Raja's read only memories

A remake of the Rajinikanth 80’s cult classic, Murattu Kaalai falls flat due to poor storytelling A theatrical poster of Murattu Kaalai, a remake of Rajinikanth's yesteryear ht                                                           By harking back to yesteryear Tamil movie hits — in particular those of the fab four, MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth and Kamalhasan — Kollywood reiterates, every now and then, that retro will always be its metro. The Sundar C, Sneha starrer Murattu Kaalai (the raging bull), that shares its title and storyline, but not its finesse and chutzpah, with its namesake of the 80’s Rajinikanth sleeper hit, amply evidences this. The superstar, in what was possibly his first hit as a solo hero Etymology would reveal us that...

Appeared in Expresso, the daily supplement of The New Indian Express, on April 11, 2011 Rajnikanth’s tearaway 1989 hit, Mapillai (son-in-law), in which he cures his rich, tempestuous mother-in-law (Srividya) of her arrogance, is back in its new avatar. Ironically, the Superstar’s mapillai, Dhanush, reprises his father-in-law’s role in the original. The mathematical ‘onto’ relations, Srividya -> Manisha Koirala and Amala-> Hansika Motwani, describe the roles enacted by them. Saravanan (Dhanush) is a devout person hailed by his neighbours as a role model to the youth, and marks his introduction with a song that begins with a remix of Madurai Somu’s Marudhamalai Maamaniye Muruga (clearly suggesting that he has failed to overcome the hangover from his earlier devotion-tinged movie, Seedan ). Its blink-once-and-fall-in-love for Gayathri (Hansika), the daughter of Rajeshwari (Manisha Koirala), a construction firm owner, with Saravanan. The initial hesitations notwithstanding, Saravana...

Appeared in Expresso, the daily supplement of The New Indian Express on February 27, 2011 If the story of Seedan (the disciple), a remake of the Malayalam movie Nandanam , were to be written on the back of a bus ticket, it would go as follows: a poor woman falls in love with a rich man and finally gets married to him. The script makes a departure from a long-established trend by letting a feminine protagonist taking up most of the screen time. Mahalakshmi (Ananya), is an orphan employed in a rich household in the temple town of Pazhani. She is the ideal homely woman - devout, demure and virtuous. Her employer, Amrithavalli (veteran Malayalam actress Sheela), is extremely fond of her. However, her work leaves her with no time to visit the shrine of Lord Muruga, and she fervently wishes that she gets a chance to do so. In her dreams, she visualises getting married to a handsome man. Mano (Krishna Nair), Amrithavalli’s grandson, visits the place, and its love at first sight for them. Ma...