Meiyazhagan

 "Meiyazhagan" is a family story with no sex or violence.  Unfortunately families sometimes fall out and hard feelings sometimes last a long time.  

At the beginning we see a younger version of Aural  leaving his home after some sort of dispute which he felt he had lost.  We know it had something to do with house ownership and he felt he had unfairly lost.  Soon we are sent forward 22 years and we see an older Aural in another city with his wife and explaining why he feels he should attend a wedding, but doesn't intend to stick around.  

Then he is greeted by an unknown man.  This unknown man claims to know Aural from childhood, but Aural cannot not name or place him.  A lot of conversations, but Aural keeps trying to break away.  The unknown man is persistent and tricks Aural into staying overnight.  Aural does change, but you will have to wait until the end to learn the identity of the unknown man

Attitudes gained from harsh experiences are not easily changed.  The process is not particularly noticed.

The title, Meiyazhagan means man with truth as beauty in Tamil.

C. Prem  Kumar was the director and writer.  He started his film career as a cinematographer where he earned 6 credits and he now has 3 credits for directing and 3 credits for writing (the 3 same films).  His credits included " 96" (2018) and "Jaanu" (2020).   A film critic Baradwaj Rangan noted an encouraging similarity between the two Tamil films.  He felt both stories had a traumatized lead character who met the other lead character and after long conversations the trauma was resolved.  Baradwaj felt the plots were therapeutic.

 Jyotika and her husband Suriya were the producers.  Jyotika has performed in Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Hindi films.  She has 50 acting credits including "Raatchasi" (2019), "Thambi" (2019) "Ponmagal Vandhal" (2020) and "Srikanth" (2024).  She has been a producer for 6 films.  For her acting check http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/04/raatchasi.html  For her producing check where she was heavily involved with my top overall film for 2021, "Jai Bhim"   See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/11/jai-bhim.html

Govind Vasantha composed the music.  He also sings and plays the violin.  He was a founder of the band Thaikkum Bridge.  He has 41 credits for composing and 14 for the music department including "Solo" (2017), "Thambi" (2019), "Ponmagal Vandhal" (2020),  "Jaanu" (2020) and "Soorari Pottru" (2020)

Mahedran Jayaraju was the cinematographer.  He has 6 cinematography credits including "Jaanu" (2020).

 R. Govindaraj was the editor with 9 editing credits.

Karthi played the unknown man.  He earned a Master of Engineering degree and then went to the University  Binghampton in the U.S. to earn a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering where he also attended some lectures on film.  Soon he used family connections to get into film back in India.  He has 30 acting credits, 2 for the Music Department and 1 for Assistant Directing including "Thambi" (2019), "Ponnlyn Selvan, Part 1" (2022) and "Ponnlyn Selvan, Part 2" (2024) and "Annapoormi" (2023).

Arvind Swamy played Arul.  After an education in India he went to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for a Master degree in international business while he was active in overlapping with his film career.  He had a serious injury and took years off from acting, coming back in 2013.  He has been a playback singer and a dubber (in Tamil).   Arvind has 34 acting credits including "Roja" (1992), "Bombay" (1995) "Kadal" (2013) and "IC 814:  Kandahar Hijack" (2024).  "Kadal" has a song by A.R. Rahman that is number one in my collection.  see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/09/ic-814-kandahar-hijack.html

Sri  Divya  plays Nandhini, the wife of the unknown man.  Her first experience in films was as a 3 year old on a children's movie.  She has 24 acting credits including "Jana Gana Mana" ((2022).  see                http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/06/jana-gana-muna.html

Devadarshini plays Hema, the wife of Arul.  While in college she anchored some television shows.  She has 82 acting credits including "Enthiran" (2010), "Eega" (2012) and "Mersal" (2017).

