LARGER THAN LIFE

Movies are always larger than life. It is mix of fact and fiction. There is always a spoon (mostly a bowl ) of imagination stirred up with cup of reality. However it may be, I usually see movies as a time machine which takes you to different time periods in different places. I specially love old movies because they are so different from my present reality. I don’t care whether they actually represent the time period they belong or not. For example a Tamil movie based on caste discrimination came in 1940’s which actually had only Brahmins (upper caste) in its entire crew from the lead actors to the camera assistants. I also saw a movie called “sabapathy” which was released before independence. It had various references to durai (British officials) and war funds raised during that time. One more interesting thing about that movie was that the lead actor was actually shorter than the car used by him. It can be either because the cars at that time were that huge or because the lead was too short.

a scene from movie "sabapathy"

Today I was really bored and it had been long time since I have watched a tamil movie. So I typed “tamil movie” in youtube search box.  There was a long list of movies – old and new, flops and hits, etc. when I randomly went through it, I saw this movie name “ varumayin niram sivappu”. I would have seen this movie a hundred times in television but still I am never bored of it. So I started watching it. I was so excited after every scene in that movie that I wanted  to talk to someone about each scene and what I loved the most in it. :*

For starters ,varumayin niram sivapu( the colour of poverty is red) is a kamal and sri devi( a hot onscreen couple of 80’s) film which was directed by k.balachander. The movie released in 1980. The main reason why I love this movie is KAMAL HASAN . I think, no I believe he is the most handsome actor the tamil industry have ever produced. No one can match his acting or dancing skills. He knows what he is actually doing.  Next reason is kamal and sri devi, the duo. Every scene with them is super awesome. The scene after the song in which ranga proposes devi  is really dramatic but it really makes you fall in love with the characters.

After watching the movie I really wanted to ask somebody who lived in 80’s whether poverty and unemployment was such a big issue. Of course there is still poverty and unemployment in our country but I don’t think it is not as prominent now as it is shown in the movie’s first scene where B.A graduates beg for jobs. There were so many scenes in the movie against the then ruling government. The lead character explicitly said the politics in india is hopeless. I wonder how these scenes passed through censors because last year or so a movie was banned because it was based on mulaiperiyar dam.

The entire movie is in the backdrop of delhi. It’s really exciting because I am in delhi for past two months and now I can relate to the places in the movie better than the last time I watched it. For example he goes for an interview in janpath and last month I went to janpath for shopping. When I see the clips of red fort in the song, I remember going there on Independence Day. In a song, the lead pair dances in lodi garden. I went there for my fresher’s party, last month. So it is more fun to watch the movie now.

The character of ranga is of angry and aggressive in nature but still he stands for what he believes to be right. He is called as a communist in a scene. The general notions of how a communist would behave are shown throughout the movie. For example he doesn’t believe in god or caste or upper caste beliefs about dirt. He is against the congress and makes remarks against them almost in every scene. I think the director was a strong believer of communism and socialistic society.

My favorite part(s) in the movie is bharathiyar poems which is prominently included in the dialogues and songs. The scene where ranga fights with his father by quoting bharathiyar is really good. The bharathi song  is the best one. "Sirpi irkuthu " song is the most romantic proposal.

On the whole it is one of my all time favorite movies!!