ARTS & CULTURE

“I consider myself a trained actor”

The character actor Nasser continues to shine, regardless of his role. Chennai-online.com met him as he worked on his new venture, ‘Maayan’.

FILM POPULARITY sometimes causes a kind of chemistry endowing the person with an illusory halo. Actors may get carried away and begin to believe their publicity - which should not be surprising given the legions of 'fans'.

Nasser stands out in such a crowd. He is not afraid of smoking his beedi even now. There is always a good gathering around him, discussing literature and politics or the happenings around.

He participates in various functions like book release or drama and is alive to his surrounding very much. His speech, manners and attitude reveal the responsible citizen in him.

Interviewing Nasser is an experience in itself. You don't feel like speaking to a film star. He is so friendly and open that we are happy that we came to speak with him.

Here are excerpts from a conversation with him.

Tell us something about your film 'Maayan'.

'Maayan' is my third venture. It is the name of the character I play in the movie. You know, the name of the character I played in 'Thevar Magan' was also Maayan. People have already seen me with that name and that is why I chose this as the title.

It revolves round a local hero who champions the cause of the oppressed and by the force of circumstances becomes a thief. He then transforms into a freedom fighter. The theme is handled in such a way that it can reach the masses easily. The story goes back to 60 years. We have compiled actual events that happened in different places and created the character of Maayan. This is a period film, happening in the freedom struggle days. But it is not about freedom struggle itself. That has a place in the movie, though.

What about the shooting in Sri Lanka?

We went there to shoot a song sequence. A form of dance called Kandian dance is popular there. I happened to see it in a wedding in Sri Lanka. It is a traditional dance form there. I liked it, may because of the close resemblance of costumes and movements that it has with our own dance forms. We therefore shot a song sequence with the Kandian dance. Nothing more special about it.

What is the idea of shooting a song sequence in a place - just because it is out of India - when there is no relevance to the story?

If you go into that question, just tell me what relevance can songs have in a movie? Songs are nonetheless an essential part of any movie here. This is a rule that cannot be broken by anyone. Of late it has become an essential practice to shoot a song sequence in some foreign land. You need some new locale to show on the screen. After all, people should not be given the same old places again and again.

I went there because I wanted to use those 30 artistes who specialised the particular dance form. It was the question of expenses. We considered the question, 'Would it be cheaper if we brought them here, or if we went there ourselves?' We went there because we found it would be a lot cheaper to go there and shoot. That was why we went there to shoot.

I have my own reservations about going to a foreign country, unless the story demands it. But the present trend makes it inevitable. When the very movie is not realistic, there is nothing big about shooting a song sequence in a foreign land that may not be directly relevant to the movie.

You are using drama artistes to large extent in your movies. What is the scale you apply for acting?

I consider myself as a trained actor. I believe that it will be easier to work with trained artistes. That is as simple as that. It is therefore that I prefer the stage artistes.

A good doctor needs to have a good training. That goes well for acting too. May be there are a few exceptions like Sivaji. But their stage background stood them in good stead. The actors need to be trained too. Like a writer has to be familiar with his medium - the language - an actor has to be familiar with his medium too.

It is said that Malayalam sex movies run far more profitably than any other good movie…

The wheel is doing its circle again. It was the same situation some 15 years ago. A few directors and heroes turned it in a healthy direction. That has completed a circle now and the wheel is once again in its old position. This will change too.

The roles you play on the screen are not like what you really are… Are you satisfied with the roles that you are playing?

It is not necessary that the wine shop owner must be a drunkard too or the paan vendor should keep chewing and spitting paan everywhere. That is the kind of roles that are given to me. I have to play them, whether I like them or not. It is my profession. And I do it without remorse.

‘In no way inferior to Hollywood’

THERE'S NEWS that would double the joy for Kamal fans. Nandakumar and Vijaykumar will clash for public viewing, most probably by September 21. Nandu and Vijay if you didn't know yet, are Kamal Hassan's latest avatars in 'Aalavanthaan writes Sudhish Kamath for The Hindu'.

