Vasu Ramanujam's Blog

I came across this gem of a short movie, thanks to an article by S.Ramakrishnan in this week’s Ananda Vikatan. Watch it!

Of late, I hear a lot about “generation gap”  and how this is affectign the relationship between, say, Father and Son or Mom and Daughter… But I think what has not changed is the emotional connect, the primordial bonding between a Father/Son or Mom/Daughter…

Enjoy this short movie…

What is that? (Τι είναι αυτό;) 2007 from MovieTeller on Vimeo.

*phew* managed to send in my application to the Chennai International screenwriting workshop. As usual, procrastinated till the last moment ( today is the last day, you see ). 

This is a great initiative by the industry stalwarts and veterans who are willing to share their experience and expertise with wannabe movie aspirants.  The eligibility criteria is pretty straightforward – a. Resume b. 200 word synopsis of your favorite movie c. list of 5 favorite movies d. passport size photograph. 

It is a difficult choice to pick only 5 of one’s favorite movies. But it had to be done, so the methodology I adopted was simple – any movie that was on top of my mind, 2. it had to cover one specific geographic location/ genre 3. it had universal appeal 4. it should be “zara hatke” kind of a movie ( i know, it contradicts #3 ),… Well, here’s the list I came up with

• Agantuk aka “The Stranger” – by Satyajit Ray
• Dr. StrangeLove – by Stanley Kubrick
• Cinema Paradiso – by Giuseppe Tornatore
• Amores perros -  by Alejandro González Iñárritu
• Bacheha-Ye aseman aka “ Children of Heaven” – by Majid Majid

As for the synopsis of a favorite movie, here’s what I wrote on PI- the movie…

What do you get when you juxtapose Chaos Theory,Wall Street greediness, a maverick genius in search of a formula and a fringe cult which believes in God’s ultimate equation for the Universe…Well, You get Pi, by Aaron Sarforsky.In these days where Twitter reigns supreme,one could summarise it as follows - 

“Original, Brilliant, Clever, Exhilirating and Diabolic (in that order)… “

 Shot entirely in Black and White, you are hooked onto the movie, right from the word “Go”.You get to experience the “mind’s eye” of Max cohen, a brilliant mathematician, albeit on the fringes of insanity.He is in pursuit of cracking open the Wall Street madness, working in solitude in his cramped NYC apartment, on his self built super computer.His passion to find a solution to PI is accentuated by the splitting migraine headaches that hurt him so much that he blacks out often. He trusts no one, except Sol, his professor, with whom he plays “Go”. Sol warns him of his affliction, but is unable get him out of his mad pursuit. Wall Street vultures get a hang of what Max is upto and are after him. So is a religious cult which believes Max holds the key to their tryst with God.

 As Max progresses with his solution, you are sucked into a vortex, leading to a thrilling journey, with a heady cocktail of suspense and intrigue. Does Max succeed? Who gets to have his formula? – The answers to these make up the rest of the story.

 For a directorial debut, Sarforsky shows mastery over the art of movie making.He is infinetely helped by the phsychedelic techno- fusion music, amazing cinematography, clever editing and ofcourse a brilliant cast.

 For any aspiring film maker/ screenwriter/ reviewer or just a movie fan like myself, PI would definetely make for an intellectually stimulating and satisfying watch.

You remember, there was this movie called Cinema Paradiso, which revolved around an old man and his grandson trying to revive an old theater in a non descript italian town.

Last time I visited coimbatore, i felt little bit like Alfredo, when I walked past the Shanmuga Theatre on Mettupalayam road, near Poo market ( Flower market)… This was pretty close to home and my mom tells me that it was pretty famous once upon a time, circa 1970′s.

My first movie theater experience, as far as i can remember, was in Rainbow theater. I distinctly remember this, because, my dad was a great fan of English/Western movies and movie outing was an event in itself.For a movie that would start at 6:30 PM, my mom would get all worked up even by 3:30 pm. Also, there would be three bottles of  Trinka , different flavours( yes, true, there was a brand called Trinka at that time, similar to Rasna) all refrigerated and waiting to be sipped. I always remember my dad wearing a white kurtha/pyjama and like a little zamindar or sthing, he would wave for an auto which would stop by at our place. For a middle class family, the Auto was a luxury and with much fanfare, we would embark on the journey towards the theater. 

“Gods must be Crazy” was the movie, i think. All I remember was laughing hysterically at the native african waiting for the coca-cola bottle….and ofcourse, me waiting for Trinka to be served in small steel cups that my mom packed, along with Sri Krishna Sweets… I don’t remember Mysorepa being famous then.

Anyways, back to movie/theaters..

Being  in R.S.puram meant that we had easy access to atleast 4 to 5 theaters. From the top of my head, I remember

1. Shanmuga Theater – used to be a super duper theater once, but in the late 90′s degenerated to screening soft porn/ x rated movies… I distinctly remember watching “kulebagavali” starring MGR and “Maya bazaar”, one of my all time favorites in this theater. I did watch, along with some of my friends, some other movies that will not find a mention here . 

2. Archana/ Darsana – > All the latest movies with big star names/cast used to screen here… predominantly Rajini movies with huge banners/rasigar manrams jamming the entire area. I probably frequented this theater more than anything else, as it was maintained pretty neat, and ofcourse, because of its proximity to my home. I remember watching Mudhal Mariyadhai ( which ran for an eternity), Nayakan, Thalapathi , Guna and countless other movies..

