You got to give it to these young directors who don’t care much about Tamil film grammar. Take for instance, this Shree has made a simple but effective dark comedy that doesn’t break you in to laughter but makes you smile to moments you wouldn’t imagine. He got it all right – impeccable casting, brilliant technical crew, engaging screenplay and even those nifty directorial touches are in place. Before you think, I am going to shower only praises on Shree, I should just say he unimpressed me in the final 3 minutes. Can a director wipe out all the good work he has done in just 3 minutes? Yes, Shree did it for me but for some of you he might sound convincing.

Damaal Dumeel is not a breakthrough movie from a debutant but a simple dark comedy that puts a simple man in a difficult situation. Moneykandan (numerology effect, Vaibhav), an IT employee who boozes, parties and has a steady girl friend (Ramya Nambeesan) loses his job. While trying to work out his plan for the future, he strikes gold and gets in between two gang lords – Kamatchi Sundaram (Sayaji Shinde) and Ilavarasu (Kota Srinivasa Rao).

The reason why I said impeccable, is the choice of actors for each and every role. Vaibhav is extremely believable and makes the story interesting because you don’t know whether he will make it till the end. Sayaji Shinde and Kota Srinivasa Rao bring down the house every time they are on screen and especially the climax sequence. And Kota’s body language is unmatchable. Even the gangster group from each side impress you. All those little characters make a mighty impact. I wish Charlie gets more roles in movies. Ramya Nambeesan’s character is functional.

The screenplay makes you believe the situations that Moneykandan ends up but there are some logical plot holes. For instance, you would wonder how nobody cares about a missing policeman or how a girl believes a guy who broke her heart just few minutes before. But if you shrug it off, Shree has given you a delectable fare with small nudges that will make you smile. The way gunshot ringtone plays a role or the way Vaibhav gets each and every idea – Shree shines. Thaman’s Dumeel is impressive because of Usha Uthup while he makes his mark with his BGM score.

It was all well for me until the last few moments that doesn’t suit this genre of movie making. Sometimes, you need to just go with the flow and wish the grammar doesn’t change. Shree has given in to the eternal Tamil movie making sentiments. Probably, some of you might like it because what is shown on screen is the right thing to do but for me the whole premise went down the drain because it makes the movie pointless.

Damaal Dumeel is an enjoyable movie. You will not break in to string of laughs but you wouldn’t be disappointed after watching this movie. I don’t approve of what Moneykandan does at the end. If you agree with him, enjoy it but I do have an alternative ending for Damaal Dumeel in the parallel universe of Sylvianism. Join me there if you don’t agree with shree

Damaal Dumeel – a silent but powerful shot from Shree but misses the bulls eye by few millimetres and so a 3/5.

The post Movie Review: Damaal Dumeel – Missed the bulls eye by a little appeared first on Sylvianism.

After completing the movie at S2 Thiagaraja, we headed to Zaitoon for a late lunch. Initially, there was a couple and us who were seated. There came a huge group with one small boy. After ordering, they started shouting in the name of talking. There were 8 people and there were nothing short of 16 random conversations disturbing the ambience. We wanted to finish at the earliest and leave that place.

Last weekend, I was watching Nee Enge En Anbe (review will come soon) and one bunch of idiots were talking random things (not related to the movie) and disturbing the entire theatre.

On both these occasions, I was reminded of Vaayai Moodi Pesavum. And I wished Dumb flu attacked these people. Vaayai Moodi Pesavum is a satire on our daily life that is based on one premise – we talk but we don’t communicate.

Panimalai is a hill staton in Tamil Nadu and Arvind (Dulquer Salman) is a door-to-door salesman of an adhesive brand. A strange dumb flu (H10N10) affects the people of Panimalai. Those infected can’t speak and pose a risk of death. All the people who have converged to Panimalai is locked inside as the town is quarantined from rest of the world. Arvind also gets affected by the flu and meets a junior doctor, Anjana (Nazriya) at the hospital. As more people get affected, the health ministry finds that speaking is the reason for the spread.  The rest of the story forms how people learn to communicate without talking.

