TENALIRAMAN – AIYO! RAMA!
Cast: - Vadivelu – TenaliRaman/Maamannan, Meenakshi
Dixit-Princess Maadhulai, Radha Ravi, Manobala, G.M.Kumar, Bala Singh, Santhana
Bharathi, Shanmuggarajan, Joe Malloori, Kingkong, Namo Narayana, Besant Nagar
Ravi, Baby Neha
& Crew: - S/S/D – Yuvaraj Dhayalan, Music-D.Imman,
D.O.P.-Ramnath Shetty, Edit - Producers- Kalpathi S.Aghoram, Kalpathi S Ganesh,
Kalpathi S.Suresh
Direction, story & Screenplay: - This
film will make history undoubtedly as the comeback “waterloo” of sorts for
Vadivelu who can be termed as a wonderful native comedian in the history of
Tamil cinema. In this double whammy Vadivelu plays the part of the king (38
wives & 52 children each destined to rule the kingdom for a week. Simple! 52 WEEKS = 1 YEAR. Did that amuse you!
Really! Then you must be as much as an idiot as the king). He also dons the hat
of TenaliRaman (He looks like a hostage with a gun constantly being held to his
head). It is indeed very sad that the premise of this film is a total
annihilation of the very word “comedy”. It is supposedly a spoof of the legendary “Tenali
Ramakrishna” who once upon a time ruled the royal court of emperor Krishna Deva
Raya as a court jester/poet! It is really a wonder that the director managed to
humour the producers while narrating the story! Or were they fast asleep and
dreamt of a different story! The film
opens with the nine gems of the emperor meeting the Chinese in China ( CG Version
straight out an old comic book, the one with snow falling etc normally depicted
in a UNICEF Christmas greeting card). Eight out of the nine are hatching a plan
to sell their boss (Indian King) and their kingdom to the evil Chinese and one
turns out to be the “good sheep” and is summarily dealt with by a woman “ninja”
warrior who looks more like a masseur
from the north east. The first half starts with an introduction to Tenali Raman
and how he fixes the local thugs by making them dig a well in search of temple
treasure. Correlation - ASI recent attempts to dig for treasure. Tenali again tricks the thugs by “stung by the
bees trick”. Both these comical
incidents will make small children wince in disgust! Then Tenali rides away in
the sunset and reaches the “Vikada Kingdom”. Here again we are treated to a series of three to four juvenile stories straight out of an Amar Chitra Katha/Ambulimama
comic book. Story 1) The guard is cleverly tricked by Tenali and gets whip lashed by the king. Story 2) The elephant gets into a small earthen pot.
Story 3) Tenali tricks the king and escapes certain death. I am sure that by
now you would have all guessed that all the above incidents are orchestrated by
the jealous courtesans of the court. Amidst all these stupid attempts by the
director to evoke laughter, of course he cares two hoots of all your sighs & cries to
make him end this humiliation to comedy so continues in his relentless pursuit
to be crowned the comedy killjoy King of 2014! To make matters worse he even
manages to introduce princess “Madulai” (Meenakshi Dikshit) another one of
these pretty lasses imported from the north of India this time to adorn the “Vijayangar”
court of Krishnadevaraya! And lo and behold she falls for our “Vengai Puyal”
Vadivelu! After a few songs etc the courtesans under acute Chinese pressure
(few more masseurs from Sikkim/Nepal) the dense and stupid courtesans finally manage
to oust and banish Tenali Raman out of Vijayanagar. But not to be outdone (love
is totally blind in this case) Madulai manages to convince her father of the
greatness of Tenali and gets him back so that she could sing and dance a few
more duets with him.
2nd Half: - The king
finally (to our horror) discovers that he should live among his subjects for 10
whole days to see their actual plight. Tenali (who initially starts as a member
of a gang of rebels/revolutionists’ in a bid to overthrow the stupid king
subsequently becomes an admirer of the king/the future son in law too) supports
him in this brainless mission. Here on the king becomes a dumb ass and struts
around town which is now totally controlled by Chinese businessmen (few more imports
from Assam/Nepal/Sikkim etc). Surprise! Surprise! No one recognizes him with his pulled down mustache (Tenali’s brainwave
to disguise the king). He therefore now able to "freely" mingle among his subjects and a) meets a “blind less” blind
man, b) a dwarf who doubles as a street dancer, c) hops on one foot as his
footwear is stolen by thugs d) he is forced to pull a cart owned by an obese cart man
who looks like a sumo wrestler and e) even drinks "stinking KUZHU” from a girl who looks
like an actor from a TV serial (She really is). Are you laughing your guts out! Please take a
breath and listen i have more, the director has thrown in even a tribe of cannibals as added bonus to entertain
you until you kill yourself from "crying!" Finally the emperor thanks Tenali Raman, who by now has become a de-facto
king and a preacher (Trying to outsmart Vivek & oppose Walmart). The king then becomes a teeny-weeny bit
smarter than he is made out to be and motivates his subjects with the help of a few dolls to outsmart the
Chinese and the villainous courtesans and ……..
