Does Kamal deserve a National award for "Indian" ("Hindusthani") ?
Balaji Thirumalai Kumara
Before all the Kamal fans pounce on me, let me say this as a disclaimer -
I am a big Kamal fan myself, and this is not written to put down Kamal or
anything....
Well, I think that Kamal's winning the best actor award for Indhiyan is
undeserving and an insult to Kamal himself. Firstly, I don't know when
the "year" ends - because Minsaara Kanavu was released for Pongal 1997
and yet managed to with the awards for best Music and choreography for
1996, while Iruvar was (overlooked) didn't merit a mention ?. IMHO, Mohan
Lal deserved the best actor award (for Iruvar), more than Kamal did for
Indhiyan. Kamal's Indiyan minus the brilliant make up was a reprisal of
his role in Kaidhiyan Dairy and was a tad better than his role in Kadal
Meengal. Either the competition was so poor that they had no choice but
give it to Kamal (who else - Aamir in Raja Hindusthani?- Oh! God - now
that's a flame bait!)
Also consider the judges - There were 14 of them according to a Redif
India news article. I can think of atleast 7 Kamal lobbyists out of 14
who might've voted for KH - Charu Haasan, Basu Chaterjee,
G.Venkateswaran, D. Rama Naidu, M S Sathyu and Raghav Menon. (Of course
GV and Charu Haasan might've voted for Iruvar & Mohan Lal, but I dont
know if it was in contention, but should've been, as Minsaara Kanavu
was..). So I am inclined to believe that Kamal won the award, not because
he was the best, but because there was 1) very little competition 2)
strong Kamal lobby 3) Kamal was snubbed for Devar Magan and they are
making up to him. (more like the Academy giving Pacino an ill deserved
Oscar for The Scent of a Woman, to make up for the years they snubbed his
roles in Scar Face, Taxi Driver etc.)
I think that Mohan Lal's performance in Iruvar was brilliant. I doubt if
enough people have seen Iruvar for it to merit any serious dialogue on
this newsgroup - I hope the Aamir bait will get someone to follow up, at
the very least and flame me :-)
Cheers,
Balaji.
-----
Balaji Thirumalai
Email - Bal...@mail.org
(408) 956-9645.
Mili
In article <MPG.de1bd04e...@news2.grin.net> bal...@mail.org (Balaji Thirumalai Kumara) writes:
>From: bal...@mail.org (Balaji Thirumalai Kumara)
>Subject: Does Kamal deserve a National award for "Indian" ("Hindusthani") ?
>Date: Tue, 13 May 1997 21:52:06 -0700
>Well, I think that Kamal's winning the best actor award for Indhiyan is
>undeserving and an insult to Kamal himself. Firstly, I don't know when
>the "year" ends - because Minsaara Kanavu was released for Pongal 1997
>and yet managed to with the awards for best Music and choreography for
>. Either the competition was so poor that they had no choice but
>give it to Kamal (who else - Aamir in Raja Hindusthani?- Oh! God - now
>that's a flame bait!)
** i will let that comment slide;). The fact probbaly is Mohanlal's iruvar
touched a lot of sore political spots in apna chennai. even though the
national award is supposed to be unblemished by corruption and all that it
might not be.
Having seen both indian and iruvar i must say i really liked kamal in indian
better than mohanlal in iruvar. however here i must make the distinction
between the older and younger kamal. in indian the older kamal was far better
than the younger one. this is probably coz of kamal's usual ego he probably
thought that the younger kamal had no challenge compared to the role challenge
of the older kamal.
in iruvar, prakash raj's acting i liked better than mohanlals. i don't know
why but i think raj's dialogue delivery was really powerful.**
>Also consider the judges - There were 14 of them according to a Redif
>India news article. I can think of atleast 7 Kamal lobbyists out of 14
>who might've voted for KH - Charu Haasan, Basu Chaterjee,
>G.Venkateswaran, D. Rama Naidu, M S Sathyu and Raghav Menon. (Of course
>GV and Charu Haasan might've voted for Iruvar & Mohan Lal, but I dont
>know if it was in contention, but should've been, as Minsaara Kanavu
>was..). So I am inclined to believe that Kamal won the award, not because
>he was the best, but because there was 1) very little competition 2)
>strong Kamal lobby 3) Kamal was snubbed for Devar Magan and they are
>making up to him. (more like the Academy giving Pacino an ill deserved
>Oscar for The Scent of a Woman, to make up for the years they snubbed his
>roles in Scar Face, Taxi Driver etc.)