3. Central/ Kanakadhara –> Central, the bigger of the two, was the favorite theater to screen the latest English flicks. Kanakadhara focused on screening Hindi movies. Some of my most memorable movies here include Quamat se Quamat tak ( which I believe was the first movie in Kanakadhara or was it Fast Forward), Hercules, Guns of Navarone, Where Eagles dare, countless Bond movies…. The other thing i remember about Central was its canteen which was unenviably placed near the men’s bathroom, but nevertheless served tasty “keerai vadai/paruppu vadai”. 

4. Maruthi Theater  - It was competing with Central but their focus area was mainly B- grade English flicks. I remember watching a few Jackie chan movies here.

5. Kennedy Theater – It used to be famous, but I don’t remember seeing any movies in this theater.

6. Apsara Theater – Located near the central bus stand in Gandhipuram, this one also used to screen Hindi movies. but later degenerated into screening what in the local parlance was called the “bit” movies…movies interspesed with mallu sleazy scenes. Initially, they used to screen Jackie Chan movies, who probably had a huge following even then, what with his Protector running for more than 100+ days, i think..

7. Carnatic Theater – I dont even remember where this is located now…

8. Kavitha Theater - I may have got this wrong, but this one was close to the Gandhipuram bus stand. All I remember is that Ramarajan/Murali/Vijaykanth movies used to be screened here.. I guess, he knew his market profile very well

9. Shanti (?) Theater - Near the railway station…

Apart from these, there were others within the city, the most famous of them being KG complex  on Race Course road with 4 screens (10 -14. Ragam/Thanam/Pallavi/ Anupallavi) and the Karpagam Complex with three screens ( 15-17 Ganga/Yamuna/Kaveri) which screened predominantly tamil movies. Anupallavi was a small screen theater, pretty much like what we see in today’s multiplexes..

18/19. GP Geetham/Preetham – These were in Ganapathy, but this theater was owned by my dad’s friend, so I was privy to some of the prescreenings of some movies. I even ventured into the operators room once.I even ventured into the operators room once and viewed the movie through the projector screen/lens. It was an awesome experience.

20. Sivasakthi theater – Located in the heart of Saibaba colony, this finds mention for the sole reason that it had exclusive “sofa sets” in the balcony -much like your PVR cinemas- Gold class. Not to mention its “world class  audio  system” ( I would like to believe it was Bose) which was so unique that people outside, on the street, or people residing in nearby homes ( like my friend), could hear the dialogues much better than the folks who were inside . Mostly, this theater used to screen re-runs on ‘second’ screenings of hit movies. 

oh well…now I feel like Cheran, and I should start singing “Nybagam varudhe, Nyabagam varudhe“……

So, we just finished watching The Graduate starring the inimitable Dustin Hoffman in one of his stellar roles as a young graduate in love with an older woman ( and her daughter ). 

I knew Kamal was ( and is) greatly influenced by this actor ( who would’nt be? Not just Kamal, even the directors seem to find his movies fascinating). However, what struck me was the entire set of Dustin Hoffman’s  emotions that Kamal seem to have taken a liking to… Not that there is anything wrong with it, per se… Kamal probably felt like “Ekalavya”  to Dustin “Dronacharya” Hoffman.

I still remember seeing Tootsie long  before it morphed into Mrs.Doubtfire which was an inspiration to Kamal’s own Avvai Shanmugi. I thought I was the only one who figured out Kamal’s love for Dustin. well..I stand corrected… Kamal himself has this to say 

“The closest I feel to is Dustin Hoffman who shares many of my paradoxes. Physical appearance to begin with.”

Hmm….I, for one, completely agree… Just check out Kamal’s characterisation in Aboorva Ragangal  and Dustin’s portrayal in The Graduate…. you’ll know what i mean…

While we are at linking Brad Pitt with Suriya, I might as well share with you an interesting clipping I saw on TED. Of late, I have taken to watching lot of TED clippings on my creative zen player via “Zencast” . This comes in very handy, when I go for my morning walks in my neighbourhood. As an aside, let me tell you that I do some brisk walking for around 40 -45 minutes, covering 7 – 8 Kms, at an average of 6-8 mins/km, depending upon who is on my walkway .

Ed Ulbrich, the special effects director behind the movie, tells us the remarkable story about the making of face of Benjamin Button.  It is amazing and I recommend you watch this.

Yes, I know what you are thinking.. Why am i linking Suriya (yes, that’s how the title card shows up in AYAN, nameology, Mr.Suriya?) with Benjamin Button? 

I happened to watch AYAN a couple of days ago at PVR cinemas, Bangalore. What struck me is the remarkable transformation that Surya has undergone way back from his awkward dancing steps in Nerukku Ner ( with that gorgeous actress Simran, but that is a completely different post in itself) to his amazing total screen presence mesmerizing the audience in AYAN. 

 While AYAN is your usual run-of-the-mill masala story with some unusual twists and turns that keep you engaged once in a while, what makes it worth a watch is Surya, all the way…. 

Here is a curious case of someone getting younger by each movie ( Vaaranam Ayiram was a definite feather in the cap movie that was for , sorry for the cliche, “the classes” , while AYAN reaches out for “the masses” ). 

So, here’s hoping that Surya could take up some kind of a time machine and do a “Curious case of Benjamin Button ” type movie sometime in the near future.