& the Climax: - I leave it to
your imagination after you stop laughing and watch the final nail being
hammered into the coffin and seal the fate of “comedy”
for one final time in this “tragedy” of a film!
Acting: - Vadivelu as the King & TenaliRaman one feels very sad to see this
versatile self made actor who has essayed some amazing performances in his long
and chequered career in Tamil cinema. This role is a very pale shadow of even
the film 23 aam Pulikesi. In fact the character he has played is so alien to his
style that it takes away any seriousness from the role. Vadivelu has made one
and all laugh at his sense of timing and jokes but in this film, the jokes on
him. As Tenali Raman, he seems so hesitant and dazed that one wonders whether
he is now affected by some kind of acting amnesia. He is a pale shadow of the
original Vaigai Puyal; the Puyal has dissipated and no longer has the strength
to create the havoc it ones did to the viewers of Tamil cinema. The director of
this film is guilty of almost bringing to an end this actor’s long stint as an
able comedian.
Meenakshi Dikshit as “Maduali” WOW! Is pretty, WOW! Has a
great figure, WOW! Has a fair complexion but OW! As far as her performance is
concerned I wouldn't blame her much as the director has used her as a dressed
up bimbo and nothing more! But come on guys give her a break. All said and done
the hero looks like her DAD!
The rest Radha Ravi and the nine gems along
with scores of famous faces & names simply come and go in drama costumes.
It reminds one of the film Longest Day when hundreds of Hollywood actors
appeared as an ode to the allies victory on the beaches of Normandy. At least
there it had some purpose and meaning but in this film. It looked like a mythological
drama being enacted on the lawns of the Vidhan Soudha! Am I making sense? No I
am not and I blame my present mental condition entirely on this film!
Camera: - One shot of the pigeon using CG
graphics is the only scene in the film worth mentioning.
Music: - My dear friend BOSSKEY immediately
spotted the following: - Song 1- a lift from the song “Thirudathey papa
Thirudathe”. Song 2 - a lift from the song “naan Sirithaal Deeapvali” film
Nayagan. Song 3 - lift from the song “Ovaa oru Pookalumey” Film Autograph. BG
score the less said the better.
Art: - Straight out of a Drama set.
Choreo: - Standard stuff
Stunts: - The entire film was a stunt to fool
you to believe that it is a comedy flick!
Edit: - The editor should have cut off about
120 mins of the film.
The one’s that made you
laugh: - NOTHING!
The one’s that downed
you in tears: - EVERYTHING!
Finally to sum it all
up, a quote: “Take your children to watch this film. If they can last the full
duration of this film rest assured they will never again ask you to take you to
watch an “Adults Only film!”
Left right & Centre:
- This is my ODE to my dear friends “NGS*- Padi Kuzhu” who have assembled there
for the last 25 years 24*7, 365 days without whom I would have never discovered
the wonderful world of comedy! Today I had the proud privilege of watching this
film with most of them and I give below their comments which I value immensely!
Prasad: - “Manaa!
Veliye Pogaatheergal! Ungalai Kondru Viduvaargal!
Sridhar: - “Tenali Rama!
Naan indha theatre aai vittu udane sellavillayel Ennaiye naan kuthi kondruviduven”
Gopal: - Vadivelu has
been the comedy for many a film but in this comedy film there is no place for
Vadivelu!
Balu: - (observing a
few ambulances whizzing past after seeing the film) “I think all of them are
being rushed to the hospital after watching Tenali Raman”!
*NGS –Between 8 to 10
you can meet them all on the steps of Naradha Gana Sabha, Chennai even today!
Bottom Line: - HUMOUR HUMILIATED!
Until next time,
Director Haricharan
Chennai
16/04/2014
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