Thaamirabharani Tamil Movies

[Leocricia Castellanos]

Thestory of Thamirabarani revolves around Bharani (Vishal), a brawny young man completely spoilt by the love of his rich and powerful family. He idolises his uncle Saravanan (Prabhu), a salt manufacturer, and his widowed mother(Rohini). The whole village reveres Saravanan and his family.

The success and popularity of Saravanan and his family widens the rift between them and the competing PVS family lead by Shakuntala (Nadiya) and her brother (Nasser). The beginning of the romance between Banu (Banu), Shakuntala's daughter, and Bharani takes the enmity between the familes to new heights. After many twists and turns, the story ends on a happy note.

The cleverly structured script and the smart screenplay have the viewer captivated throughout, except when the lead couple engages in some sweet talk. Though there is nothing new about the plot, it has been backed by remarkable performances from the entire cast, especially from Prabhu and Nadiya, who do full justice to their roles. Having played similar roles innumerable times, old hands Nasser, Manorama and Vijaykumar do justice to their characters. Debutante Banu has quite of a bit of work to do though.

Though there isn't one number to stay with you, Yuvan Shankar Raja's music adds to the feel of the countryside. Art director Kadhir's contribution deserves mention. The stunts by Rocky Rajesh are a USP of the movie.

Vishal seems to be easing himself into the mass hero's shoes even as he is establishing himself in the industry. He seems to be getting better playing this kind of a character -- this movie looks like an extension of the last few movies he has acted in.

Similarly, one might even wonder about director Hari's romanticism with the southern parts of Tamil Nadu, especially the Madurai-Tirunelveli-Tuticorin belt, because this movie too has a strong flavour of the society there. That apart, Hari has managed to put together a fairly redeemable mixture of action, humour and sentiments, making the movie worth a watch.

While director Hari started off very strongly with Thamizh and Saamy, he did not live up to that initial promise with his subsequent films. Though he seemed to get back some of his old touch in Ayyaa, he definitely hit rock-bottom with the crude and violent Aaru. But he makes amends by returning to the village milieu in Thaamirabharani. He captures the lives of two families at war well enough though for us, the feeling of having seen it all before is unavoidable.

Bharani(Vishal) lives with his uncle(Prabhu) and thinks the world of him. The family's arch business rivals are Shakuntala(Nadiya) and her brother(Nasser). When Bharani thinks that Shakuntala's daughter Banu(Banu) is trying to make him fall for her as part of a bigger plan to besmirch his family's reputation, he plans to insult her. But the act has bigger repercussions that drive a deeper wedge between the two families.

Films set in villages always involve two warring families constantly trying to upstage one another and so the proceedings in Thaamirabharani have a very familiar feel to them as Prabhu and Vishal repeatedly clash with Nasser, Nadiya and Vijayakumar. The characters involved are all stock characters(the respected elder on the 'good' side, the villain on the 'bad' side who wants to keep the enmity festering for personal gain, the old woman who wants to see the families united, etc.) in such films too. So the film rarely presents something new.

Thaamirabharani is all about conflicts. With a large number of characters on either side, two or more of them seem to be fighting, either verbally or physically, most of the time. Though this makes the movie quite loud, it also gives the movie a lot of energy. We might simply be seeing different facets of the same conflict but things happen and so the movie moves along at a good pace. Some of the words thrown around in the arguments are raw enough to make us flinch but that adds some realism and provides a strong reason for the continuing enmity.

The big twist in the story doesn't come as a very big surprise considering the characters involved. But because of what it exposes, the rest of the story becomes quite predictable. We know exactly who will be still standing at the end of the film and in a film like this, that takes away a lot of the involvement. It also points to a tame ending that doesn't go too well with rawness of some of the earlier proceedings (again, as in Ayyaa, it is a toss-up between a violence-laden climax and a soft one and Hari has chosen the latter route). But the small revelation at the end is a good surprise and ends the film on a nice note.

'Ganja' Karuppu has now graduated to having his own comedy track but is annoying most of the time. The confusion that arises because of the dog sharing his name isn't funny the first time around and so, really irritates when it is used repeatedly. His segments unrelated to the use of his name(like the incident at the police station) don't fare much better and are silly and unfunny.

