Category Archives: 1-By Laksh

All these articles are from Laksh’s desk

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

‘Mystic River’: A Subdued Classic

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Tim Robbins plays one of the key characters in the film ‘Mystic River. On the Charlie Rose show, he mentions about the economical yet so effective direction of Clint Eastwood. There were no 20 or 30 takes to get the best output, instead, Clint Eastwood would okay in the second or the third take, maximum. In addition to this, his crew were around him for more than 20 years, who were so disciplined yet the set was relaxed. It was like a Zen experience for him to be a part of the movie. With Clint Eastwood understanding the actors point of view and his limited takes approach, according to Tim Robbins, made sure that the entire cast stayed in the skin of their characters and brought in the very best right from the word go.

Clint Eastwood in another episode of Charlie Rose refers to how he allows actors to deal with their characters. As an example he points out the scene where Dave (Tim Robbins) meets Jimmy (Sean Penn) after a long time on the porch, where he opens the scene with Tim Robbins and slowly includes Sean Penn to allow enough time for Sean to get into the mood of his character.

‘Mystic River’ touches upon a sensitive subject of child abuse and how individuals have to deal with it their entire life and their efforts in doing so are often misunderstood, even by the closest family members. Set against Boston, the plot revolves around the life of three kids who grew up in the city, and meet after many years after a horrific incident. The mystery and the drama that ensues form the crux of the movie.

Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins as the three estranged childhood friends give in their best performances along with Lawrence Fishburne, Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden, dash…under the ever watchful eyes of the master director Clint Eastwood.

Tim Robbins and Sean Penn, won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor for their superlative display of histrionics. The movie is a must watch for anyone who loves good cinema, great acting and superb direction.

Mystic River is Streaming on Netflix.

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

Vanaprastham and Mohanlal

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An actor uses everything at his disposal to breathe life in the character. Voice modulation, imbibing the physicality of character, his emotional involvement…all of these put together becomes the enactment of the character. Very few actors manage all of these, the reasons being either their lack of talent/preparation or weak material they are supposed to work with. In such rare instances, when terrific talent and great material come together, the results are outstanding. Mohanlal in ‘Vanaprastham’ is one such celestial occurrence, a la marriage made in heaven.

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Mohanlal brings all the elements of acting to the fore as an emotionally turbulent Kathakali dancer. In the process we are treated to a superlative performance. It takes a bit of time to get involved in the story, and once we do, we cannot but empathise with the character’s ebbs and flows. Mohanlal as the artiste, who initially is in full control with his performance on stage, but struggling with his personal life, soon finds him going downhill in both. The fountain of creativity that flowed out of his sorrowful childhood and his art serving as a means to escape from the clutches of poverty, soon takes its own path and drowns Kunjikuttan (Mohanlal). And, his already difficult personal life becomes unbearable after a brief romantic interlude.

It is a very difficult character to play as the reveal of character attributes is non-linear. We are introduced to him as a respected artiste with a drinking problem and having issues with his family, and slowly we are exposed to his inner turmoil. His deep need for an emotional anchor and craving for an identity as a son and a father, juxtaposes with a profession that demands the very dissolution of it through the many disguises. Who am I? This question is best portrayed in a brilliant outburst scene when Kunjikuttan’s love interest refuses to see him.

Never once the character is in full contentment with his personal life and his brief joys are as transient as his performance on stage, which everyone forgets once the show is over. While the performance on stage appears real, one cannot make use of it in day to day life. Same ways, Kunjikuttan being excellent as playing Arjuna, neither provides him with a steady mentor like Krishna, or family love like Subhadra. For a small period, he finds Subhadra (Suhasini)in real life, but that little respite turns so bitter that pushes him into an abyss.

There are many scenes where one could simply watch Mohanlal with awe, with the serious ones being easily noticed by all. The scene where he preaches art is for art’s sake and how he lets art overpowers him. But even the simple ones stand out, like the scene he meets Suhasini in her house, while casually going through her written play, looks at her furtively. In that one expression, he captures it all…his dreams about the future, his lack of surety about them turning real and a glimmer of happiness in his eyes.