The seasoned showman has put in more than double the efforts for his dual role-putting on weight and shaving his head for the epitome of evil, Nandu. Given that the film is a good guy Vijay versus bad guy Nandu clash, it was quite a challenge for the Visual Effects Producer N. Madhusudhanan, popularly known as Madhu.

Did you know that there are more than 210 shots (of more than 25 minutes) of special effects (costing over one and half crore), most of them with both Nandu and Vijay in the same frame. "The beauty of special effects is when you can't tell which of the shots are special effects," Madhu says.

Earlier, it was Australian company Cutting Edge that was roped in. But as Kamal's faith in indigenous talent increased, Cutting Edge's role in the project was cut down, as Til Studios edged out the Aussies, with the significant part of the total visual effects used in the movie.

"When the project began, Cutting Edge was supposed to do most of the visual effects of about 25 minutes and we were supposed to do effects of around 3-4 minutes. But then, as Kamalji was comfortable working with us, the roles were reversed," says Madhu.

'Aalavanthaan' even has 2D animation clips thrown in to bring out evil Nandu's perspective of childish violence. "There's nothing funny or light about these scenes," Madhu informs, displaying the detailed storyboarding and sketches done by the company.

Madhu roped in George Merkert, a visual producer who has to his credit projects including Virtuosity, The Net and Starship Troopers, apart from local talent Krishnakanth (also trained in Hollywood) and Dhanasekharan (who did the story-board for 'Maruthanayagam' and 'Hey Ram') for his team.

"We are in no way inferior to Hollywood. Any Indian company is capable of doing work that is on par with Hollywood. Today, if there are price wars, we will soon have quality wars," says Madhu, singing praises of Kamal Hassan for his dedication and understanding of the technology. "His involvement, the risks he took for the project, were all inspiration for us". Watch out for the thriller of a climax involving hot- air balloon stunts!

Moralising about the education system

While fulfilling a need for movies with a moral, in this case about the value of education, 'Kunguma Pottu Goundar' has many flaws writes Balaji Balasubramaniam.

KUNGUMA Pottu Goundar has the distinction of being the most ill-suited name for a movie this year. The name belonged to the semi-villainous character that Satyaraj portrayed in one of his early hits Mudhal Vasantham and was quite popular owing to his good performance. Probably intending to capitalise on the familiarity of that name with his fans, the director has used that as the title of this film.

But the character by that name occurs for less than ten minutes in the entire film, leaving anyone who does not know the origins of the name wondering as to why the movie was named thus.

Even worse, the unattractive title obfuscates the fact that the movie actually tries to convey a valid message. By emphasising the importance of education and pointing out the flaw in the policies of some schools which require that the parents of their students be educated, the movie can boast of containing messages that are valid today. But a name like Kunguma Pottu Goundar definitely does not raise visions of a movie that contains a message of any kind. While far worse movies like Paarvai Ondre Pothumey had lyrical titles, this movie's biggest drawback is its title which will probably put off several viewers.

Kandasamy (Satyaraj) is uneducated and works as a salesman in a saree store. Owing to a lesson his father Kunguma Pottu Goundar learned the hard way, Kandasamy's one aim in life is to make sure that his son is educated. He wants to admit his son in the most prestigious school in the area but the school has the policy that at least one parent of every one of its students must be educated. Since his wife Alamelu (Rambha) is also uneducated, Kandasamy asks his colleague Saraswati (Kousalya), a BA graduate, to pose as his son's mother. But problems arise when Alamelu and Siva (Karan), Saraswati's lover, spot Kandasamy and Saraswati together.

After the recent string of predominantly light, fluffy movies with either romance or violence as their strengths, it is nice to see a movie that tackles something more substantial. Education has never been a top priority among the issues handled in Tamil movies and the dialogues in support of the long-term effects of a good education sound good. The advice Kunguma Pottu Goundar gives to his son is sensible but it is never clear why, even after understanding the need for education, he takes no steps at all to educate his son, who is definitely not beyond the age for learning.