Vishal, not surprisingly, already seems stereotyped. He tries some comedy but it is not very effective and he really needs to work on it. No such problems with the stunts though as there are some impressive leaps and kicks scattered around. Debutant Banu is definitely on the flabby side and rumors about her looking the same as Nayantara are way off base. But she delivers a competent performance. Prabhu is dignified and the same goes for Nadiya. Nasser reminds us of Devar Magan in both getup and performance. Thaaliye Thevaiyilla... is a nice melodious number from Yuvan Shankar Raja.

hari's become so inconsistent with the quality of his films... i loved thamizh...liked saami and ayya...could tolerate kovil...but arull and aaru...aiyyooo...nenachu paakave bayam-a irukku!!! but there was a certain grace in his presentation in both thamizh and aiyya that i liked...very smooth screenplay and nice dialogues...wish he could display those traits in all his films...coz i think he's capable of writing some wonderful dialogues...bb, anything abt thamirabarani;s script that stood out?

Another one to add to the production-line, run-of-the-mill, in-your-face,louder-than-thou-art-heard-before type movies meant for mass consumption where logic, narrative, characters, aesthetics, etc etc, needs to be left at the door. Let's wait with bated breath for more of such to come our way...

Bang on, review. Kanja karuppu shows us why Vadivelu in Pokiri is miles ahead inspite of being repetitive. Irritating.

Vishal doesn't show anything new except that he tries stupidly some comedy scenes and tolerably senti scenes at the end. Heroine might fit the bill for future thangachi roles.

First half was so-so but second half deeply soaked in sentiments carries the movie through. Overall a timepass effort from Hari. Prabhu stands tall at the end of the show :)

:)

Joke apart, Prabhu is dignified (his flashing white dhoti, shirt adds) and reminds of the yesteryear Oor periyavar roles (like in Ninaivu chinnam and Parambarai).

Anyhow, the movie is certainly not a classic or half-way to that.

bart, have u seen how prabhu sometimes evokes Sivaji in his body language...i'd be a fool to compare anyone with Sivaji but just saying that the son does remind me of his dad when he does two things - that guffaw of his...and the gait...

prabhu used to be a very dependable performer, always rising above the script in movies like duet and lifting movies like siraichaalai and ponmanam...april 14th 2005, he gave us "senthilnathan" and the universe would never remain the same...!!

I have never figured out why "enna koduma saravanan idhu" became so notorious. Just one review mentioned that line at that time and suddenly it seemed to have become Prabhu's nemesis. avLo kodumaiyava irundhadhu andha line? :-)

Vishal and Jeeva have joined the masala list. so whats new? Cant blame them when even established actors(ala Kamal, Vikram) have taken to the masala route consistently of late. Mozhi, Chennai -28, MaayakaNNaadi, Naan kadavuL, Dasaavathaaram, Vaaranam aayiram might be a few ones to look forward to in the future, as far as films that dont tread the same route even if they do happen to be commercial.

Oh, I used to remember a time when a bunch of my cousins (all girls, of course) and I went on a Prabhu rampage in 1994, when I had gone to Chennai for the first time in 7 years. That was the time when Priyanka and Duet had just released and before my departure, Vietnam Colony had also hit theaters.

You should have seen our hooting, hollering and whistling every time Prabhu smiled (with those cute dimples beaming) and beat up a bad guy in Priyanka, the court scenes and whatever else we could feast our eyes on.. Aah.. Prabhu-na Prabhu dhaan..

He could do no wrong.. In that same vacation for 4 weeks, we went and saw Duet twice in 3 days. I still remember the guy at the ticket counter says, Saturday annikki 15 tickets vaangi, ivalavu pEr vandheega.. Yenga inikku 5 ticket dhaan vEnumgareega.. obviously, the rest of the clan are not Prabhu fans like us cousins! :-)

Those were the days, my friend! :-)

ram, didn't think the screenplay was very smooth. but the dialogs were realistic and sharp, esp. during all those modhals :)

bart/ram/vijay/sandya, prabhu's acted in many good movies but that line in 'chandramukhi' is what he's remembered by now! kinda what happens in real life too. u could do a whole lotta good but something bad, even if small, overrides all that and will probably be remembered the most!

---Flash News ---

Ajith has injured his back again during kireedom shooting and it has left him paralyzed .. He's in Apollo Hospital with his wife Shalini by his side..

Pushpha Puroshothaman

Yes, there was a time when they said Prabhu-Karthik would be the future Rajini-Kamal. Agni Nakshathiram times :) Both have fizzled out. But atleast its nice to see Prabhu holding his own through some meaningful character roles unlike (vayira) "kalakkura chanduru", Karthik.

Pachaikili is based on "Derailed", an english novel and should be a racy thriller. "Oram Po" might be another form of Indian "Fast and Furious". "Mozhi", "Chennai - 28" and "Mayakkannadi" promise to be different. "Periyar" is another movie to look forward to.

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