MY TAKE ON CINEMA: Chennaiyil Oru Naal!

MY TAKE ON CINEMA: Chennaiyil Oru Naal!: Chennaiyil Oru Naal is supposedly a remake of 'Traffic' a successful Malayalam film! I say 'supposedly' as I have not watch...

Chennaiyil Oru Naal!

Chennaiyil Oru Naal is supposedly a remake of 'Traffic' a successful Malayalam film! I say 'supposedly' as I have not watched Traffic. The film starts with a happy carefree young girl driving a car and suddenly notices a few bike Romeo's following her. The girl panics and drives through a stop sign and accidentally hits a motor bike. The bike's pillion an aspiring radio jockey after obtaining the blessings of his parents and a fond goodbye from his girl friend is on his way to interview the 'supreme star' suffers a fatal head injury while his friend the rider escapes with minor injuries owing to his protective head gear (though due to the impact both of them are tossed up over 10 to 13ft in the air like rag dolls).The junction has a few other characters waiting at the traffic signal. A doctor and his close friend in a car. The doc is driving a new car as a surprise gift to his wife while his friend ( portrayed as a Casanova) is happily coo chi cooing  on the phone to a unseen girl trying desperately to take her to bed asap much to the amusement of his friend (Prassanna). Little does he realize that his buddy is two timing him. At the same time some where in the city a local counselor successfully reinstates a suspended traffic head constable (gets caught accepting a bribe owing to a difficult family situation) using his clout with a minister. At the same time Prakash Raj the busy supreme star of the Tamil film industry is happily studio hopping and thereby has no time for his family- a doting daughter and wife (Radhika).
The main plot

The protagonist the pillion rider is rushed to a big multi national hospital where the doctors somehow come to the conclusion (using rather complicated medical jargon) that the boy will not survive much to the anger and charging of his father (J.P) a leading surgeon and is wife (Lakshmi Ramakrisnan). Suddenly the doting daughter of Prakash Raj is diagnosed with a heart problem and is admitted in Vellore. The proagnist

Paradesi - A directors take!

PARADESI – Is this film a Documentary, a Visual Narrative of sorts, a feature film, an art film,  a docu-drama or a fantasy film conjured by a film director’s futile attempt to promote and show case his talent in film making. Let me take one step at a time in reviewing this film.

1)           The dry landscape of the film sets the tone of the film so much so even the lush green tea gardens of Nilgiris somehow looks dry and parched. Even the water sources seem like puddles and the Lovely queen of hills gives you the feel that the el nino effect was fast transforming  the lush green Nilgiri landscape  into a desert even as far back in 1939. The camera texture, angles, and lighting adds to the rawness of the film. The costumes especially the ikkath and block printed saris worn by the women definitely do not belong to that period. The costumes worn by the male characters were also not convincing enough ( especially the dhotis probably dipped and stained in a cauldron of tea leaves to make them look soiled and dirty failed to convince me of the authenticity of that period). The film maker’s portrayal of our rulers the British was by far the biggest joke of them all! The Euoropean boss man of the tea estate talks better Tamil ( ie. an average Tamil speaking like yours truly can follow) than the Tamil spoken by the Ramanathapuram villagers whose dialect I could not follow most often. I think these days one has to learn all the dialects of Tamil spoken throughout the state to understand the dialogues spoken in Tamil films. Kadal being the most recent example and now Paradesi! The British tea estate owners were at most times portrayed as drunken rapists. In between the lone British lady unconvincingly tries to glorify Gandhiji’s noble traits and ideals.

2)           Next comes the Indo British doctor and his devout white Christian wife’s who desperately try to desperately convert the Hindu (idiot) natives using some amazing at times comical techniques in their conversion methods. In fact their crazy rap like dance steps and Michael Jackson movements are the only lighter and comedy track in the film. One movement even comically depicts the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That will be my next point in this review.

3)           I wonder how so much of crudity and vulgar dialogues were passed over by the censors and a U certificate was issued by censors when lesser directorial sins were dealt with severely and mercilessly by our censors in the recent past. I suppose national award winning directors get the red carpet treatment and such liberties are condoned and pardoned by the august body.

4)           What was this filmmaker trying to convey, that plantation workers during the pre independence era ie. during the British rule were treated like scum. They were treated as bonded labour/slaves and were repeatedly exploited/vandalized/raped and tortured. But so were indigo planters and millions of other Indian natives and that is why the country under the leadership of Gandhi revolted and fought for their basic human freedom. Now does the director during the course or end of the film ever so much as tries to convey that such practices exist even today. No he does not! So what is the film maker trying to convey – that slavery very much existed in India as it did in the USA and other white dominated countries. Kudos to the film maker for enlightening this point repeatedly in the year 2013. Does this remarkable revelation strike an emotional chord or is one able to empathize and connect with the characters in the film. An empathic No would be my answer. Well that is my next point.

5)           The histrionics ( Many a time termed as over acting when the late Sivaji Ganeshan enacted such scenes more convincingly and with aplomb in the past) than Atharva who plays the main lead in the story. All the torture he endures under his captors, especially the portion where his ankle bone or tendon (don’t really know as the lighting was rather dark) is pinched with pliers to restrict his movements still fails to evince even an iota of empathy or sympathy from yours truly. Atharva’s Tamil diction and pronunciation while dubbing seems rather forced and put on. His delivery was for most part not in sync with the lingo of that period as played out by the film maker. The first female lead Vedika plays her part more convincingly in parts but even her acting powers failed to enhance her part in the film. Her makeup turns from dark to dusky to fair as the film progresses. The child she gives birth to seems to have inherited her skin pigmentation from someone else other than her parents (which is off course genetically possible). The second lead in the film Dhansika is the only stand out performance in this film. She surpasses herself in the role given to her and has naturally essayed herself into the role she plays. She reminds one of Nandita Dass at her best. This damsel will go a long way if she gets the right breaks. Other than her the character who plays the native slave master has played his part to the tee and deserves applause. There were other minor characters like the hunch backed old grandmother, the native quack doctor (whose one lens spectacle baffled me since the doctor seems to be earning quite a bit and could easily afford a decent pair of spectacles) and the slave master’s wife have also played their respective parts reasonably well.

6)           Finally let me sum up the review. Director Bala has not done enough research on the subject of the film. He has failed to bring out anything out of the ordinary with respect to the performance of the actors. The actors over act and react most often times. The re recording score is jarring most times. On the whole the music acts as a deterrent to the subject. The songs do not stick and the music director has failed to understand the subject. Less said about the costumes the better. On the whole director Bala is on a solo trip and one gets the feeling that he cares two hoots about what the viewers feels about this film. Yours truly while watching the film under great duress wanted to SCREAM every now and then “WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TURN THE LIGHTS I CANNOT SEE ANYTHING”  but better sense prevailed in the end, hence this REVIEW.

Yours truly,

hC