Maamannan

Power struggles are a common theme in stories.   Caste still plays a powerful role in India and is often tied to money, i.e. old money.  Political power is tied to economical power.

The relationship between Maamannan and his son Veeran is generational.  The father accepts the caste reality and tries to work within it. Veeran resents his father's compliance with the upper caste.  Ratinavelu is a brash upper caste man who is ruthless.  In one scene we see him beat a hunting dog to death.   In others he beat humans and humiliates Maamannan by forcing him not to sit.

Ratinavelu raises hunting dogs which are sometimes let loose.  He reveals his violent nature by on at least two occasions he kills his own dogs in a rage.  Veeran on the other hand raises pigs which sometimes are victims of the dogs.  Leela is brought into the script not so much as a romantic interest as a feminist protagonist who has had her fitness studio attacked.

The situation escalates when an election is called.  The violence is to intimidate.  Maamannan's style is not to retaliate and in the end his style wins him another election.  He is reconciled to his son Veeran.  

Violence is throughout the story, most of it mindless or in retaliation.  Some what exaggerated, but more realistic than I have seen in other Tamil films.  The end provides hope of progress for true equality and left a good feeling.  Freedom is not won cheaply.

It takes a good cast and crew to make such a fine film.  Here are some key ones.

Mari  Selvaraj, writer/director with only his third film. 

Udhayanidhi Stalin is the producer and also the lead actor, Veeran.  He started as a producer and got acting roles.  He has 15 credits as a producer and 18 for acting.  His father has been the  Chief Magistrate for Tamil Nadu.  Udhayanidhi  has become involved in politics and has decided to drop films for the time being.

A R. Rahman, one of the foremost composers in India and beyond provided the music.   He studied piano at age 4 and became involved with his father's musical business  including composing.  His father died when he was 9 and it was a scramble to get education.  Nonetheless his education did include music and at a young age involved writing music for  tv. ads and organizing rock bands.  At the age of 23 he converted to Islam and adopted his current name.  Mani Ratnam approached him to write music for the Tamil film, "Roja" (1992).  He has 204 film scores including "Bombay" (1995), "Fire" (1996), "Dil Se" (1998), "Lagaan:  Once Upon a Time in India" (2001), " Kannathil Muthamittal" (2002), "Swades" (2004), "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), "Gajini" (2008), "Rockstar" (2011), "Jab Tak Hai Jaan" (2012), "Kadal" (2013), "The Hundred Foot Journey" (2014) and "Pele:  Birth of a Legend" (2018).  He has won 2 Oscars and numerous other awards.  He has performed as a playback singer in several films including this one.

Theni Eswar was the cinematographer.  He has 13 film credits including "Taramani" (2017), "Peranbu" (2018), "Merku Thodarchi Malai" (2018) and "Paava Kedhaigal" (2020).  Check my top film for 2020:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2020/03/peranbu-top-film-out-of-india.html

Silva Rk, the editor has 19 film credits.

Vadivelu plays title character who rose above his Dalit background, but is still deferential to those above him.  He normally is seen in comic roles or supporting.  He has 224 film credits including "Kanthaswamy" (2009), "Mersal" (2017) and "Thambi"(2019).

Fahadh Faasil  played Ratinavelu a real rotten bastard such a contrast to many of his other roles.  He comes from a film family, but his first film was an embarrassing failure.  He left and amongst other things got a philosophy degree from the University of Miami.  Returning home he renewed his film career and now has 60 film credits as an actor and another 4 as a producer.  His films include "Bangalore Days" (2014), "Take Off" (2017), "Nijan Prakashan" (2018), "Kumbalango" (2019), "C U Soon" (2020) and "Pushpa: The Rise" (2022).  Check another top favorite movie:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/bangalore-days.html

Keerthy Suresh plays Leela, the female lead.  She came from a film family and had a few roles as a child actress.  In school she won some swimming awards.  She went on to get a degree in fashion design and participated in an exchange program in Scotland and an internship in London.  Back to films she has 35 film credits covering Tamil, Malayalam and Telegu including "Mahanti" (2018), "Penguin" (2020) and "Vaashi" (2022).  At one time she was the highest paid actress in south India.

Ravenna Ravi played Jyothi, the wife of Ratinavelu who occasionally restrains his temper outbursts.  Her career started with dubbing for Tamil, Malayalam and Telegu films with 19 film credits.  She has compiled 9 credits for acting.