**what u said about the kamal lobby is probably true. but since i didn't like
mohanlal in iruvar too much i wonder if a lot of ppl felt that way too.
though i don't think kamal really deserved the national award either becuase
i was disappointed that he didn't carry out his enthusiasm in the younger
kamal, for lack of a stiffer competition i think he deserved it.**
>I think that Mohan Lal's performance in Iruvar was brilliant. I doubt if
>enough people have seen Iruvar for it to merit any serious dialogue on >this
newsgroup - I hope the Aamir bait will get someone to follow up, at >the very
least and flame me :-) >Cheers,
**hey i have seen iruvar. now waht kind of dialogue do u think it
deserves?:)**
Mili>
pai...@rocketmail.com
In article <MPG.de1bd04e...@news2.grin.net>, bal...@mail.org says...
>
>Well, I think that Kamal's winning the best actor award for Indhiyan is
>undeserving and an insult to Kamal himself. Firstly, I don't know when
>the "year" ends - because Minsaara Kanavu was released for Pongal 1997
>and yet managed to with the awards for best Music and choreography for
>Lal deserved the best actor award (for Iruvar), more than Kamal did for
>Indhiyan. Kamal's Indiyan minus the brilliant make up was a reprisal of
>his role in Kaidhiyan Dairy and was a tad better than his role in Kadal
>that's a flame bait!)
What amazes me about the whole thing is, some braindead moron really
thought the 'Hindustani' film is deserving of something. The film
'Hindustani' is a colossal waste, a trite, cliche ridden, obscene,
psuedo artistic piece of crap. The saving grace of this whole exercise
is 'It's once a year!' and thankfully all the national awards are not
totally undeserving. Contrast that with so called 'FilmFare' awards,
my question, how do these people at FilmFare walk with their heads on their
shoulders?
>Also consider the judges - There were 14 of them according to a Redif
>India news article. I can think of atleast 7 Kamal lobbyists out of 14
>who might've voted for KH - Charu Haasan, Basu Chaterjee,
>G.Venkateswaran, D. Rama Naidu, M S Sathyu and Raghav Menon.
Excepting Mr. Sathyu who proved he can make excellent films (Garam Hawa,
Akaal, Kahan Kahan Se Guzar Gayen) and Basu Chatterjee a director of
inimitable quality, who made light romatic comedies comparable to those
of Billy Widler, who are the rest of these? Mr. D. Rama Naidu as a
judge of art? Why not call it a convention of smokers in a cancer ward?
Mr. Rama Naidu used to produce films in Telugu filled with bogus sentimality,
cheap mannerisms and incredulous stupidity.
>(Of course
>GV and Charu Haasan might've voted for Iruvar & Mohan Lal, but I dont
>know if it was in contention, but should've been, as Minsaara Kanavu
>was..). So I am inclined to believe that Kamal won the award, not because
>he was the best, but because there was 1) very little competition 2)
>strong Kamal lobby 3) Kamal was snubbed for Devar Magan and they are
>making up to him. (more like the Academy giving Pacino an ill deserved
>Oscar for The Scent of a Woman, to make up for the years they snubbed his
>roles in Scar Face, Taxi Driver etc.)
Taxi Driver (Dir: Martin Scorcese) has lead role by Rober DeNiro (As
Travis Bickle, one of all time greatest motion picture characters
ever created). Mr. Pacino was snubbed for 'Dog Day Afternoon' (easily
his best performance todate) and for 'God Father'. Mr. Pacino doesn't
even have a cameo in Taxi Driver. The height of snubbing is not for
Mr. Pacino, it is Paul Newman, who was consistently overlooked, until
the 'Color of Money' (again a great Scorcese film), he didn't even show
up to accept it anyway.
