One of the very few movies in the recent past, that are meant for family audiences.
Bunny looked his best in this film and it was great to see him in a normal, part of a middle class set-up.
Here some quick observations about the film…
“Setpieces” like the bank robbery, the sequence before the interval, pre-climax fight and the climax sequence should have been planned/executed well. Same is the case with the associated VFX.
The movie has two main story threads. One the “Julayi” becoming a responsible person and the second, Ravi’s conflict with Bittu. Couldn’t help wondering how the scenes/narration would have changed. if the story were developed as a double role film where the same star would play both Ravi and Bittu, and then tone down the scenes to suit the anti-hero being played by someone else. And, the parallel narration that is used throughout could have been extended a bit more to show that the two actually think alike
Could the genius in the “Julayi” be shown early on like his fascination with electronics etc, to justify his later involvement with tracking devices, detection etc. It could have been easily established with a small gag at his home, with his sister/father. Or some scene/shot while creating the atmosphere. The spark of genius in Julayi needed some establishing footage, other than solving the rubik’s cube in the car?
Psychologically, a boy like Ravi who doesn’t get along with his father, usually seeks another father figure. This was taken forward to some extent by Rajendra Prasad. It would have been nice if in the ending, Ravi at the bus stop is greeted by Ileana, but soon picked up by Rajendra Prasad to solve another massive heist, and the commentary on the radio changes accordingly.
Some of the comedy scenes like the Vennela Kishore scene, Brahmanandam’s exploits as a thief who gets caught are reminiscent of old Jandhyala films and could have been re-designed.
A few days after my father underwent his surgery, his sutures were removed, and we had a review meeting with the neuro surgeon.
My Babayya accompanied me in this meeting. The nuero surgeon after enquiring with my father who we were, asked him, ‘Tell me, who is better among these two, your son or your brother? Give me a diplomatic answer’.
My father without hesitation said, ‘Both are better than me’.
The nuero surgeon had a hearty laugh.
* * *
That was my father for you, who always had a repartee or a question ready, even when he was not in the best of his health. But that day, I did not imagine in my wildest dreams that it would be a last spark of his original self that endeared him to a host of people within and outside the family.
In the months to come, the ailment he had, slowly shut-off all the facets of his magical mind, much like the switching of a huge video wall in the last scene of the movie “The Dark Knight”, and breathed his last before our very own eyes. All of this happened in less than 100 days.
While my father’s friends and our elders consoled us, that he passed away without much suffering and that we did the best possible within our reach and that we took very good care of him, the uneasiness in the form of a hundred questions unanswered, still lingers. It was as if the worst possible prognosis came true in my father’s case, both in terms of the disease and the time it had left us with. He simply disappeared, or rather walked briskly away from our midst (like he usually does), changing us forever, and splitting our life into ‘before’ and ‘after’ him.
It will be tough to recollect and tie together all the memories we shared with him into a coherent tale, as each memory in itself is worth a long recount.
So, here is an attempt to reflect on a few, and what they mean to me.
My father, during his three decades of association in the entertainment industry, came in touch with hundreds of people, and in the process created and influenced many careers. But, he neither took credit for their success nor was he jealous about their rise. He was as self-assured as anyone can get and this was his defining characteristic.
Very often, my father would talk about treating sub-ordinates and strangers with care and affection. I make it a point to remember and act on it, even though my abrasive behavior takes over, every now and then.
I cannot recollect a single moment in my father’s life where he felt dejected or rejected. He somehow had that knack to brush aside the gloom and always look at the ray of hope hidden. He was a quintessential ‘in-this-moment’ kind of guy, who responded instinctively to life, and yet keeping an eye for a brighter future.
He had the knack of spotting new opportunities much before others and to go all out to convert them. Let it be the first sponsored serial in Hyderabad Doordarshan or the first Telugu programme on Zee TV, he spared no effort to make things happen. He would have made a great sales ‘hunter’ in the corporate world. I will always remember his perseverance during his dozens of visits to Mumbai (sometimes even by a bus) to close the deal with Zee TV.
Having seen my father at ease with both success and failure, and with comforts or the lack of it, it is always a constant reminder for me, to keep my balance during the crests and troughs of life.
During very early on in my life, he treated me and my brother as his equal and exposed us to his life and experiences in whatever shape and form possible. He influenced my career to a large extent by initiating me both into the world of Computers and Entertainment. (He suggested that I learn computers when I flunked engineering entrance for the first time and later, he did not make it an issue when I left my first job after engineering to pursue a course in Animation. Both, I consider very big give aways in a middle class family, where career and settling in life always meant choosing a well trodden path and taking no risks).