From the start, Balaji Mohan is in his mettle with brilliant screenplay and dialogues. Although there are multiple characters, each one of them stick to your mind because of their performances. Be it nuclear star Bhoomesh (subtle but clear reference to Vijay) by John Vijay or that Robo Shankar as drunkard society head or Ram Thilak as Boomesh’ fan association president, everyone will make you laugh with their performances. The friend who spews bad words, the small boy who collects small notebooks for his drawings and Anjana’s love for Javvu Mittai are all simple but sweet characterisations. Although, I have heard good words about Dulquer from my Mallu friends, VMP actually proves that sometimes acting can come through DNA. The good part is he doesn’t imitate his dad in anyways. Nazriya finally gets a different role from her usual roles in Tamil and she cakewalks it while Madhubala gets a sweet re-entry but not the apt one.
Balaji has tried to showcase different characters that we see in real life who talk without purpose and those who don’t talk when it is needed. The problem is we think that speaking the truth might hurt people close to you but most of the times it can be the best medicine. The movie drives the point with subtlety and humour but Balaji should have made a tighter screenplay in the second half. However talented, Sean Roldan is unable to hold the forte during the silent period. To be fair, his songs are wonderful to listen to. Another problem is the lack of seriousness when it is needed. I will breakdown in to pieces if someone says I can’t talk anymore. I don’t how people of Panimalai could take it so easily. I don’t think anybody can.

Nevertheless, at the end of the day you will understand what Balaji Mohan is trying to convey to us but whether we will take it is a billion dollar question. Vaayai Moodi Pesavum is a simple satirical comedy that will prick you whenever you talk nonsense next time. I actually thought, I should buy tickets for few people that I knew.

A 3/5 for Balaji Mohan’s wonderful experimentation that might not prove it’s worth now. But he has proved that he is worthy of the accolades he got for Kadhalil Sodhappavadhu Eppadi. Go watch it in theatres – anyways no Kochadaiyaan this week too.

The post Movie Review: Vaayai Moodi Pesavum – The Sound of Silence appeared first on Sylvianism.

It would not have been an easy job for a new director like Deekay to debut on an untouched genre in Tamil cinema. Horror comedies are nothing new to world cinema audiences but it is totally unheard of in Tamil cinema. It’s heartening to see producers like Elred Kumar trying it out with new talents in Tamil Cinema.

Yamirukka Bayamey starts with Kiran (Krishna), a conman who sells fake sexual enhancement drug racket. A local mafia don (Mahanadhi Shankar) and his son lose their sex drive after taking that drug and they threaten Kiran. Kiran gets a new lease of life when he receives a property from his real father. Along with his girl friend, Smitha (Rupa Manjari), he escapes and develops a resort at the property with the help of Sharath (Karunakaran) and his sister Sharanya (Oviya. But every customer who arrive at the resort die mysteriously and the group is confused whether the house is haunted or is someone playing foul to acquire the property.

Although the movie makes a slow start, it catches speed when Karunakaran takes the lead. Deekay puts that motley crew in to unimaginable situations and that’s what makes the movie hilarious. Sharp dialogues and wonderful acting from the leads makes this movie a brilliant watch. In fact, the director brings the clichéd doubts on each and every character and breaks the suspense very amusingly. Although the horror scenes are usual and inspired, they do scare you at right moments. People in the theatre were screaming for some of the scenes. After a very long time, Mayilsamy crackles on screen with a longer role rather than his usual one scene cameo. One of the biggest advantages for the movie is the promising background score from Prasad SN.

The comic sequences were mostly adult and sexy character of Oviya wasn’t needed. It was more of a commercial addition rather any substance. Although Krishna and Rupa Manjari were fine, Karunakaran is the real star of the movie. He steals the show completely with his expressions and dialogue delivery. Deekay hasn’t tried to spoof the genre. He has tried to evoke comedy through the situations that the characters get into and that’s what makes this movie different from others. At one moment you will be laughing while the next moment, he will catch you unawares with his horror show.

Yamirukka Bayamey is a perfect summer treat for the adults (if you are ok with your child watching adult comedy and glamour filled Oviya, you can take them too). It will scare you and make you laugh your heart out at the same time. And to be fair, you haven’t had that experience before through a Tamil movie.

A whopping 3.5/5 for Deekay’s Yamirukka Bayamey. It’s a must watch in theatres and would be perfect if you watch it with your partner. I hope you understand what I mean.

