through the movie as the role is a cakewalk for him and he has no need to try hard. Kareena looks gorgeous no doubt but there’s nothing beyond it. Vindoo Singh as Akshay’s side kick is o.k. while Amrita Arora and Aftab have nothing much to do. Javed Jaffrey and Boman Irani are virtually wasted in the movie. Kiron Kher has again a very typical role.Anu Malik’s music is nothing great- you are likely to forget the songs after the movie completes its theatrical run.

While a lot of things can & should be overlooked considering that it is a movie after all, nevertheless certain things are almost tantamount to crime. I have never heard of any stuntman who is able to lead the kind of lavish lifestyle that Akshay Kumar leads in the movie. The kind of excessive indulgence shown in the movie actually starts hurting the eye after a point. None of the so called appearances of the Hollywood actors make any worthwhile impact on the movie. Kamal Haasan’s stuntman character was a Hanuman bhakt who wants to remain single. The character was largely believable unlike the fake portrayal by Akshay over here. Though Simran who played the heroine in PKS also has a fiery temper, she still endears to us by some realism in her depiction whereas Kareena tends to certainly go overboard often.

The script (Anvita Dutt Guptan,Sabbir Khan ) seems to be the big culprit here in what could have otherwise been a reasonably engaging movie similar to PKS. Considering that KI is probably made at more than 10 times the budget of PKS, Kamal Haasan would indeed be shocked to see what a relatively quickly made medium budget movie has turned out to be in its Hindi avatar. And yes it would also remind him again that while people are not willing to back his magnum opus – Marudhanayagam or Marmayogi due to budget constraints, there are people in Bollywood who have it going for them to produce an expensive tasteless film like KI ( at more than half the budget of a Marudhanayagam ).

Akshay- inspite of the setbacks of late (CC2C and 8*10), you are still right on top with the Khans.Why do a film like this in the first place? And as for your statement that you & Kareena in KI would be the new Mr. and Mrs.Smith, well I have no words to describe my feelings on the same. In spite of all the excesses your recent blockbusters like Welcome and Singh is Kingg worked because it was patronized by the family audience. But with KI you seem to have only alienated them and in case you haven’t realized it by now it’s certainly a pity.

Thanks to the Bollywood strike people have been literally starved of movies and so the terrific opening for KI is not a surprise at all. But it would be interesting to see if the movie is able to sustain the momentum and emerge profitable for all. I’m someone who loves the smaller films but once in a while would like to indulge in the regular mainstream stuff also. But if this is Bollywood’s idea of entertainment then I guess I would rather stay away from it. So what made me watch this? Well at 50 bucks for a balcony ticket at a good standalone cinema, I thought the deal couldn’t go wrong. But I was proved wrong. So go on if you are getting some good deal like this or else leave it for one of the T.V channels to air it shortly- you won’t regret it one bit.
On a parting note I would like to ask a question to Sajid Nadiadwala and co- when you had a lot of people to thank in the opening credits, was it too difficult to acknowledge anybody concerned with PKS? This is all the more surprising because due to industry sources, the remake rights have been bought officially.

P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/why-kamal-haasan-should-never-watch-kambakkht-ishq/

Dreams in the cans- A Filmmaker's worst nightmare

A few days ago I was having a conversation over coffee with one of my friends who works in the industry and had just attended the first screenwriting workshop organized by Kamal Haasan’s Rajkmal Films in a tie-up with IIT-Madras. While my friend was sharing his insights about the workshop, he mentioned that apart from the various films screened as part of the course, they were also shown the teaser of ‘Marudhanayagam’, Kamal’s magnum opus which got stalled after the shooting started with a bang. Since I had seen the trailer myself, both of us went on an overdrive, discussing the merits and demerits of the project (as it appealed to us). I still remember the way the muhurat function was held. The chief guest for the event was none other than Queen Elizabeth who was in India at that point of time.

