Cinema, Karam, Kapi

Releasing “Singles” ahead of the main album release has been prevalent in Tamil Cinema for over 4-5 years although I don’t recall which was the first movie which did this. So Music Director and Film Director of Petta Anirudh and Karthik Subburaj released the first single “Marana Mass” on 3rd December which opened to a thunderous response and garnered 1 million views on YouTube in just 4 hours.  This was followed by another number “Ullaallaa” which released on 6 Dec., a peppy number with a bit of reggae and rock. Finally, the full music album was released on 9 Dec. 2018 at a grand gathering which was well attended by the Cast & Crew of the film including Superstar Rajinikanth and Kalanidhi Maran of Sun Pictures. Subsequently, Sony Music released the entire album on YouTube the same day at 9pm and finally Amazon Music released it on 10 Dec. 2018 at 6pm. Marana Mass is a peppy tune sung by Anirudh and a short yet interesting part sung by SPB, perhaps as the voi

Being a fanboy of Shankar ever since his first film Gentleman in 1993, here are a few snippets I found out from the film 2.0. All the films of Shankar are named on the Hero / Key Character of the film except Jeans  although I wonder why - perhaps it was only his third film, so maybe he tried it differently. All his films have had the name of the protagonist such as Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Mudhalvan, Boys (after all, the film revolved around all the four friends), Anniyan, Sivaji, Enthiran, Nanban, “I” and 2.0.  He seems to be a devout Hindu and references for this could be seen in most of his films. All his key characters have been Hindus and there’s a strong reference to the Almighty in every movie while in Enthiran, he takes to another level where Chitti, The Robot refers his creator Scientist Vaseegaran as the Go who created him. Subtle yet strong message that a Mother is God while for the machine, it is his Scientist. He has worked with AR Rahman in most pf his f

As always, I witnessed the frenzy and frolic during the FDFS today (29th Nov) for the Superstar Rajinikanth film 2.0 (also known as #2Point0) at Rohini Cinema, Koyambedu at Chennai. I have been watching FDFS of Thalaivar (as we popular address him) films for over 35 years and it’s a given thing that wherever I am or whatever I do the day before release or the next day, I must watch the First Show. We reached at 3.30 am (yes, that’s right) at the Cinema to witness the celebrations his ardent fans hold. Here’s a glimpse. The film started at 4am sharp and was welcomed with thunderous applause. Given that Superstar Rajinikanth’s last two films were with Pa. Ranjith and revolved around social issues, fans (and critics) have been waiting and wanting to see the magic that Director Shankar could weave after his 2010 release Enthiran (Robot in Hindi) with the Superstar which went on to be one of the biggest hits during that time in Indian Cinema. While 2.0 has been in the making f

I saw Kaala feat. Superstar Rajinikanth the third time yesterday (Thursday 21 June) on its 14 th day after release. Was happy to book online and reached KG Cinemas, Coimbatore ahead of schedule time. To my surprise, rather the lack of it, the screen was near empty. One of the oldest and largest Cinema Screens in India with over 800 seats, we were just 50 of us spread across the seating areas. Each of us had an agenda, perhaps. For me, it was noticing a few nuances and the undertones of dialogues, sequences and inner-meaning of the screenplay. Will reserve that for another column since I found a number of interesting perspectives. Kaala will be pulled off screens from today since Tik Tik Tik, a Space Odyssey feat. Jayam Ravi is finally releasing today and a dozen films are lined up for the next 3 months including big ticket releases featuring Ajith, Vijay, Surya and Karthi to name a few. Of course the much awaited Vishwaroopam 2 feat. actor turned politician (sic) Kamal Hassan