While it is admittedly difficult to craft an entertaining movie by focussing on education alone, the director spends the majority of the movie on issues completely unrelated to the topic. And these issues are far from being entertaining. Problems that could be resolved with just a few clear words are dragged on due to contrivances and the clichéd behaviour of both Karan and Rambha. Sentiments are also thrust into the mix with the kid's accident and an emotional climax. The song sequence with Satyaraj and Rambha seems completely out of place.

Satyaraj and Koundamani were an effective pair a while back with the comedy tracks in several of the movies where they appeared together being successful. They maintain their track record here too. Koundamani, making an appearance after a long time, has several lines delivered in his own style. Most of these happen when he is taking digs at Satyaraj and not in a separate comedy track and that makes the lines funnier.

Satyaraj appears confused over how to portray his character. He ends up seeming innocent and naive at times while trying to earn our sympathy at other times. Rambha, creeping past her sex symbol state, appears old and seems to have resigned herself to playing the nagging wife and mother. Kousalya doesn't have many chances to overact. Radhika Choudhary has a cameo as Miss India and gives Aishwarya Rai enough ammunition to sue for defamation! Sirpy doesn't make much use of his chance.

Action, with a message about matrimony

With story, screenplay, direction and lead by Arjun, “Vedham” has everything, but the mix is somehow not quite right, writes Malathi Rangarajan for The Hindu

ARJUN HOLDS the fort completely in Sriram Film International's "Vedham". The story, screenplay, dialogue, direction and production are Arjun's - and he is the hero too. So the blame or fame, as far as "Vedham" is concern-ed, would be entirely his.

Generally it is patriotism that is the underlying theme of Arjun's films. But in "Vedham" he deviates much, to talk about the sanctity of the institution of marriage and glorify the familial unit. The message is loud and clear - so clear that it turns didactic. And as no preaching about family life would be complete without Visu around, the character actor is at it again in "Vedham", though just in a couple of scenes.

Vijay (Arjun) happens to stay at Sanjay's (Vineeth) house for a fortnight, as his guest. He comes to know of the marital discord between Sanjay and his wife Anita (Divya Unni), and silently takes it upon himself to bring the two together.

The story is definitely on different lines but the incidents that lead to Sanjay and Anita falling apart are frivolous and lack depth. Probably the snag sets in here. Arjun's story is told in a series of flashbacks and there is no confusion in the oscillation between the past and present. Both the director and the film editor (Sai Suresh) can share the credit for the same. But when the flashbacks become one too many, they begin to prove tiresome. The screenplay, which is not as taut as it ought to be, could be the culprit.

With Arjun you can expect action aplenty and the hero does not disappoint. The stunts in slow motion clearly show the toil of Arjun and his 'team' as he refers to them in the credits. He is at home in sentiment and romance also. There is no dearth of romantic interludes either. Sakshi as Vijay's sweetheart Sita, is ravishing. It is rather intriguing that she is not seen more on the Tamil screen.

In Arjun's concept of comedy Goundamani seems an essential factor. You see him in "Vedham" too where he acquits himself well. Mumtaz appears to be getting more rotund by the day - not what one would expect of a temptress in films.

"Malai Katru Vandhu Thamizh Pesudhae" (Hariharan and Mahalakshmi) is a melodious number from Vidyasagar that makes an impression. And the dance movements for "Meenalochani..." are a positive aspect (Raju Sundaram?). Exotic backdrops transport you to a world of bliss in the romantic numbers, thanks to Ramesh Babu's camera.

The ingenuity of director Arjun in the climax when the villain comes from behind with a knife warrants appreciation. However stunt sequences at several points seem contrived. Romance, action, sentiment - the film has all the right ingredients to satisfy the common viewer. It is the proportion that is not all that right. And that could well account for the tempo that is missing in "Vedham".