As a filmmaker (with four short films under my belt, I hope I can call myself one now), a lot of what you've watched and gotten influenced by goes inadvertently into your script. For someone bred on Tamil films like me, references to people like K.Balachander and Mani Ratnam are inevitable. I was watching Nayakan on a local Tamil channel today, and it reminded me of why I love the film so much.
My first brush with the film was discussing it with Shreyas over one of our million late night conversations in class 12. Each discussion made me watch the film more closely, and it was one of those days when KTV used to play Nayakan more regularly, so that really wasn't a problem. The movie is one of those sheer genius moments, one of those times when everything comes right, the right director making a movie after his first big break, the right actor, someone who was slowly making his mark as arguably the best in the country, the right music, to say Raja peaked at around this time is no understatement though Raja's peak was more a plateau, he stayed there for really long, everything just seemed to be right about the film. The dialogues were crisp, the earliest view of the genius that was Mani Ratnam.
There are moments in this film that can just blow you away. There is this scene, where this old lady Anjamma burns herself to save Velu Nayakan. The scene following that has him going to the hospital. The lady is dying, her husband is crying. Velu Nayakan tries to console him, and then his action goes from one of "God will take care", to then realizing in a split second that she is beyond the stage where she can be saved, and then goes to an action of "What can I do?", and he breaks down. Mind-blowing stuff. Also, the scene following this is a gem. He tells Selvam (Janagaraj), his oldest friend, that he needs to surrender, or else his life of 30 years will become pointless. Selvam tries persuading "Nayakar" into not surrendering, and when he doesn't listen, Selvam makes the last-ditch attempt, calling him, like 30 years earlier, with a "Velu". He doesn't listen is another story, but the man has given his everything to detail.
Kamal Hassan gives the film the role of his life. I have truly believed that the man works better as a plain actor, he just overdoes it in films where the screenplay/script credits are his. Even in Hey Ram, which is by the way, one of my favorite Kamal films, I think he overdoes it as an actor. But, the man's performances in films such as Pathinaaru Vayathile, Moondram Pirai, Nayakan, Indian, and the 27 odd KB films he's done, are exemplary. I think the role in Nayakan takes the cake, every scene is a lesson in acting. He smiles at the right moments, cries at the right moments, and he doesn't keep one foot wrong. He starts off the film with a "Thevidiya Payya", and ends it with an "Aandava" (this is actually just the Kamal lines, the character Shaktivelu Nayakan starts off speaking to his father) , the true journey of the man, and the journey is not just in words, but in true blue actions.
For every landmark film, there have to be the moments which define it. I think universally any fan of the film would acknowledge the fact that this movie is defined by two things. "Then paandi cheemayile" defines the movie, the music for the period, and is an alias for anything even remotely pathos even today. The song repeats throughout the film, in various situations, and brings a lump to the viewers' throats each time it plays. To even think that Raja sir had another tune in mind initially (the Nila Adhu Vaanathu Mele in slow-mo) doesn't make sense today, after so many viewings of the film. The second moment defining the film is "Neenga nallavara kettavara". As Baradwaj Rangan calls it in his "Conversations with Mani Ratnam", Mani has this obsession with the "Nallavan vs Kettavan conundrum", and this was the first, and easily the best exemplification of the same. The masterstroke was in making a child ask the question, because if anyone could question Velu Nayakan, it was unadulterated innocence.
This is a movie which when talked about, one can't really do much justice, but this is just something that came to my head and I rambled off. And to sum the film up, "Naalu perukku nalladhu naa, edhuvume thappu illa"! :)
My first brush with the film was discussing it with Shreyas over one of our million late night conversations in class 12. Each discussion made me watch the film more closely, and it was one of those days when KTV used to play Nayakan more regularly, so that really wasn't a problem. The movie is one of those sheer genius moments, one of those times when everything comes right, the right director making a movie after his first big break, the right actor, someone who was slowly making his mark as arguably the best in the country, the right music, to say Raja peaked at around this time is no understatement though Raja's peak was more a plateau, he stayed there for really long, everything just seemed to be right about the film. The dialogues were crisp, the earliest view of the genius that was Mani Ratnam.
There are moments in this film that can just blow you away. There is this scene, where this old lady Anjamma burns herself to save Velu Nayakan. The scene following that has him going to the hospital. The lady is dying, her husband is crying. Velu Nayakan tries to console him, and then his action goes from one of "God will take care", to then realizing in a split second that she is beyond the stage where she can be saved, and then goes to an action of "What can I do?", and he breaks down. Mind-blowing stuff. Also, the scene following this is a gem. He tells Selvam (Janagaraj), his oldest friend, that he needs to surrender, or else his life of 30 years will become pointless. Selvam tries persuading "Nayakar" into not surrendering, and when he doesn't listen, Selvam makes the last-ditch attempt, calling him, like 30 years earlier, with a "Velu". He doesn't listen is another story, but the man has given his everything to detail.
Kamal Hassan gives the film the role of his life. I have truly believed that the man works better as a plain actor, he just overdoes it in films where the screenplay/script credits are his. Even in Hey Ram, which is by the way, one of my favorite Kamal films, I think he overdoes it as an actor. But, the man's performances in films such as Pathinaaru Vayathile, Moondram Pirai, Nayakan, Indian, and the 27 odd KB films he's done, are exemplary. I think the role in Nayakan takes the cake, every scene is a lesson in acting. He smiles at the right moments, cries at the right moments, and he doesn't keep one foot wrong. He starts off the film with a "Thevidiya Payya", and ends it with an "Aandava" (this is actually just the Kamal lines, the character Shaktivelu Nayakan starts off speaking to his father) , the true journey of the man, and the journey is not just in words, but in true blue actions.
For every landmark film, there have to be the moments which define it. I think universally any fan of the film would acknowledge the fact that this movie is defined by two things. "Then paandi cheemayile" defines the movie, the music for the period, and is an alias for anything even remotely pathos even today. The song repeats throughout the film, in various situations, and brings a lump to the viewers' throats each time it plays. To even think that Raja sir had another tune in mind initially (the Nila Adhu Vaanathu Mele in slow-mo) doesn't make sense today, after so many viewings of the film. The second moment defining the film is "Neenga nallavara kettavara". As Baradwaj Rangan calls it in his "Conversations with Mani Ratnam", Mani has this obsession with the "Nallavan vs Kettavan conundrum", and this was the first, and easily the best exemplification of the same. The masterstroke was in making a child ask the question, because if anyone could question Velu Nayakan, it was unadulterated innocence.
This is a movie which when talked about, one can't really do much justice, but this is just something that came to my head and I rambled off. And to sum the film up, "Naalu perukku nalladhu naa, edhuvume thappu illa"! :)
2 comments:
The last line is the cherry on the cake!!
Haha thanks Radhika! :)
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