The post Movie Review: Yamirukka Bayamey – This horror will make you laugh appeared first on Sylvianism.

When I finished watching Kochadaiyaan, I stepped in to an introspection on what makes a movie good. I am not speaking about what makes a movie a hit (or a super hit or a blockbuster) because if you have a star vehicle combined with good marketing and wider release, you will have a hit movie in hand. But whether it will be a movie that will be remembered, it doesn’t depend on the hit factor. What makes the movie remembered? Is it because of the star? Is it because it ran 100 days? Is it because it had a good story? Is it because it had picture perfect screenplay? I think it is because it had an impact on people. A everlasting impact because of clear execution of ideas. For instance, a movie like Panchathanthiram which was a box office dud when it got released has a cult following even now.

Animated films have grown a long way. Initially, it was done to show uncommon humour scenes but it slowly moved towards human emotions. I would say Pixar’s Toy Story (1995) is a great example of how animated characters started showing emotions. You started relating to Woody’s antics and heroism of Buzz Lightyear. Motion Capture became the next level of movie making. The biggest advantage of motion capture is that you can combine real life actors with imaginary environment. Motion capture technique is used in two ways – it can be a movie like Kochadaiyaan where you capture the real life actors and then animate them to provide a complete animated movie or it can be like Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) where only few characters are motion captured (Andy Serkis as Caesar the ape) while other actors are real in the movie. Motion capture movies enable the directors to imagine the unthinkable. It makes impossible things possible like Avatar. James Cameron had to invent a camera to complete that saga. To be fair, all his efforts were worth it.

Is Kochadaiyaan worth the effort and wait? The blunt truth is a big NO. The problem with Kochadaiyaan is that you don’t relate with the characters in the movie. They are plastic, both in form and content. The movie lacks strong characterisations and the director (Soundarya Rajinikanth Ashwin) tries to buoy you with technical gimmickry. The worst part is those gimmicks are an eye sore. The strength of an animated feature is is how well you relate to the character in the movie. For instance, I cried for Wall-E and Eva (Wall-E, 2008). A Rajinikanth movie in the post super star period (after Annamalai) followed certain patterns. Even then, you would relate to the pain of Kandhavelu Vanavarayan or rejoice with Padayappa because you love him when he wins against all odds. He embodied a certain optimism that his fans yearned for and he gave it to them every movie. Kochadaiyaan failed in that regard because you don’t relate much with Rana like you did with Muthu or Kochadaiyaan like you did with Zamindar of Muthu. The other problem is the way screenplay (KS Ravikumar) meanders like a headless chicken (I really don’t how people call it slick). Characters come and go without any premise whatsoever and after sometime, you just give it up at the way movie moves. The overemphasis on Rajini factor kills the movie.

Kochadaiyaan was a lofty idea to start with. The biggest disadvantage in making an animation movie is that you need to be careful with the details. To be honest, I missed those smirks, smiles and expressions that every actor could have come up with. With such a talented star cast (Nasser, Shobana, Aadhi, Deepika, Jackie Shroff) the director’s imaginations should have had a riot but what you see is just a failed cracker. It is not a joke when some people say “Devil is in the details”. There is no point in talking about how bad is the animation because it is bad beyond repair but the way makers trying to market the movie is pathetic. On one hand, they try to compare it with Tintin and Avatar (you should look at Soundarya’s interviews on TV) and on the other hand, they come up with excuses like that they did whatever they could in the budget provided. The point is why make a movie when you can’t make it the best. To be honest, Soundarya wouldn’t have made it any better than what it is now. May be we would have seen the characters standing on the floor or Rajini would not have looked like Murali in some scenes or we would not have played “identify the actor” game in the theatres. The vision needed to make such a movie is far more complex than what people think.

On the positive note, Rahman’s score was the only palatable aspect in the movie but not his songs though. Except for Enakkagathan (that sounded like Then Sindhuthe Vaanam), other songs were passable. Bringing back Nagesh to life is a laudable idea but it dies in the mire that Soundarya has created. A lacklustre screenplay that poses more questions than answers, wasted talent and above all a complete failure in execution makes Kochadaiyaan a dull watch. And when the movie ends with a “To be continued” screen, you just can’t believe what you are seeing.