Available on Netflix with subtitles.  If you appreciate family dynamics this is a must.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack

"IC 814:  The Kandahar Hijack" (2024) is a film series depicting a real hijack in 1999 just over the Christmas week.  The film makers did their best to maintain historical accuracy.  Several components took part, the hijackers, the airplane staff and passengers, military personnel, politicians and journalists.  The story starts in Nepal and travels to India, Pakistan, Dubai and Afghanistan.  Negotiations are very difficult, partly because they had no real experience and little leverage.

 There are threats and violence.  The pilot and his assistants are confronted with guns and the threat of a bomb.  The captain is only able to convince them they do not have enough fuel to get to Kandahar and directs to refueling efforts.  Indian authorities plan a counter attack, but the timing is messed up.  

Intelligence is first blamed for not picking up some obvious information.  Before too long the politicians at various levels are discussing and trying to minimize blame.  There is no easy solution.   The ordeal stretches over 7 days.  The passengers are constantly stressed.  The toilet cannot handle the increased load which might seem trivial, but the passengers didn't think so.

There is no secret.  In the end three terrorists were released and went on to enact other acts of violence.  The Taliban consolidated their power.  A change in government.  Security arrangements have been enacted that affect millions of airline passengers every day.

The impact of this film comes from the cast and crew.

Anubhav Sinha created the idea, directed, wrote most of the script and was a co-producer.  He has 15 credits for directing, 13 for writing and 12 for producing including "Tum Bin...Love will Find  Way" (2001), "Article 15" (2019), "Thappad" (2020) and  "Anek" (2022).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/09/article-15.html. 

Richard Harvey wrote much of the music.  In 1972, when only 18 graduated from the Royal College of Music.  He is noted for the wide range of musical instruments he can perform on, well over 600.   He has 93 credits for composing, 53 for the music department and 47 for sound track including "The Lion King" (1994), "The Da Vinci Code" (2006), "Interstellar" (2014) and "Little Prince" (2015).

Ewan Mulligan was one of two cinematographers.  He has 49 credits for cinematography and 14 for camera and electrical department including  "Article 15" (2019), "Anek" (2022) and "Kaali Paani" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/10/kaali-paani.html  

Mukesh Chhabra was in charge of casting.  This film required cast to include many non speaking roles such as terrified passengers, airplane staff and crowds trying to impact politicians.  After studying acting he spent over six years teaching and acting.  He is noted for bringing such faces as Rajkummar Rao, Sushant Singh Rajpt, Mrunal Thakur, Prateik Gandhi, Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh to the screen.  He has 227 credits for casting (+ 29 for the casting department and 29 for acting) including "Amal" (2007), "Kai Che Po" (20130, "Wrong Side Raju" (2016), "Mom" (2017), "Sacred Games" (2018-19), "Sanju" (2018), "Notebook" (2019), "The Family Man" (2019), "Dil Bechara" (2020), "Laal Singh Chaddha" (2022), "Jaane Jaan" (2023), "Dunki" (2023) and "Amar Singh Chamkila" (2024).  For a film where Mukesh had a lasting impression check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2013/05/kai-che-po.html

Naseeruddin Shah played a political role.  He has 257 acting credits and 6 for the music department including.  He once formed a traveling theatre group and has done a Hollywood movie.  His films include "Hey Ram" (2000), "Monsoon Wedding" (2001), "Maqbool" (2004), "Omkara" (2006),  "Amal" (2007) and "Gehraiyaan" (2022).

 Pankag Kupur  played another politician.  He has 74 acting credits and 3 for directing including "Gandhi" (1982), "Roja" (1992) and "Jersey" (2022).  In the English international version of "Gandhi" Pankag played Gandhi;s secretary, but inthe Hindi version he dubbed for Ben Kingsley.

Arvind Swamy played another politician (there was a lot of conflict and hesitation).  After an education in India he went to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for a Master degree in internatonal business which he was active in overlapping with his film career.   He had a serious injury and took years off from acting, coming back in 2013.  He has been a playback singer and a dubber (in Tamil).   Arvind has 34 acting credits including "Roja" (1992), "Bombay" (1995) and "Kadal" (2013).  That last one has a song by A.R. Rahman that is number one in my collection.