Lal had a small role as a political operative.  He has been an actor, directer, writer and producers.  He has over 150 film credits including "Thottappan" (2011), "Pulimuragan" (2016), "Helen" (2019) and "Kaaval" (2021). 

There is violence and cruelty to animals that would disturb some viewers.  The rest of us might feel a bit nauseous, but message would be visible.  Good production values.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.

Pushpa: The Rise Part I

" Pushpa:  The Rise Part 1" (2021) may not be your cup of tea.  Violence, action- gore-lots of southern Indian music/dance (very aggressive).  It has an interesting story and characters and well presented..

This multi lingual blockbuster film is originally in Telegu but has been dubbed in four other languages (Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam) with English subtitles.  Special item numbers in each of the languages.   This is a very action oriented film with a fair amount of gore--guns play a role, but unreal physical fighting is more common and is spectacular.  Follows the basic format of many gangster movies where a disadvantaged person fights against tremendous odds and achieves respect and power.  The cinematography is spectacular.

Part of the tension is provided by smuggling high value sandalwood logs which involves misleading authorities or bribery.  I googled Red sandalwood and learned that is very rare and thus protected.  It is prized for its beauty and in Japan they have discovered using it for musical instruments it has a pleasant acoustical effect.  It is also used in dyes. 

The family and gang dynamics provide more tension.  Pushpa is an illegitimate son while two legitimate sons are wealthy and powerful in the smuggling business and don't want to include him. The brothers admit to knowing their father visited his mother, but claim their father might not have been the only visitor.  A photo in a locket with father and son has been taken away.  He is very supportive of his mother.  After proving himself clever and ruthless, Pushpa takes a fancy to a woman while a friend pays her to smile at him.  He is shy, but you know she will provide the romance. 

This blockbuster was very well done and I look forward to the sequel.  Here are a few of the contributors.

Sukuma is the director and writer.  He wrote" Rangasthalam 1985" (2018).

Music by Devi Sri Prasad who has also been a playback singer.    He has worked with Tamil and Telegu films and had his music used in different languages.  An award winner.

Miroslaw Brozek was the cinematographer got his start in Poland with other action films.  He did a Telegu movie, "Gang Leader" (2019).   It is easy to tell that the picture would look even more amazing on a large screen.

Allu Arjun played the casual and arrogant (but also shy) hero Pushpa.  He has been noted for his unique dance.  He started in the Telegu film trade and has built up a very strong following all over India.

Fahadh Faasil has a relatively small role, but a different look from his many other films.  He is on the other side of the law, but really a ruthless corrupt cop.  We first see him dealing with canabis smuggling, but in fact takes a huge bribe.  He is listed to have bigger role in part 2.  He got his first break because his father was big in the Malayalam film trade got him into starring roles at a young age, but when he flopped he kept away for films for nine years.   Then he began a career as a popular respected actor with such Maylayalam films as "Bangalore Days" (2014),  "Take Off" (2017),  "Thondi Muthalum Driksakshiyum" (2017)and "Nijan Prakashan" (2018).  Check  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/bangalore-days.html

Rashmika Mandanna plays the leading lady.  She started with a Kannada film and has also done Telegu.  

Part 2 to be released in India just before Christmas 2022 and likely accessible in U.S./Canada January 2023

While gathering material  for "Pushpa" I decided to start watching "Shyam Singha Roy" (2021) but felt compelled to watch the whole film straightaway.  It deserves a separate blog, but because I have already met my quota for the month and it is also a Telegu movie I am just adding a bit here.  It is different and very highly recommended by me.  You do have to accept the concept of reincarnation, but it is very poetically done.   I included a dance sequence that I found really good in a Facebook post just before finishing this post.  The story is very interesting starting with a young rising film director being charged with plagiarism.  The story then diverts to events a few decades before.  

 Produced by Venkat Boyanapalli. Directed by Rahul Sankrityan.  Written by Salyadev Janga.  Music provided by Mickey J. Meyer.  Cinematography by Sanu John Varughese.  Editing by Sanu John Varughese.  The principle actors were:  Nani, Sai Pallavi, Krithi Shetty, Madonna Sebastian, Murali Sharma, Jishu Sengupta, Rahul Ravindran and Leela Samson.

Both films reflect good films come in the Telegu language.

As usual I have bolded films I have seen.