>I think that Mohan Lal's performance in Iruvar was brilliant. I doubt if
>enough people have seen Iruvar for it to merit any serious dialogue on
>this newsgroup - I hope the Aamir bait will get someone to follow up, at
Kamal Hassan is an over rated actor, his histrionics border on hamming,
his humour is dead pan and he utters dialogues as if he is talking while
eating, you cant distnguish seizures form his dances (but then whose
you can actually!!), his emotional expression to the say least is
a desperate attempt to invoke sympathy, what does Ms. Barbara Walters
know of whacking on the knee to make her interviewees sob, take a cue
babe.
The only decent performance of his was of 'Akali Rajyam' (Telugu), a
conviction less communist crapola. The film later re made into Hindi
'Zara Si Zindagi' was so pathetic.. Mr. Hasan was a rightful faliure
in Hindi filmdom, where surprisingly overacting is very well contained
and thus an inhospitable territory for Mr. Hassan.
A 'BOO' for the national film awards and bigger 'BOOOOOOOOOO' for the
stinking 'FilmFare' awrds. Tired of seeing 'mediocrity' being rewarded
and celebrated.
>Balaji.
sku...@hotmail.com
>
> ** i will let that comment slide;). The fact probbaly is Mohanlal's iruvar
> touched a lot of sore political spots in apna chennai. even though the
> national award is supposed to be unblemished by corruption and all that it
> might not be.
>
> Having seen both indian and iruvar i must say i really liked kamal in indian
> better than mohanlal in iruvar. however here i must make the distinction
> between the older and younger kamal. in indian the older kamal was far better
> than the younger one. this is probably coz of kamal's usual ego he probably
> thought that the younger kamal had no challenge compared to the role challenge
As far a i know the the last date for submission for National awards is
31'st dec. I also heard that mani could'nt make for it, though we wished
so. Otherwise it is sure that it might have got many awards. Even the
indian oscar entry which went to 'indian'. So what, next year it will
get it.
skumar
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
Balaji Thirumalai Kumara
In article <5lc7nd$n...@news.inforamp.net>, Mi...@rangeela.net says...
>
> ** i will let that comment slide;).
I knew that some AK fan will sit up and take notice :-)
> The fact probbaly is Mohanlal's iruvar
> touched a lot of sore political spots in apna chennai. even though the
> national award is supposed to be unblemished by corruption and all that it
> might not be.
Though I might be mistaken about the criteria for selection (in terms of
release dates) having watched Iruvar a couple of times, I must say that
Mohan Lal has delivered a mind blowing performance.
Kamal's performance in the younger role in Indhiyan was never a
consideration. (Though I personally think that a younger actor should've
played that role - now that Kamal is past his prime to be playing twenty
somethings.) And surely Kamal's role in the flash-back was not a moot
point. So obviously it was the role of the old-man that clinched him the
award. Now, pit the old man's role against Mohan Lal's perfomance in
Iruvar. Kamal was good as the old man, but Mohan Lal was miles ahead in
Iruvar.
Mohan Lal has taken great pains to prevent the Anadhan character from
becoming a caricature of MGR's life. He is brilliant whenever he shows
his anguish - be it the loss of his wife, his leader, his friendship, or
a dismissal from the party etc. (I am sure Kamal would've broken down and
cried in at least one of those scenes). Prakash Raj's character was one-
dimensional - he played within his limtations, but he did not rise above
the character, I feel. Look at Mohan Lal's transition to an old
politician from a matinee idol. Its amazing. I think Mohan Lal is the
best actor in India today, Kamal (or Naseer) notwithstanding. The Anadhan
character in Iruvar needed the right amount of "under-acting" if you
will, and Lal did just that. It was Mani who faltered and got himself
engorssed in the political aspects that he forgot that it was about two
people (Iruvar).