Vijay Verma played the pilot.  He has 32 acting credits including "Gully Boy" (2019), "She" (2020) and "Jaane Jaan" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/10/jaane-jaan-from-devotion-of-suspect-x.html

Dia Mirza played Shalini, an editor  in conflict with an ambitious journalist.  Her father was German and her mother Bengali.  A model and a beauty queen winner.  She has 60 film credits including "Parineeta" (2005), "Hum Tum aur Ghost" (2010), "Sanju" (2018), "Move to Heaven" (2019) and "Thappad" (2020).  See and http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/05/thappad-or-in-english-slap.html

Anupam Tripathi played a RAW agent in Kathmandu.  Born in India and took part in some theatre plays, but then went to Korea to study acting.  In two years he became fluent in Korean.  He has 17 acting credits including "Squid Game" (2021) and "King the Land" (2023).  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/10/squid-game.html

It will give you a feel for how hijackings work and the behind the scenes activities.  None are the same, but unless you have been involved directly we cannot really appreciate the dynamics.  Available on Netflix with subtitles. 

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

REGIONAL FILMS FROM INDIA WELL WORTH VIEWING

Over a decade ago I stumbled on Bollywood and it seemed like a good match.  Loved much of the music and found the stories and actors interesting.  It was my dependence on subtitles that fooled me into thinking many regional language films were Bollywood (which speaks Hindi), when they weren't, although there certainly were links.  India is the world's top producing film country, but the numbers are greatly boosted from a rich regional industry.

When I first was investigating Bollywood I watched a Tamil movie with the music from what I thought was a Bollywood composer, A R Rahman.  "A Peck on the Cheek" was involved in the civil war in Sri Lanka, but the main characters were from India.  This was my first acquaintance with Mani Ratnam, Madhavan and Nandita Das who were all also Bollywood standards.  An award winner which I enjoyed and perhaps it even perked my interest in Bollywood.  Because of the setting I did realize it wasn't the usual Bollywood.  The concept of suicide bomber originated amongst Tamils in Sri Lanka and one is depicted in this about a young girl with the help of her adoptive parents (from India) searching for her birth parents in Sri Lanka.

Over a few years I saw a string of Tamil movies that I didn't realize were not Bollywood.  The unifying elements were Mani Ratnam, A R Rahman and Arvind Swamy who was the leading man.  "Roja" (1992) was the first and involved the Kashmir conflict; then "Bombay" (1995), although ended in Bombay started in Tamil area, "Sapnay" (1997) that had Kajol as leading lady and finally" Kadal" (2013) where Arvind played a priest trying to save an adolescent against an ex priest.  This last one had my number one iTunes song, "Nenjukkule" as sung by Shakthisree Gopalan.  Kajol is making another Tamil movie this time with Dhanush.

I had always associated A R Rahman as a Bollywood artist, but he was known as "the Maestro of Madras" -the former name of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. He started with Tamil movies, and moved to Bollywood with some of my favorites, but has expanded to the UK and USA while not giving up southern Indian dialects.  He not only writes very popular music, but also sings and produces for other composers.

Shriya Sarin is one of my favorites anywhere.  She has not only appeared in English speaking roles, but also Canadian directed films, "Cooking with Stella" (2009) and "Midnight's Children"(2012).  I first saw her in "At the Other End of The Line" (2008) where she played a girl next door type, except she flew from India to California to stalk (with no bad intentions) a phone voice.  Intrigued I searched and found her in a Tamil film, "Kanthaswamy" (2009) where her role was sexy, but also bitchy.  More recently she appeared in one of my favorites, "Drishyam" (2015) in a key supporting role (see http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2015/11/driishyam-bollywood-remake-masterpiece.html "Drishyam" was originally Malayalam.  Recently Shriya finished a Telegu film to good reviews (not seen).  She got her first break in Telegu and has also acted in English, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi--an example of multi-lingual actor