By now, most people who have been following the film and haven’t watched already know the storyline – Kaala alias Karikaalan is a migrant from South Tamil Nadu who settled in Mumbai a few decades back and helps scores of people settle and survive the tides of the mega city under the supposedly largest slum of Asia, at Dharavi. He is a Robinhood and savior for his people and the life story of the protagonist has its ups and downs. The storyline is just this without any overdose or complication. Previously, a few Tamil films have been made with the “Dharavi” area in the background, notable ones being Mani Ratnam’s Nayagan feat. Kamal Hassan (loosely based on the Western classic “Godfather”) and most recently, Thalaiva feat. Actor Vijay Joseph (Sathyaraj plays Vijay’s father who is also a Don). Kaala is an out and out Pa. Ranjith Film, the lucky Director who gets to work the second time with the Indian Superstar. Their previous outing Kabali in 2016 had a mixed result and a fair

It's by now a known fact to a large section of the world how much of a Rajni fan I am, thanks to an article that appeared in the front page of The Economic Times Newspaper on Saturday, 16 July 2016. Read the online link here . I knew one day my name will appear in The ET but to be featured along with a news about my two favourite passions Rajni and Retail (my startup Oyethere.com is a Hyperlocal Ecommerce Marketplace) was a double whammy. Here is the background - I tried procuring 4 tickets for myself for the opening weekend of Sivaji the movie in 2007 at Bangalore. However, I couldn't. That's when I felt how many people like me would be finding it difficult to watch a Rajnikanth magnum opus in the first week of its release. So, I reached out to INOX multiplex, one of India's largest Cinema Chains and asked them to give me a full Auditorium. Initially, they hesitated for want of any unwanted issues during the screening. I assured them that it would be a fully family s

Rajini fans worldwide have been looking forward to the release of the much awaited Kabali. After having worked with MS Viswanathan, Illayaraja, Deva and AR Rahman for the past 40 years, Superstar has chosen to work with a guy whose is as young as his own daughter. Rajinikanth's success is partially attributed to his Music Directors as most of his films have atleast 2-3 hit songs which remain etched in memory. After working for over 25 years with Illayaraja, Rajini gave an opportunity to a young lad in 1994 for his Muthu. The lad was just 5 films old then and was recommended to Rajini by one of his favourite directors Mani Ratnam whom Rajini holds in high respect. That lad, who later won the first ever Oscar for India went to create music for the next 15 years for Rajini (except Chandramukhi which was by Vidyasagar). AR Rahman and Rajini have a deep bonding. ARR likes to create mass tunes which are a class apart that suits Rajinikanth's image. Especially over the past 10-12 ye

The day of Holi festival is very special to Superstar Rajinikanth, for it was on this day in the year 1975 that he was named so by his guru and ace director Late Shri K. Balachandar. Shivaji Rao Gaekwad was a young lad from suburban Bangalore with high spirits in heart and a hardworking nature. His mother passed away at an early age and his father and elder brother ran the household. He ran errands for people, worked as a coolie, a bus conductor among many things to sustain himself. He had his own vices and needed money for all that. Shivaji also had a deep inclination towards spirituality even when he was young, thanks to his upbringing from Ramakrishna Mission. He performed skits and plays in the neighborhood and that prompted his friends to encourage him to join Cinema – Kannada Actor Rajkumar who was in his prime during the early 70s was a great inspiration for Shivaji. With some money in hand given by his friends, he boarded a bus to reach the erstwhile Madras and join the Film

I have been a self confessed fan of Director Shankar for many years now. My first tryst with his direction dates back to Gentleman when I was still in school and had limited understanding of the art that is cinema. But he was one of those Directors, I thought then, who has a bright future since he had tread on a sensitive subject in that film with elan. I have enjoyed all of his movies thereafter. In each outing of his, he brought out a different panorama of film making - something that the commercial directors have always refrained from. His heroes were larger than life, be it the "One day CM" in Mudalvan or the "Bribery conscious old man" in Indian. Ofcourse, and naturally my most liked movies of his are Sivaji and Enthiran, which feature my personal matinee idol, the Superstar of Indian Cinema, Rajinikanth. After watching Sivaji, I felt that for a change, Shankar has made a film for someone else - for Rajini fans in this case. After a successful run, his