> in iruvar, prakash raj's acting i liked better than mohanlals. i don't know
> why but i think raj's dialogue delivery was really powerful.**
No actually, his dialogue delivery wasnt powerful. I agree that the poems
by Vairamuthu were interesting, but Raj is no where near Nana Patekar in
dialogue delivery. He did a decent job, thats all...
The problem with Iruvar is mani-fold :-) Firstly, it rode on high
expectations and fell flat (a la Trimurthi etc.) Mani might have failed
in his efforts to spell quality cinema as he chicked out somewhere along
the middle. I dont want to discuss Iruvar here, as I dont think enough
people have seen the movie, or want to discuss it - People here prefer
the staple diet of Govinda and the Khans to the more serious
stuff. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose - as I dont mind the goofiness
of a Hindi movie, myself, once in a while...
Balaji.
--
Ikram Ahmed Khan
Balaji Thirumalai Kumara wrote:
> Kamal was good as the old man, but Mohan Lal was miles ahead in
> Iruvar.
>
> Mohan Lal has taken great pains to prevent the Anadhan character from
> becoming a caricature of MGR's life. He is brilliant whenever he shows
> his anguish - be it the loss of his wife, his leader, his friendship, or
> a dismissal from the party etc. (I am sure Kamal would've broken down and
> cried in at least one of those scenes). Prakash Raj's character was one-
> dimensional - he played within his limtations, but he did not rise above
> the character, I feel. Look at Mohan Lal's transition to an old
> politician from a matinee idol. Its amazing. I think Mohan Lal is the
> best actor in India today, Kamal (or Naseer) notwithstanding. The Anadhan
> character in Iruvar needed the right amount of "under-acting" if you
> will, and Lal did just that. It was Mani who faltered and got himself
> engorssed in the political aspects that he forgot that it was about two
> people (Iruvar).
Can't agree with you Balaji... Either it was Mani's fault or Mohan lal's
but I wasn't just drawn into the movie... Lemmee ask the old old
hackneyed question - what's the motivation?? What makes Anandan (or to
be more precise MGR :) tick?? I think neither Mohanlal's portrayal nor
Mani's writing brought me any closer to the truth.. It was like
watching an unfeeling documentary ( with some grrreat songs, no doubt!
:) :) ) and watching events being told in a rather dry and detached
manner... Some of MohanLal's famous detachment from life was what I
saw in his acting as Anandan...
> I dont want to discuss Iruvar here, as I dont think enough
> people have seen the movie, or want to discuss it - People here prefer
> the staple diet of Govinda and the Khans to the more serious
> stuff. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose - as I dont mind the goofiness
> of a Hindi movie, myself, once in a while...
Love the Govindas and sometimes the Khans too. :) :)
But, I would love to have a discussion on Iruvar... There was a longish
thread sometime back on ramli about that... But at that time few
people had seen the movie.... So, we didn't really discuss this
movie... I hope we get a nice discussion going.....
Later,
Ikram.
pai...@rocketmail.com
>Balaji.
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
Balaji Thirumalai Kumara
In article <8638057...@dejanews.com>, pai...@rocketmail.com says...
> Akaal, Kahan Kahan Se Guzar Gayen) and Basu Chatterjee a director of
> inimitable quality, who made light romatic comedies comparable to those
> of Billy Widler, who are the rest of these? Mr. D. Rama Naidu as a
> judge of art? Why not call it a convention of smokers in a cancer ward?
Couldnt agree more. Rama Naidu had no business being on that committee...
And thanks for pointing out the Taxi Driver mistake. I am getting rusty..
