Ye Maaya Chesave (Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya): About the 'unpredictable woman'!

So, K Balachander has written to Gautam Vasudev Menon raving about his latest movie Ye Maaya Chesave (Original 'Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya' in Tamil meaning “Will You Come Down the Sky?”) and told him he is the next icon. It's unfair to compare both the versions as the climax seems to vary. The producers of Telugu version, in line with widely-held belief that Telugu audience would NEVER accept a sad/less-than-shubham card kind of ending, changed the the original 'unhappy' climax. So the very intent of the movie is lost in Telugu version. That is because the movie was implying an unhappy ending all through. There was hardly a scene where the two lovers were uninhibited about their love. In fact, the movie was peppered with dialogues like "she is my one-way ticket to heartbreak city!" from the guy and "let me feel this pain, I like this pain" from the girl. It is the stylised picturization, background score and Music that makes this movie look like a mushy love story and not the content.

And compounding the intent-loss is the fact that as in his previous movie, Menon focuses self-indulgently on his story-telling and not the story. As he himself says "More than falling in love, therefore, the film’s story focuses on “what happens in the next moment.” It is kind of running commentary, day in and day out of a guy who just fell in love. The guy is spontaneous and the Girl so confused. And Love being such a complex emotion, the story shows its two protagonists in behaviours outside the realm of reason or logic. The lady is in a iterative loop of indecision and the guy in a similar loop of hope and frustration, depending on his lady's mood. All love stories dished out in Indian movies more or less revolve around external hurdles like families, villains or external circumstances. Maniratnam's 'Sakhi' (Alaipayuthey in Tamil, Saathiya in Hindi) was the only reasonable exception to dig into the lovers' psyche to create a conflict. But that was a case of love after marriage. But Menon takes the big challenge by creating conflict from the lovers' own complexities. After all, in a world this complex when guys and girls do lot of thinking to decide what they want, accepting someone as love and then life-partner is no simple thing. Menon exposes these predicaments, vulnerabilities and fragility in the romance by relying on the universally celebrated 'women are unpredictable' stereotype. Even in Telugu we have this famous line 'Adavaarimaatalaku ardhaleverule' (Women speak something but mean something else). So here, Jessi, the lady's characteristics manifest in all complexities this love cycle goes through. This is a very unconventional characterization by Menon as this is the first time, I saw, a complete movie is dedicated to the 'unpredicatble woman'.

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AR Rahman's BG score and Music captures the mood just right. The movie is stylishly made as is Menon's wont. The Alleppey shots are breath-taking and Rajeev Menon got a credit for the location. Samantha, the lady in Telugu version is perfectly cast. Her costumes are perfect and her acting elegant. I did not quite get Nagachaitanya's line of acting. He was just being himself all through the movie and could not present his character well. Even the earnestness seen in his debut movie is missing. Gautam Vasudev Menon continues his Surya S/O Krishnan (Vaaranam Aayiram) kind of musings in Ye Maaya Chesave.

Well, the 80 year old living legend of Tamil cinema Balachander wrote the viewers are wise and they got it, the viewers who liked the movie point to us Balachander is a legend and those who didn't say, rather uncharitably, that KB is now 80 and lost sense of judgement!

The reactions are so drastically different. Some rave about it and others completely trash it. One of my friends' mom supposedly said she always wondered why viewers would throw stones at a screen until she saw this one! Others with their brush with cupid can't stop raving about how the complexities of a crush are beautifully portrayed on screen. Ye Maaya Chesave is like poetry. Those who can relate to it appreciate it. Those who can't get bored like hell. It is an intensely personal experience, like Menon's earlier Surya starrer. It is a genuinely honest movie, well-made. The only mistake, I thought, was changing the climax for Telugu. The original climax would have avoided the confusion that now set in about the 'story' of the movie. Changing the climax killed the spirit of the movie and made the viewers wonder about the whole point of the movie.

Blue: Bollywood's shame

AR Rahman could have as well made Blaaze and co sing '....Blues...' instead of '..Blueeeeeeeeeeee, Buluuu..'! The headache we are rewarded with for watching this far overwhelms the only plus of the movie - the songs. It is entirely believable if we are told Rahman took up this assignment just because if was paid a bomb. Nothing else could have inspired him to take up a dumb project like this. Well,my focus in this post is on him because his association lured me to go watch this. Otherwise i would have struck to my long standing rule of watching movies based only on the sole criteria - the filmmaker. A debutant director here poured in a 100 crores to dish this trash, almost with a confidence of making another Dhoom2 on an extra large scale! It's unbelievable. Not a single scene looked imaginative! Dialogues are dumb and aimless. Even the superb songs are picturised with little taste. Just see Fiqraana to get my point. There is no soul. All we are dished out are those stunts we can sit home and watch in star movies. Collectively, all actors can say this is their worst movie in acting department. The credit goes to the debutant director. It is a shame to call this Bollywood's most ambitious project just because the makers had too much money to waste. And about Rahman's choices, I learnt my lesson. I will Stick to my rules.

Jai Ho Rahman, the new national hero

When i was growing up in my teens, there was only one thing world class in our country - Sachin Tendulkar. Years later, now, we have another to boast about - AR Rahman.

