MANIRATNAM AND ORIGINALITY
nmo...@opal.tufts.edu
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The following article is a review of films made by Maniratnam. The
article basically discusses the lack of originality to be found in Maniratnam's
films. The recent interest in the SCT about his films and the usually rave
reviews he gets for his films in Tamil press led me to write this article.
Let us take his first hit "Mouna Ragam". The theme of this movie had
been lifted surprisingly from another Tamil film "Nenjathai killathe",
produced not long before "Mouna Ragam" (generally Tamil film makers, over the
years borrowed ideas and stories from English and Hindi movies apart from
dubbing in Tamil and original, authorised scene to scene remakes). Several
sequences were also copied from the original such as the hero works outside
Tamil Nadu, the heroine having an affair before marriage etc. Even Karthik's
character which I thought initally great, has been molded from a Harold
Robbins novel which I can not recall, the scenes in which Karthik determines
the time of next meeting with Revathi, who declines everytime but ends up
waiting for him with a false reason. I liked this film despite all these
drawbacks, because of some good songs and the acting by Revathi. There are
several coincidences between these two films apart from the theme such as Mohan
acted in both films, Suhasini heroine of "Nenjathai killathe" married
Maniratnam and both films won national awards.
"Nayagan", the Indianised version of "Godfather" was his next hit film.
Kamalahasan with his wonderful acting took this borrowed story into a great
film. "Nayagan" will be remembered for Kamalahasan (as one of the best Tamil
film) rather than for Maniratnam. Anyone who has seen the remake in Hindi with
Vinod Khanna, directed by Feroze Khan would agree with me.
Maniratnam's "Agne natchathiram" and "Idhayathai thirudaathe" are not
worth mentioning as good pictures. "Agne natchathiram" with its muti star cast
and a weak story entirely depended on Ilaiya Raja's songs. "Idhayathai
thirudaathe" follows the time tested love formula with the usual unknown heart
ailment threatens to spoil the lovers. His next film "Anjali" depicts the
children oversmart and the childern in the film did their bit of overacting,
thus diluting the intended purpose of the film, to show compassion to mentally
retarded childern. Most of the children song sequences were copied from Michael
Jackson's videos.
"Thalapathi" could have been named "Karnan". Rajani acts as the modern
day version of "Karna" and Mamooty as "Dhuryodhana". His next film "Roja" is
another ordinary film. I have not seen "Thiudaa thirudaa" and his two erlier
films "Idhayak kovil" and "Pagal nilavu"
The netters may think I have been too harsh on Maniratnam. In this
context, I would like to compare two directors of Tamil films, namely Bharathi
Raja and Bhagya Raj with Maniratnam. Both of them have made several forgettable
films. However they can be remembered for some original films. Bharathi Raja
for his trend setting "16 vayathnilae", for bringing original village stories.
He followed this with "Kizhake pogum rail" and "Alaigal oaivathillai". Bhagya
raj on the other hand had "Mouna geetham" his best ever and wrote the masterful
screenplay for "Oru kaithyin diary". Such things can not be said of Maniratnam
except for "Nayagan" which unfortunately is not an original story. Hence in my
view Maniratnam remains a an ordinary director whose talents are blown out of
proportions by the Tamil press. His films so far are not memorable.
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P.S. Your comments are welcome.
Ganesh Gopalakrishnan
GREAT using the criterion of success in the
market place. True, artistic, easthetic and
intellectual criteria can be applied to a
mass entertainer and the film found wanting,
but then, how many movie goers really care
about these other aspects of a movie? what if
TN fans really care only for the "entertainment"
aspect? Somehow, or other, Mani Rathnam has
been able to dish out a string of super hits.
His success rate in his chosen profession is
much higher than that of many others in their
fields. If he keeps this up, it would be hard
to keep him out of Tamil Movie Hall of Fame.
- Ganesh
Gautham N
> MANIRATNAM AND ORIGINALITY
> Bhagya
>raj on the other hand had "Mouna geetham" his best ever and wrote the masterful
>screenplay for "Oru kaithyin diary". Such things can not be said of Maniratnam
>except for "Nayagan" which unfortunately is not an original story. Hence in my
>view Maniratnam remains a an ordinary director whose talents are blown out of
>proportions by the Tamil press. His films so far are not memorable.
> -------------------
>
>P.S. Your comments are welcome.
>
IMO, Bagyaraj's best film ever was "Oru Kai Osai". It was well made
with a comedy woven thro it. Probably I liked it much since Bagyaraj
is dumb chap (in a literal sense) and did'nt require to hear him
speak...:o)
About Maniratnam, I felt Mouna Ragam was his best for acting, story,
songs et al. It is his best film, IMO. I liked Agni Natchithiram for
its entertainment value. No story, but pure 150minutes of entertainment.
Somehow, I feel while talking about Anjali, Raghuvaran's acting is not
mentioned. He did a wonderful job there, performing the role to the tee.
Maybe later, I'd write more...:o) Gotta work
- gautham -
Satheesh Krishnamurthy
: MANIRATNAM AND ORIGINALITY
Subject: Re: MANIRATNAM AND ORIGINALITY
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Manirathnam and (lack of) Originality
I don't consider myself as a movie critic but I was really surprised that someone else shared my views about Manirathnam's movies. I think Mani
lacks originality and has lifted a lot of plots, scenes and techniques from
Hollywood.