Bangalore Days

This film was just supposed to be one paragraph on a larger theme, but it has been so engrossing I would like to specifically recommend this one for those who like such things as a well constructed movie with a happy ending.  It was a cross between a dramatic and comedic romance.  To me there was a unique twist which I won't reveal as well as the usual complications in romances.  There was also a play between modernism and tradition.  Available through Prime, the dialogue is in Malayalam with subtitles.

A young woman is coerced into meeting a prospective groom, although neither feels ready.   A plot tool is used to change their minds and later occurs for another slightly different change of heart.  She has two close male cousins, one of whom already lives in Bangalore (the destination of the newlyweds) and the other is keen for new adventures with his two youthful companions.  The groom is polite and considerate, but not too interested in consummating the relationship.  The three cousins entertain each other to the annoyance of the husband.  The adventuresome cousin turns out to be a motocross competitor who has been banned from racing for a year.  In a round about way he learns about the groom's history and tells the bride.  He meets a woman who gained his interest as a radio host but isn't what he expected.  Complications of course neatly and somewhat uniquely resolved. 

Writer/director Anjali Menon actually grew up in Kerala, but spent part of childhood in Dubai, finished high school in Kerala and later studied television production and joined the London Film School.  An early film, she wrote was, "Hotel Ustad" (2012).  She went on to adapt a script from the Marathi original, write and produce "Koode" (2018) another well worth watching movie.

Gopi Sundar has over 140 credits as a film composer and has served as a music director and playback singer.  Some of his films include "Uyare" (2017), "Chennai Express" (2013), "Pulimurugan" (2016), and "Take-off" (2017). 

Cinematography was handled by Sameer Thahir who has also been directing, writing and co-producing "Sudani from Nigeria" (2018).

Editing done by Praveen Prabhakar had also edited "Ustad Hotel" and "Koode."

Sophia Paul,  co-producer  this was her first film but has since gone onto produce more Malayalam films.

Anwar Rasheed, the other co-producer had directed "Ustad Hotel."  This was also his first film as a producer and gone on to produce 4 more films.

Actress  Nazriya Nazim played the main character who got married, moved to Bangalore where she was joined by her two cousins.  She played a twist I have never seen before.  She won best actress award for this role from the Kerala State Film Awards.  She went on to produce "C U Soon" (2020) and "Kumbalangi Nights" (2019).

Nivin Pauly plays one of the three cousins who works in software in Bangalore, but is looking for a traditional Malayi girl.  He has over 40 actor credits since 2010 and has started getting involved with producing.  He also acted in a movie, currently watching, "Om Shanthi Oshaana (2014).

Dulquer Salmaan  played the adventuresome cousin.  In real life he is a son of the famous Mammootty.  Schooled in Kerala, Chennai and graduated from Purdue University.  His first film was "Hotel Ustad" for which he won a debut award.  Others of his films include "OK Kanmani" (2015), "Charlie" (2015) and "Solo" (2017).  He is also a director of the Bangalore based Motherhood Hospital

Fahadh Faasil played the groom.   He started his film career with a head start as his father was a Malayalam director and gave him a role at age 19 in 2002.  Unfortunately it was a commercial failure and Fahadh opted to complete his education in the United States.  He made his comeback in 2009 with "Kerala Cafe."  Since then he has been very busy with films including:  "Take Off" (2017),  "Njan Prakashan" (2018),  "Super Deluxe" (2019,) "Kumalangi Nights" (2019)) and "C U Soon" (2020).

Parvathy Thiruvothu has become one of my favorite actresses.  Some of her films include  "Qarib Qarib Single" (2017), "Take Off (2017) "Uyare" (2019) and "Virus" (2019).  My most recent blog on one of her movies, http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/02/take-off-brutality-in-tikrit.html

Isha Talwar played the match for Niven Pauley.  This was her tenth movie and she went on to do "Tubelight" (2017), and "Haar Kisse Ke Hisse Kamyaab" (2018) 

As part of my background research I watched two other movies written by Anjali Menon with some of the same cast and crew.  " Hotel Ustad" (2012), "Koode" (2018) were each excellent films and I am looking forward to future films involving these people.  All these films are part of a bigger project on Malayalam cinema which should appear in another week or so.

As I like to do I have bolded the movies I have seen for the first listing.