Rajinikanth established his reputation over a 100 movie career.  One I saw was "Sivaji" (2007) with Shriya as leading lady.  He was asked to get involved in a major endeavour involving photo realistic motion capture film (like what was seen in "Avatar").  His daughter Soundarya, a director  was heavily involved as was A R Rahman who eventually wrote the music.  It ended up in 2014 as "Kochadailyaan" with a cast that included Rajinikanth, Deepika Padukone and Jackie Shroff.  Presented in 6 languages:  Tamil, Hindi, Telegu, Bengali, Marathi and Punjabi.  Criticized on technical grounds, but praised for everything else.  It was a big step forward for Indian cinema in its technological progress.  I saw a demonstration of some of the motion capture before and after the story with the special features.

A younger star in Tamil films is Dhanush.  First saw him in"Aadukalam" (2001) an award winner with an odd topic. The hero was heavily involved in cock fighting.  I saw a feature that demonstrated what looked like vicious cock fighting was really CGI.   Later saw Dhanush in his first Bollywood film, "Raanjhanaa" (2013) opposite Sonam Kapoor.

"Interrogation" (2015) was India's nomination for an Oscar. About immigrants from another region being rounded up to confess to a crime to satisfy a corrupt police force that needed a confession.  Very well done and believable movie.  Watched on Netflix after a tip from a website, Access Bollywood.  Noticed Dhanush listed as producer.

"Sairat" (2016) first brought to my attention by a comment from Aamir Khan who highly recommended it.  Another new language for me--Marathi.  The music both for the background and for song and dance was very pleasant, Excellent, sometimes stunning cinematography.  Mood changes in second half  to grimly realistic with the two main actors showing a wide range of emotions.  The high caste girl can't cook and is sensitive to smells which causes conflict.  If you do not understand the caste system the ending will be a shock, but not so much if you do understand it; it was a shock for me.  The writer and director, Nagraj Manjule is very realistic and took a bit part.  The best of all films I have seen so far in January 2017.

Priyanka Chopra, famous in Bollywood and with "Quantico" formed a production company with her mother Madhu and they came out with a Punjabi movie (not seen).   I didn't see their Marathi "Ventilator" (2016), but bought a song from it recorded by Priyanka called "Baba."

Disney ventured into India and helped produce a Telegu movie, "Once Upon a Warrior," (2011) starring Shruti Haasan and was about a blind swordsman helping to restore justice to an ancient kingdom.

"Baahubali:  The Beginning" (2015) was a big Telegu block buster that took almost four years to complete.  We in the west don't usually realize it was not only Europe that had ancient history and this epic demonstrates civilization started in different places.   Lush scenery and large scale battles.  I had to wait until it was dubbed in Hindi with English subtitles.

"Eeaga" (2012) has to be one of the strangest movies to describe.  Before you dismiss it consider that it has an IMDB rating of 7.9 after over 13,000 voters.  It starts off like many movies as a love triangle, but soon one male kills another.  The dead male, is reincarnated as a housefly.  Improbable as it sounds he establishes contact with his lady love and seeks revenge.  Special effects are noteworthy.  Music by M.M. Keeravani who wrote music for a lot of Telegu films, but also some Bollywood ones.

When discussing Bengali some of the early classics were done by Satyajit Ray who is definitely non Bollywood.  He is recognized as one of the most artful director/writers on the world scene.  No song and dance routines for him, but look for character development, dialogue and camera angles.  I have watched "Aparajito"(1956), Pather Panchalli (1955) and "Charuklata" (1964), all black and white masterpieces.

As a Canadian it is amazing to me that languages I had not heard of until recently have more speakers than our population.  Telegu has 74 million, Tamil 72 million, Marathi 68 million and Urdu over 70 million.  This diversity is not only reflected in India itself, but also in the diaspora that has spread all over the world.  The movies help connect them.

There is a great overlapping of ideas and personnel between the regions and Bollywood.  Just like food from different parts of India.