Been a long time since I watched it and I missed the re-release :-)
--
S. Prabaharan
In soc.culture.tamil Balaji Thirumalai Kumara <bal...@mail.org> wrote:
: of the events that transpired in MGR's life. And I think the movie failed
: because it had no "hero"! Mani, I am sure wanted the "subject" to be the
: hero, but that didnt click! the audiences want to see something
: interesting happen - they want a climax - there was no build up or
: tension in the proceedings. Mani should've taken more artistic liberty
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
: than he did, even if it meant incurring the wrath of one of the Dravidian
Like what? He showed Karunanithi speaking pure Tamil to his wife
during their first night. Is that artistic liberty? I think the
movie failed because Mani focused on the rivalry between two leaders
and their bedrooms rather than telling what made them tick. May be the
subject matter is too long for a feature film. It should have been
made into a TV serial or he should have focused on one person like
the movie Gandhi. I don't remember Attenborough showing Gandhi sleeping
naked next to his young relatives. I guess he didn't take artistic
liberty!
SP
:
: --
: -----
: Balaji Thirumalai
: Email - Bal...@grin.net
:
Balaji Thirumalai Kumara
In article <337B2CEE...@raleigh.ibm.com>, iak...@raleigh.ibm.com
says...
> Balaji Thirumalai Kumara wrote:
> Can't agree with you Balaji... Either it was Mani's fault or Mohan lal's
> but I wasn't just drawn into the movie... Lemmee ask the old old
> hackneyed question - what's the motivation?? What makes Anandan (or to
> be more precise MGR :) tick?? I think neither Mohanlal's portrayal nor
> Mani's writing brought me any closer to the truth.. It was like
> watching an unfeeling documentary ( with some grrreat songs, no doubt!
> :) :) ) and watching events being told in a rather dry and detached
> manner... Some of MohanLal's famous detachment from life was what I
> saw in his acting as Anandan...
Its easier for an actor to potray, say a policeman or a goonda, but its
difficult for a matinee idol to potray another icon without drawing
citicism - there are bound to be comparisons - MGR as an actor was found
wanting in all his movies, was soft spoken but quite an intense chap
himself. ML displayed the entire gamut of emotions without mocking the
true life persona of MGR. For example, watch him as he watched Aishwary
perform "Hello. Mr. Edirkatchi" - there is the right amount of "under-
acting" there - and in the scene where reacts to his dismissal (I am sure
Kamal would've done another Nayagan here..), and the mischief inhis eyes
when he goes to ask Prakash Raj about a cabinet position.. ML is
brilliant. I've seen very little of ML (His Highness, Bharatan, Kalapani,
Asokan, Inuru) and I think that this is his best performance to date.
One reason why the movie lacked universal appeal is that the story was
based on the MGR-Mu.Ka true story, and most of us have lived thru' those
years. Most biographies that succeed have been made after the lifetime of
the protagonists. In this case, except MGR, everyone else potrayed in the
movie are alive. If Iruvar had been made 25 years from now, I am sure it
would've been a hit, or atleast would've elicited a warmer response.
People already know the MGR-Mu-Ka life story and werent interested. 25
years later, the next generation might be...
OTOH, I enjoyed Iruvar. Though Mani falls short, the movie managed tolive
up to my expectations. (I grew up on a staple diet of TN politics and
Tamil movies, so ..) I recommend that all those unfamilar with TN
politics or history read Mohandass' " MGR: The man and the myth "- a
quick snapshot of TN history under MGR. That'll help them understand and
appreciate the movie better... (Mohandass was the Police Chief during
MGR's tenure - considered his chief informer - the part was played by
Major Sunderrajan in Iruvar).
I agree with you that the movie might have come across as a detached
documentary, but thats Mani's fault, not Lal's. Mani failed to explore
Anadhan's character in depth - he just showed a voyuerestic (sp ?) view
of the events that transpired in MGR's life. And I think the movie failed
because it had no "hero"! Mani, I am sure wanted the "subject" to be the
hero, but that didnt click! the audiences want to see something
interesting happen - they want a climax - there was no build up or
tension in the proceedings. Mani should've taken more artistic liberty
than he did, even if it meant incurring the wrath of one of the Dravidian
parties. Or he shouldnt have made the movie at all! He compromised and
that cost the movie big time...
Kalyan
>judge of art? Why not call it a convention of smokers in a cancer ward?