"Take Off" Brutality in Tikrit

The title "Take Off" is taken from the end of the movie when the horror is finally relieved and the victims take off for home.  It is a brutal movie about an unfortunate time in world history.  It recreates events of 2014 when ISIS captured Tikrit trapping several nurses and follows through to the rescue of 19 Mayali nurses.

Throughout the movie the nurses are asked why they want to go to Iraq.  One young nurse explained that her parents borrowed money for her education, but after graduation her salary would not cover the interest.  The main character, Sameera has divorced her husband, told by her father not to go, married a fellow nurse and shortly after learned she is pregnant.  Complicating matters she has a son who is scheduled to visit her in Iraq during his vacation.  At the time her first husband who is nice enough explains that he has had some major setbacks in his business and says their son should stay with her.  The son is mystified and then rebellious seeing his mother's new "friend."  Her son is part of the experience and is accepting of his new circumstances.  At one point he is the one who saves the whole group because he can finish a verse from Qu'ran used to test if all the nurses were Muslim (they weren't).

The viewer is confronted with violence when the nurses first arrive in Tikrit.  We see torn limbs, bloodied faces and chaos in the space.  ISIS takes over the hospital and we encounter random violence and the nurses enduring the whims of fanatics.  The nurses are trapped.  Not only are they needed for the ISIS soldiers they are also seen as a shield.  Diplomatic negotiations take place involving India and Saudi Arabia before with the aid of subterfuges.  Only Sameera is Muslim and speaks Arabic and is counted on to organize and coach the other nurses.  She is motivated to reunite with her husband who has been caught up at another ISIS camp and cannot be located.  The key negotiator decided he must lie to Sameera to keep her motivated.

If you have a weak stomach you will find much of this movie very difficult.  Personally the random violence is what freaks me out the most.  

The main dialogues in the movie are in Malayalam with English subtitles, but there are significant conversations in English and some words in Arabic (with Malayalam subtitles).

Mahesh Narayan was director, writer and co-editor.  After graduating from film school he started editing advertisements, than documentaries, then feature films.  He ventured from his native Malaylam language to successfully deal with Tamil, Telegu and Hindi films.  He edited "Traffic" (Malayalm version 2011),  "Traffic" (Hindi version 2017), and Uyare (2019).  He turned to writing and directing with this film to continue those two roles in subsequent films.   He produced, wrote, directed, edited and used a virtual camera for "C U Soon" "Uyare" was my second favorite film seen in 2019.  Read more:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/08/uyare-unexpected-gem.html

Shaan Rahman shared music duties with Gopi Sundar.  Shaan won an award in 2015 for most streamed film song.   Gopi's career included backup singer and music director.  He wrote for "Uyare" and won a best background score for this movie.  He composed music for "C U Soon."

Sanu John Varughese handled the cinematography.  He had worked on such films as "Karthik Calling Karthik" (2010), "Hasee Toh Phasee" (2014), "Wazir" (2016) and has gone onto to do "Badhaal Ho" (2018)

Parvathy  Thiruvothu who plays Sameera is a prolific  award winner including for this film.  Some of her films include  "Qarib Qarib Single" (2017),"Uyare" (2019) and"Virus" (2019).   She is an amazing actress becoming one of my favorites.

Fahadh Faasil played the key negotiator  for the India Embassy who despite criticism made the right choices.   He started his film career with a head start as his father was a Malayalam director and gave him a role at age 19 in 2002.  Unfortunately it was a commercial failure and Fahadh opted to complete his education in the United State.  He made his comeback in 2009 with "Kerala Cafe."  Since then he has been very busy with films including:  "Bangalore Days"  (2014), "Njan Prakashan" (2018),  "Super Deluxe" (2019) and "C U Soon" (2020).

Kunchacko Boban played Sameera's second husband, also a nurse who went to Iraq and got separated by being sent to Mosul.  In his first film Kunchacko became an instant teenage heart throb and continued his popularity in romantic films till he himself graduated from college and sought more serious roles with depth.  He appeared in "Traffic" (2011) and "Virus" (2019).

Prakash Belawadi played a senior member of the Indian Embassy.  He has been in films with many different languages including:  in Hindu, "Talvar" (2015), "Airlift" (2016), "Wazir" (2016) and "Sanju" (2018); in Kannada, ""Aatagara (2015) and "India vs. England" (2020); in Telegu. "Saaho" (2019); and in Tamil, "Soorarai Pottru" (2020).

At the time of viewing I was only able to catch it on Hotstar.  One of those treasures hard to reach without the connections.