The previous netter had given examples of his ingenious(!) liftings.
Let me add somemore to that list:
Pagal Nilavu..
This was his first film. I thought it was good though the story revolvedaround a love theme with the backdrop of....guess what.....Godfather kind of
plot. Sathyaraj was the father with two sons who resembled the characters in
Godfather.
Idhaya Kovil..
The movie was a disaster. The saving grace was Ilayaraaja's music. It
may sound harsh but I think this was Mani's original story to date, and maybe
that's why it was a disaster.
Mouna Raagam..
As the netter had pointed out the theme of the movie was a direct lift
from Nenjathai Killathe. In Nenjathai Killathe Pratap and Suhasini go to Calcutta. In Mouna Raagam Mohan and Revathi go to Delhi. In Nenjathai Killathe Pratap and Suhasini join in the airport. In Mouna Raagam Mohan and Revathi join in the
railway station. There were too many familiar scenes in Mouna Raagam. Ex.. Pratap comes home in the night and sees Suhasini sleeping in the couch shivering and covers her with a blanket and the same in Mouna Raagam. Even the characterisation of Revathi resembled Suhasini's in Nenjathai Killathe.
Nayagan..
A lot of people think it was lifted completely from Godfather. It is not true. A lot of ideas in Nayagan were also lifted from another movie called
"Once upon a time in America". I can vividly remember one scene where Kamal tiesbags of salt to the smuggled goods and drops it into the sea when the coast
guards come to inspect his boat. The bags come up after the salt dissolves in
the water. This idea an unadulterated lift from "Once upon a time in America".
Even the filming techniques in Nayagan were lifted from the aforesaid movie.
Agni Natchattiram..
This movie could have well been dedicated to Ilayaraaja. But for his
music...the less said the better. The "Raajaa Raajaathi Raaja" song picturisation was lifted from "Bad" by Michael Jackson wherein the song takes place in a NewYork Subway station. The climax idea wherein Karthik and Prabhu change the beds
in the hospital was lifted from a novel (which I couldn't recollect now).
Idhayathai Thirudaathe
This movie could have been named "Oliyum Oliyum" instead. Nothing else is worth mentioning about this movie.
Anjali..
I remember when this movie was reviewed in "The Hindu" the reviewer had mentioned that quite a few scenes in the movie resembled "Boys Town" an
old English movie. I haven't seen Boys Town but I would rather safely conclude
that the allegation would be true going by the credibility of Hindu & the track
record of Mani
I haven't seen his newer movies.
Those who see a lot of English movies would know that Mani lifts picturising techniques from Hollywood. Especially the lighting and use of colour in the background. Also Manirathnam seems to like rainy sequences. Remember Revathi
dancing in the rain and Girija doing the same in Idhayathai Thirudaathe. Well,
those who have seen "Singing in the rain" with Gene Kelly would know where Mani got this idea.
I could write more about Manirathnam's movies but I know you guys would not have the patience to read it. (You guys should have already lost it by now)
I am not a Manirathnam basher or something but I think his movies have
been rated too high and he is been credited for bringing new techniques to TamilMovies. He might have, but they are not new and definitely they are not his.
Natpudan
K. Satheesh
VRA...@ukcc.uky.edu
>Anjali..
> I remember when this movie was reviewed in "The Hindu" the reviewer had mentioned that quite a few scenes in the movie resembled "Boys
>Town" an
>old English movie. I haven't seen Boys Town but I would rather safely conclude
>that the allegation would be true going by the credibility of Hindu & the track
direct takeoff(no pun intended :-)) from ET!!!! I remember an ASIDE interview
with Mani, in which he claimed that his friends called him "SPIELBERG"!!!!
*YUCK* Give me a break......
Venkat
Satish Subramanian
>>Anjali..
> Surprised no one talks about the "Flying Bicycles" scene from Anjali -
> direct takeoff(no pun intended :-)) from ET!!!!
The 'vEgam vEgam' song (that you are talking about) had
scenes lifted from ET and the 'raatiri nEraththil' song
(from Anjali again) had liftings from Star-Wars.
Don't be surprised if you see Dinosaurs in Thiruda Thiruda! :)
> Venkat
:)
bye
satish
Shiva Shivakumar
Is Mani Rathnam's latest movie his autobiography? :-)
Jagadisan Shivakumar
>
>
>:)
>bye
>satish
>
>
>
Koppampatt R Venkatesh
dangerously in between trees and caverns while the enemies chase them is an
exact copy of the sequence in Star Wars. Come to think of it, most
of the characteristics of a typical Mani rathnam movie (such as the lighting
and photography, the special effects , sometimes even the storyline , which make him a supposedly
outstanding movie-maker) are seldom his own ideas.
Just as somebody pointed out, the tamil press is responsible for
overrating him just because his movies tend to be slightly offbeat from the rest
of the movies. If you read all the rave reviews he gets for his movies, you'll
note that those aspects of his movies which recieved excellent reviews are only those which he conveniently plagiarized from western movies.
K.R. Venkatesh
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