>
>sentimality, cheap mannerisms and incredulous stupidity.
I guess this trend of largely commercial film based jury has been a
fairly recent trend and this shows in the fall in the quality of
awards. I guess it all started with Amitabh getting the award for a
lousy performance in a lousy film (Agneepath) and that was followed
by an award for Ghayal (IMO, just another violent, revenge movie).
>Kamal Hassan is an over rated actor, his histrionics border on hamming,
>his humour is dead pan and he utters dialogues as if he is talking while
>eating, you cant distnguish seizures form his dances (but then whose
>you can actually!!), his emotional expression to the say least is
>a desperate attempt to invoke sympathy, what does Ms. Barbara Walters
>know of whacking on the knee to make her interviewees sob, take a cue
>babe.
>
>The only decent performance of his was of 'Akali Rajyam' (Telugu), a
>conviction less communist crapola. The film later re made into Hindi
>'Zara Si Zindagi' was so pathetic.. Mr. Hasan was a rightful faliure
>in Hindi filmdom, where surprisingly overacting is very well contained
>and thus an inhospitable territory for Mr. Hassan.
Finally there's someone who shares my opinion of Kamal Hassan! I, for one,
can't stand his overacting. IMHO trying different makeups and making faces
is not great acting. He was worse in his Hindi films, least of the problems
being his horrible Hindi accent. Most of his national awards (overall or for
regional language movies) IMHO have been undeserving. e.g Check out "Swati
muthyam", intolerable overacting.
There are exceptions though. He was ok in "Nayakan". There was another movie
in which i loved his acting. I don't remember the name - it was one of his
earlier Tamil movies. He play a misguided youth who fights with his father,
leaves home and then is reformed and falls in love with an older woman.
Meanwhile her estranged daughter falls in love with Kamal's father.
Interesting movie and good acting by the cast.
However the worst is when he is compared with Naseer. IMHO Naseer is miles
ahead of Kamal in the acting dept. Forget the recent movies of Naseer which
give him little scope to demonstrate his acting skills. Check out his earlier
movies in which one can see his superlative acting and versatility. The
versatility of Naseer is often ignored. Check out his performance in
"Sparsh", "Mirch masala", "Umrao Jaan", "Paar", "Jaane bhi do yaaron",
"Perstonji", "Junoon" etc. All of these are diverse and he has performed
them beautifully.
IMO it is more appropriate to compare Kamal with Nana Patekar. Both
overact :)
Regards,
Kalyan
shr...@imap1.asu.edu
Kalyan wrote:
: In article <8638057...@dejanews.com>, pai...@rocketmail.com says...
: >
: >of Billy Widler, who are the rest of these? Mr. D. Rama Naidu as a
: >judge of art? Why not call it a convention of smokers in a cancer ward?
: >
: >Mr. Rama Naidu used to produce films in Telugu filled with bogus
: >sentimality, cheap mannerisms and incredulous stupidity.
: I guess this trend of largely commercial film based jury has been a
: fairly recent trend and this shows in the fall in the quality of
: awards. I guess it all started with Amitabh getting the award for a
: lousy performance in a lousy film (Agneepath) and that was followed
: by an award for Ghayal (IMO, just another violent, revenge movie).
Finally, some agreable posts about kamal :-)
: Finally there's someone who shares my opinion of Kamal Hassan! I, for one,
: can't stand his overacting. IMHO trying different makeups and making faces
: is not great acting. He was worse in his Hindi films, least of the problems
Exactly.As i was saying to someone else in Ramli, u can't appreciate one's
acting on the basis of the strength of his character in that movie.
: There are exceptions though. He was ok in "Nayakan". There was another movie
: in which i loved his acting. I don't remember the name - it was one of his
: earlier Tamil movies. He play a misguided youth who fights with his father,
: leaves home and then is reformed and falls in love with an older woman.
: Meanwhile her estranged daughter falls in love with Kamal's father.
: Interesting movie and good acting by the cast.