The final scene is one of the best..as if saying that though one artist succumbed to the ways of the world, art will and must go on.  So the death of Kunjikuttan is shown from the point of view of Subhadra. It is as if Kunjikuttan is still around in some form, and so does the artform of Kathakali .

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

‘Manavoori Pandavalu’ and ‘Paduvaaralli Pandavaru’

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‘Manavoori Pandavlu is a remake of ‘Paduvaarali Pandavaru’, a Kannada movie by the veteran director, Puttanna Kanagal. The theme and plot of the movie is inspired by the epic Mahabharatha, featuring the revolt of oppressed villagers against the tyrannical village head. Both movies tasted success at the box-office.

‘Manavuri Pandavalu’ is an excellent example of how to build on existing material and further enhance it in terms of writing and direction. In this case the source being Mahabharatha, the master duo of Bapu-Ramana, adds a few more scenes from the epic, like the attempt to set fire to the wooden house, where Kunthi and Pandavas reside.

Here are a few key changes that add to the betterment of the movie.

  1. In the original, a swami/priest associated with a temple, who is insulted and manhandled in the beginning, becomes a hero later to bring about the change in villagers. In ‘Manavoori Pandavlu’, this character is split into two; the devoted temple priest (Ramana Murthy) and the swami as an intellectual and a drunkard. This is a master stroke in screenplay, that serves as a unique display of heroism and also plays on the popular metaphor of the divine hand waiting for the right time to strike. Krishnam Raju delivers a stand out performance and the Bapu-Ramana duo once again have to be credited for creating the characterization for him to shine. With Vemana book in one hand, local liquor bottle in another, Krishnam Raju’s character is one of the best in Telugu cinema. Krishna’s real avatar begins when the battle lines are drawn and he relinquishes the bottle as a signal to begin his true work. Just like in Mahabharatha’s Kurukshetra episode, this Krishna too doesn’t use arms, and his words being his ammunition. And who better to supply it, than the original ‘Maatala Mantrikudu’, Mullapudi Venkataramana. Each dialogue adds a new meaning and enhances the remake over the original.
  2. The overall tone of the Kannada movie is that of a street play, laced with loads of melodrama and over the top performances. ‘Manavoori Pandavulu’ mellows this down and Director Bapu brings about his classy poetic touch to the overall proceedings, with the ace cinematographer, Balu Mahendra by his side, he paints every frame in his unique style. Let it be drama or sentiment, he understates it with his brilliant compositions. The best examples being the scene where Krishnam Raju is introduced and in which Bheema (Prasad Babu) changes from being servile to hostile.( It is interesting to see how the masters (Bapu-Ramana) further make changes to the same scene in their Hindi version–‘Hum Paanch’–where Bheema (Mithun Chakravarthy) rises against Vir Pratap Singh (Amrish Puri),  with the rays of sun light behind.)
  3. ‘Manavoori Pandavulu’, true to its rural milieu, sports a lovely folk songs based music track and an equally effective background score by the inimitable K.V.Mahadevan. Every song is a gem with terrific lyrics and every scene is underscored by his brilliance.
  4. The climax involving the realisation of the villain in ‘Manavuri Pandavlu,’ is a good change in view of the nativity of Telugu audience, and the relationship between the hero and the villain. Further gives the movie a happy ending instead of creating a leftist aftertaste.

All these and many more, makes ‘Mana voori Pandavulu’ stand out on its own. Bapu-Ramana, being the masters they are, imbibe the craft of giving the remakes a unique touch, with charecterization, screenplay, music etc, both from Hollywood ( ‘The magnificent seven’ and Akira Kurasowa’s Seven Samarai) and our own Telugu classics like Lavakusa.

The best part of the movie is that it can be remade with any new cast with a known face for the hero and a brand new backdrop and still enjoy spectacular results as the source is the timeless epic of Mahabharatha.

Tailpiece: Krishnam Raju is often quoted saying a remake of this classic is in the offing with Prabhas. It would be interesting to see how it unfolds.