The trailer shows a glimpse of what the movie could have been. It in all probability could have certainly been India’s answer to movies like Braveheart as it falls in that genre and was deemed to be an extravagant affair. Unfortunately all that is left of the movie is around 30 mins of canned film and a dream that’s still not forgotten by Kamal Haasan for sure. Around the time when the shooting had to be stopped, the budget seemed to be something that Indian cinema would have found it hard to support. Now with bigger projects like Endhiran and Blue getting made, there’s still some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of getting some funding for Marudhanayagam. But the question to be asked is will that day be too late?

The reason for that is that Marudhanayagam in the present form requires extremely high levels of fitness and agility from Kamal Haasan and with every year that’s passing by, this is only going to get tougher and tougher for him. Some time last year Kamal even tried to come up with another mega project, again a period movie called Marmayogi. Pyramid Saimira who were initially picking up a lot of projects to produce and/or distribute had decided to produce Marmayogi and then had to back off after their losses suffered due to Kuselan. So now only time will tell whether Kamal Haasan would be able to fulfill his long pending dream of completing Marudhanayagam or whether it remains as just another incomplete dream in the cans.

This discussion made me realize that no matter whatever technical advancements that Cinema is witnessing, some things just don’t change. For one there’s still no safe formula for a successful film. Fortunes are still made and lost on Fridays. And yes luck is a crucial element in this business. That being the case isn’t it extremely heart wrenching for a film maker to see his/her movie getting stalled or lying in the cans unsold? Time and again we have seen so many film makers facing this predicament. This is a phenomena witnessed by both established and new filmmakers.

By now everyone (on PFC at least) knows the kind of struggle that Anurag Kashyap has had to face for Paanch ( still unreleased ) or what Pankaj Advani has had to face for Urf Professor ( again unreleased as of now ). These are just 2 popular examples that I have mentioned to explain a very common phenomena. That people like Anurag Kashyap and Pankaj Advani have a lot of conviction is evident as Anurag has gone on to make movies like Black Friday,No Smoking, Dev D, Gulaal etc and Pankaj Advani is right now gearing up for the release of his ‘ Sankat City’. But not every other filmmaker can carry within themselves so much of conviction, especially if it’s a new comer.

At the moment while I’m writing this my heart goes out to 2 other filmmakers, who share something in common with each other- their first film as a director was well recognized and fairly successful too. On one hand you have Sagar Ballary who made the popular Bheja Fry and whose second film Kachcha Limbu was completed quite some time ago. On the other hand you have Vasantha Balan who made the acclaimed Tamil movie- Veyyil and whose 2nd movie- Angadi Theru is also ready. So what else is common between these 2 directors apart from their first film being noticed? Well simple enough, both their 2nd movies are ready but still unsure of their release.

While Kachcha Limbu is a Sahara production, Angadi Theru is an Ayangaran production. Till recently both Sahara and Ayangaran were fairy serious players in production of Hindi/Tamil movies, but with the recession setting in, both these production houses have been affected to some extent. Sahara already has asked Sagar Ballary to try and find another entity to buy the movie from Sahara and then release it. While in case of Ayangaran as of now the release is still likely though a bit delayed. I just hope for the sake of Sagar and Vasanth that they manage to get their respective films released at the earliest and focus themselves on their other projects.
When my fellow PFC author Shivajee Chandrabhushan’s first film Frozen finally got released in India last month after doing the rounds of 30 odd festivals and winning 20 awards internationally, Shivajee was a much relieved man. And why not, for finally his dream was not in the cans anymore and was there for the whole world to see. And yes the wait can be sweet if it does not go beyond a point and the movie still gets the same reception that it was expected to receive. But if the waiting period goes beyond a point, then sometimes things can certainly go out of hand too.

A classic case in point is the Tamil movie- Kutrapathirikai directed by R.K.Selvamani. The movie was highly controversial for being based on former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi’s assassination. It was banned by the censors in 1992/1993 and after a prolonged court battle, the movie finally released in early 2007. For old times sake I did go and watch the movie but was thoroughly disappointed for 2 reasons- first of all the movie did not have anything objectionable for getting banned and secondly after nearly 15 years, the movie looked so out of place in terms of technique and sensibility that it was not surprisingly a big flop.