This was "Apoorva Ragangal" by the innovative Balachander.
Excellent innovative stuff.
In Nayakan, the older Kamal copied Brando like anything.
: However the worst is when he is compared with Naseer. IMHO Naseer is miles
: ahead of Kamal in the acting dept. Forget the recent movies of Naseer which
: give him little scope to demonstrate his acting skills. Check out his earlier
: movies in which one can see his superlative acting and versatility. The
: versatility of Naseer is often ignored. Check out his performance in
: "Sparsh", "Mirch masala", "Umrao Jaan", "Paar", "Jaane bhi do yaaron",
: "Perstonji", "Junoon" etc. All of these are diverse and he has performed
: them beautifully.
: IMO it is more appropriate to compare Kamal with Nana Patekar. Both
: overact :)
: Regards,
: Kalyan
Overacting is a famous trite of kamal :-)...excepting a few movies
like Kalyana raman, Apoorva Ragangal, Nayakan till he is young,Apoorva shaodarangal, most of his
later day movies are examples of pure overacting.The extreme was in GUNA.
Also, Kamal has started behaving like a greedy man nowadays,
greedy for fame and money.
eg. he remakes Mrs.Doubtfire in Tamil and then is remaking the Tamil version
in Hindi.What is the use of doing a film 2 times???
Also, lately, most of his films have been remakes from some other Hollywood
or Hindi movie.
Shridhar.
Anil Hingorani
pai...@rocketmail.com wrote:
>
<snip>
>
> What amazes me about the whole thing is, some braindead moron really
> thought the 'Hindustani' film is deserving of something. The film
> 'Hindustani' is a colossal waste, a trite, cliche ridden, obscene,
> psuedo artistic piece of crap. The saving grace of this whole exercise
> is 'It's once a year!' and thankfully all the national awards are not
> totally undeserving. Contrast that with so called 'FilmFare' awards,
> my question, how do these people at FilmFare walk with their heads on their
> shoulders?
>
board wanting to ban 'Bandit Queen' but letting this one get away. The
message this movie conveys is anathema and downright anti-social. That
entire scene where this guy is murdered on TV made me cringe. What
kind of movies are we making? Is murdering the corrupt a solution
to the malaise strinking our society? Isn't this concept really
dangerous besides being purile. I was surprised that people were
clapping away everytime Kamalhassan's character killed someone. If
this whole movie was given a light treatment I could understand,
but this movie was quite serious about making a 'statement'.
And the choice of words/dialogue in the movie was really crass. I
think Manisha shouts something like 'aye chhaki (ennuch)' to Urmila
in one of the scenes. And that whole Aruna Irani thing was horribly
worded and had way over the top melodrama.
Giving any kind of recognition to such movies is not a very smart
move by the National awards commitee - even if it is 'once a year'
thing.
I'd rather see no-brain entertainers of Govinda, Salma etc. than
such VILE films.
Anil
badri raghavan
hi there!
in these days when actors are scared to get out of an image, kamal has
consistently tried a variety of roles some bordering on heresy (by film
standards) i think this is one good reason why he should be given a
national award (i too agree that indian was not so good a portrayal to
justify a national award)! the definition of overacting changes with
time. what people found as perfectly natural in Sivaji's acting is
considered overacting now! so who can say?
kamal takes risks consistently in an environment where risk is a bad
word and both the box office and national honours have reinforced that
talent can make money too in addition to recognition.
as regards iruvar, i saw it on video so i cannot really comment on the
quality of audio but it lacked the focus of a feature film esspecially
from mani ratnam. and there was the unnecessary intrusion into the
private lives of these 2 personalities which was quite in bad taste!
most people who saw the movie were wondering about what is mani ratnam
trying to do. in such pathetic backgrounds, mohanlal's performance
could not be really appreciated.
badri raghavan
Chanuday
Iruvar had some serious drawbacks to the screenplay. Anyone not familiar
with the personal and public conflicts of MGR and Karunanidhi would have
completely missed the intensity of the scenes and actions.