My father and I used to have many arguments about quite a few things. He was often exasperated (and sometimes amazed) that I questioned and argued about the merit of several of his views, which his friends from the media and entertainment industry considered as the ultimate in authority and immediate pen worthy. My rejoinder was that it was the luxury of being his son which only my brother and I could afford. (I will have to confess that my father is a tad better than me when accepting criticism from known and unknown quarters, and it will be in the back of my mind to be more receptive and less one sided as I keep getting older).
* * *
I could have probably just avoided saying all of the above and simply put that “My father was a great influence on me and I will miss him a lot.” But true to a sobriquet he bestowed on me (SONA-SOdi NArayana), I guess, I had to indulge in a few words.
It is tough to watch the remake of a well acclaimed film and not to compare with the original.
But if you manage to do so, or if you haven’t seen “A Wednesday” in Hindi, Chakri Toleti’s ‘’Eenadu” is a decent fare.
“Eenadu” is all about the events that happen on a single day triggered by a phone call.
How a police commissioner, two cops, a TV reporter and a bunch of government officials react
to this phone call forms the crux of the story. Who is this guy? What does he want?
How he rides roughshod over to get what he wants drives the story forward and results
eventually in an unexpected denouement.
The film boasts of a stellar cast with two super stars playing the lead roles and path breaking digital platform.
The two stars—Kamal Haasan and Venkatesh—who on their own drive multi-crore box-office receipts, coming together for a simple movie like ‘Eenadu’ is laudable and shows way to many other successful stars and well known actors. It is so refreshing to see their names in the start credits of the movie without any honorary titles appended before. When was it that you last saw the credits for a Tamil or Telugu film with stars in it and no ‘SuperStar’ or ‘little or medium xyz’ tags attached.
They have come onboard as actors and this in itself a great success for the debutant director.
Chakri Toleti retains most of the elements from the original—the story, the milieu et al—and tinkers
very little with the characterization and the story flow. Interestingly this very little turns out to be a
quite a bit if you had seen the original. 🙂
Here are some of those tinkering and the ensuing impact on the film.
Naseeruddin Shah in the Hindi film plays a ‘face in the crowd’ that can disappear amongst the millions of Mumbai, literally walk into thin air even after committing a heinous act. His character is designed to display that ordinary and helplessness look and is complete with his lumbering gait. It’s only when he towers over Anupam Kher with his voice in the later part of the film that you get to see the other shade. But by then, he is not so helpless anyway. In contrast Kamal Haasan portrayal of the lead character oozes confidence and appears so self-assured that it takes away the charm a little bit when the audience starts warming up to his duel with the police commissioner.
The original film employs a few decoys to mislead the audience. If you leave the logic out of the equation, these sure helped in creating some suspense and build an aura around the common man. Chakri Toleti chose to do away with such decoys and in the process also took away some of the sting from the police characters.
Speaking of the police characters, the one played by Jimmy Shergil is almost a Mel Gibsonesque potrayal in Lethal weapon series. However the counterpart in “Eenadu” comes across as a baseball player itching for his next hit minus the seething inside. Coming to the most important of all–the commissioner played by Venkatesh–one gets a feeling that his characterization could have been etched better. It is difficult to understand why the director chose not to include that scene where the ageing Anupam Kher storms into the interrogation room and bashes the accused mouthing “Maine pucha kya…” This sure would have given something for the front benchers to whistle about. So is the lead scene before the bomb search in a nearby the police headquarters.
The Idea of making the principal secretary a female one, who overlaps the CM character in the original, might have looked interesting on paper, as it brings on the gender conflict into the scheme of things, but on screen this was reduced to mere bickering and does not add much to elevate the character of Venkatesh.
Overall it appears as if Venkatesh’s character has been presented like that of a Mohanlal (not in any way to suggest that this great Malyalam actor is not fit and fast enough to thrash someone:)) Somehow, Anupam Kher in the original seemed more agile and aggressive than “Eenadu” Venkatesh. This was further accentuated by the static ‘taking’ employed during his scenes and created an unintended dominance by the character played by Kamal Haasan. (I am sure enough curiosity now has been generated to see Tamil and Malayalam versions as well, to see how Mohanlal fared, which is another success metric for the director)
In summary, the changes in the remake appear to have brought in to add more believability and some logic, taking cues from a typical bureaucratic set up, current topics etc. But in a ‘what-if-this-ever-happened-thriller’ kind of movie, liberties can be taken and retaining the above from the original would have been a better choice.
Well…once again, these will not matter much for someone who has not seen the original or who has seen it and does not wear an analytical eye-lens. For them the sheer sight of Kamal and Venkatesh sharing the screen space is worth their money.
Let’s hope Chakri Toleti comes up with another film backed by UTV that will sport great cast and high technical standards.
Not to forget. A taut and an original script as well 🙂