For the sake of all filmmakers and wannabe filmmakers I would certainly hope that as far as possible celluloid dreams lying in the cans should not go on to become a cause of concern. The celluloid dreams deserve to hit the silver screen and not lie around in the cans, unseen. Let the audience then deserve the fate of the movie, at least the filmmaker would have received his/her realistic chance of seeing his/her dream come true.

P.S- Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/dreams-in-the-cans-a-filmmaker%e2%80%99s-worst-nightmare/

Revisiting Dasavatharam

At the outset let me make it clear that this write-up is not an attempt to review Kamal Haasan’s Dasavatharam.A lot of discussion has happened about the merits and the demerits of the movie on PFC as well as other forums so I’m not going to make another attempt for the same. Then why am I writing this post on the movie? Well because tomorrow- 17th April marks the release date of the Hindi version of the movie (Dashavatar) and so I thought of revisiting the movie and sharing some thoughts on the same.
The release of the movie couldn’t have been timed better. Due to the strike in Bollywood, there is a clear lack of content to feed the theatres and multiplexes and thus a release like this is welcome. So all those who have heard of the movie but couldn’t watch it in its Tamil or Telugu version can now watch it in Hindi. While I do not expect the Hindi version to be a blockbuster, I’m sure that it will definitely get noticed.
Around 10 months after its successful release in Tamil & Telugu, the Hindi version is finally releasing. While there will always be a debate on whether the butterfly effect/chaos theory angle was actually utilized well, whether the SFX work could have been better, whether some of the characters portrayed by Kamal Haasan were necessary or not, one thing that should be accepted is that the movie falls in the category of – love it or hate it but you can’t ignore it. For ages Rajnkikanth and Kamal Haasan have been the pillars of the Tamil Film Industry and both have charted their own paths to glory.
While Rajnkikanth played to the gallery and delighted the audience, Kamal Haasan went in for artistic satisfaction and in the bargain also developed his own niche audience. After Sivaji-The Boss redefined the outlook of Tamil movies in the eyes of the rest of the country, Dasavatharam only helped in re-enforcing that outlook even better. In spite of the movie being as commercial as it could be Kamal Haasan still pushed himself hard physically and mentally to portray the 10 different characters. Yes while it is easy to criticize the make-up let us realize that wearing such make-up and shooting for months together is not an easy task. Of course due credit needs to be given to the producer Aascar Ravichandran whose astute marketing brain played no less a role in ensuring the movie’s success.
Apart from Kamal Haasan and Aascar Ravichandran, a special mention must be made of K.S.Ravikumar, the director. Now all said & done – K.S.Ravikumar may probably never end up winning any National Award ( forget the Oscars ) but one needs to accept that when it comes to hard core commercial Tamil films, he’s probably among the best in the industry today. He’s made movies with nearly every big star and knows the pulse of the star and the audience quite well. Another person whose work needs a mention here is Himesh Reshamiyya who has composed the songs for the movie. I am highlighting him here for two reasons- not only did he compose songs keeping the true requirement of the movie (no trademark Himesh songs ), this may probably be the last time( atleast for now) one gets to actually hear Himesh composing for any other hero’s movie as Himesh is now only composing movies in which he acts.
Giving you below links to two of my favorite songs in the movie-



The first one is Kallai Mattum Kandal sung by Hariharan and chorus



The second one is Mukunda Mukunda sung by Sadhna Sargam and Kamal Haasan
Both the songs are quite different in approach and concept.

The Hindi release of the movie is also important for its heroine- Asin who is currently very much in the limelight after Ghajini & is being seen all over due to the Mirinda ads. Till her next release London Dreams comes along, Dashavatar is there to keep the audience reminded about her. And finally I would like to conclude by paying my homage to 2 eminent film personalities associated with the movie & who are now no more amidst us- H.Sridhar the brilliant Sound Designer and Sujatha the writer (who along with Crazy Mohan and K.S.Ravikumar had helped Kamal Haasan with the story creation).So for all those who have seen the movie and also for those who will see it now – this was a revisit to the movie from my side.

Originally published in PFC-check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/revisiting-dasavatharam/