The music of "Slumdog .." is not Rahman's best but with its cosmopolitan and diverse compositions, it aptly sums up Rahman's kind of music. While his music summed up his worldview that celebrates diversity, his words on the Oscar night were a flash from his spirituality and beliefs. Rahman's message about 'choosing love' is apt in a world torn by terror. Is it not symbolic enough that a Muslim conveys that message on the stage of West's biggest entertainment night? It is an irony that when the most vociferous of Muslims worldwide are cultivating a hate for anything American, two Indian Muslims embrace their Oscars and flaunt them. Talk about Indian pragmatism!

And now after the Oscars, Rahman would obviously get more busy with the western productions and we Rahmaniacs should be prepared to hear less of him (Unless, of course, we Indians produce movies with universal tales, which is highly unlikely in next few years). That is the way to go. Jai Ho.

AR Rahman: On his way to a Double Oscar?

Will he win both the Oscars? There is a very good chance he will. If he does, he would be emulating Howard Shore. In 2003, Howard Shore won 2 Oscars, one for the Best original score and the other for Best Original Song for the movies 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'. As the Oscar weekend arrives, interest is understandable high in India for the nominations of AR Rahman, Gulzar and Rasool Pookutty. Especially AR Rahman -'The Mozart of Madras' as the TIME magazine called him, has a very good chance of achieving what Pandit Ravi Shankar couldn't in 1982 for 'Gandhi'. Pt.Ravi Shankar was then nominated for Best Original Score.

He is expected to at least win the Oscar for 'Best Original Score' hands down. In fact, he has an unfair advantage with 'Slumdog Millionaire', which is shaped on the lines of a Mumbai-made Hindi film, where the music is as important as the imagery and the narrative. “We wanted it edgy, upfront. Danny [Boyle, who directed] wanted it loud,” says Rahman about the score. So his soundtrack occupies the central space and propels 'Slumdog..' with its zing and grandeur. Music in Other Hollywood nominations, obviously, do not serve that kind of impact. It is difficult to imagine how 'Slumdog..' would have shaped without that kind of score. He won the Oscar for the score at every major film festival in past few weeks, including the Golden Globe, BAFTA and the Critics Choice Awards in LA.

Now this brings us to his Double nominations in the Song category for the songs 'O Saya..' and 'Jai Ho..'. The other sole nomination is from “Down to Earth” from 'WALL-E'. Rahman, in addition to the 2 nominations, has an advantage here too. The Academy has always shown a tendency of shying away from awarding tracks relegated to a film’s closing credits. They believe these kind of songs are mainly tools to market the movie and the movie wouldn't suffer without the song. In other words, the academy looks not just at the merit of a tune but also how vital the tune is within the narrative of the movie. The Peter Gabriel's song from 'WALL-E' plays over the closing credits. So Rahman is undeniably the favourite and my favourite is 'O Saya..' which amidst all slum poverty brings out the joie de vivre of Jamal and Salim in 'Slumdog..'. However, it is also to be noted that the WALL-E song won the Grammy last week. But then 'Slumdog..' was not in fray. The Golden Globe was won by "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen from the movie 'The Wrestler', which to the shock of many of the fans of 'The Boss', is not even nominated for the Oscar. But then, this song too plays over the closing credits.
The nominations show that the Academy is nodding to a world beyond Hollywood. That fits in well when they have a president in White House with Kenyan ancestry. It would be a great thing for Indian music. And considering that 'slumdog..' is not exactly Rahman's best when you think about what he dished out last year in 'Jodha Akbar' or the 'Delhi 6' stuff that's ruling airwaves these days, we can be sure many more young musicians would be ready to work hard and experiment with the many sounds - Western classical, Indian classical, jazz, opera, sufi, folk, African beats, Arabian sounds, reggae, hip-hop, rap, rock, pop, blues etc. Rahman has been fervently doing all this especially the last couple of years.

Indians who won Oscar earlier -
Bhanu Athaiya, shared the Oscar with John Mollo for "Costume Design" (1982) for the film "Gandhi".
Vanita Rangaraju-Ramanan, was credited with an Oscar in the "Technical - Lighting" category for the animation film "Shrek" (2002).
Satyajit Ray, won the Lifetime Achievement Special Oscar (1992).

There could be others of Indian origin in technical crew in Hollywood productions who won an Oscar. Starting this edition, we many not have search on the net for our winners :)

Jaane Tu.. Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na: Rahman flows free

Well, when is the last time we saw (rather heard..)Rahman flow so free, ? I don’t recollect. That is maybe, because he has been doing high-duty stuff like he did in Jodha Akbar in Hindi. Otherwise, he is in Tamil doing the beats for the dance numbers,. Somehow, filmi music down south got so heavy on the ears.
So he here he is crooning Jaane Tu ..Jaane ya Jaane Na,.Maane Tu.. Maane Tu ya Maanena…. I heard him sound that way only after Rangeela! That’s what I meant, Rahman flows free here.

Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi is now all over the place as the trailer but Runa Rizvi’s and Sukhwinder’s Jaane Tu Mera Kya Hai silently will share the honours. I would like to see how these are picturised. While Pappu cant dance is the peppy number, others too, especially Nazrein Milaana Nazrein Churaana have the relaxed tone that speaks for the texture of the film. The music will catapult the movie from nowhere to the top. This being a desperate summer, looks like we have a decent hit on cards. Cheer up folks.