Probably, Soundarya should be thanked for one thing. She showed our movie directors how tough it is to make a motion capture animated movie. She should also be reprimanded for the same as she killed the dreams of many directors.

I go with 1/5 (and I don’t know what it is for)

The post Movie Review: Kochadaiyaan – Child’s Play appeared first on Sylvianism.

Warning : If you haven’t read PS I love you or watched the movie, there are a lot of spoilers ahead.

There is a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism with respect to books and movies. There is no clear difference between inspiration and plagiarism (or I haven’t seen one).

I read PS I love you after I read up on the movie. I didn’t watch the movie adaptation until I finished the book. I have recommended the movie and the book to lots of people because I liked them. Some of them found the book and the movie to be mushy and melodramatic but most of them are fans of this book/movie as a result of a wonderful plot. Few took it as an influence to move ahead with their lives after the loss of their loved ones.

I have been a fan of Korean movies because of their depiction of emotions. Natural and true to reality, sometimes their love stories will make you cry. Last year, I stumbled upon this highly successful romance tale titled The Letter (Pyeonji) that was released in 1997. The reason why it came in to my realm so late was because I usually watch the new wave Korean cinema that started in 1999. I have watched only few select titles from former days.

The Letter is a story of Jung In (Choi Jin Shil) and Hwan Yoo (Park Shin Yang), a young couple who meet accidentally while boarding a train. Hwan Yoo, a research scientist in a reserve forest and Jung In, a doctorate student trying to become a professor, fall in love instantly. They marry and their life sails smooth until Hwan Yoo finds he is afflicted with malignant brain tumour. With the certainty that he will die, he starts to write letters and makes sure that they get delivered to Jung In after his demise. How these letters make Jung In moves forward in life is portrayed in the remaining the movie.

Directed by Lee Jung Gook, the movie became a massive hit and became the most successful Korean movie in 1997. Choi Jin Shil was a household name then (she was called as the Nation’s actress) while Park Shin Yang was relatively a newcomer.

Why I think Cecilia Ahern would have got inspired by this movie?

1. The plot point is startlingly similar. Loveable husband and wife who are struggling for make ends meet, a terminal disease and letters posted after demise are too close for comfort.

2. This question will come to your mind. Why get inspired by a 1997 movie for 2004 book? The Letter was remade in Thailand in 2003 and was released in early 2004. But PS I love you was published in April 2004. Cecilia Ahern has claimed that she wrote the book in a single sitting of 3 months.

But can we prove it?

1. No it’s impossible. We can’t link Cecilia Ahern to the movie. And people will argue that taking only the idea might not amount to plagiarism. There were stray reports that the Korean producers filed a case against Harper Collins, but there is no proof for the same.

2. Smartly, the inspiration stops at the plot point. The way it travels is totally different from the original. In fact, you can’t even see a single resemblance in any one of the sequences. The end is totally different from the original.

Why should you watch “The Letter”?

1. I still think somehow Cecilia Ahern came to have knowledge about the original. Because, the plot point is frighteningly similar. She was smart enough to make it palatable for a wider audience.

2. The Letter is definitely better movie than PS I love you. You will get attached to the lead characters and the love is more soul-stirring. The wife has a natural love for words in the movie.

3. In PS I love you, the wife moves forward with her life as a result of the life experiences she goes through. The letters make her to do certain things and travel to certain places. Her experiences change her life and not the letters. While in “The Letter”, the letters have strong significance in shaping the wife’s life after his demise. You will know when you watch the movie.

4. The last reason – it will help you take a decision whether Cecilia actually plagiarised/got inspired by this movie.

If you ask me, I stopped recommending PS I love you and started recommending “The Letter” after watching the original. It will be tough for me to pick up a Cecilia Ahern book again.

The post Why you should watch “The Letter” if you love “P.S. I love you” appeared first on Sylvianism.

If you had visited my blog in the past 4 months, you wouldn’t have seen any updates. There were various reasons for the lack of blogging and one of the causes was the uncertainty in my career. I attended a few interviews, but none worked and accidentally, I got this idea of doing an international masters program. I went to an education fair organised by Edwise, one of the overseas education consultants from Chennai. You would not believe that it was for my nephew (cousin’s son), but I got interested in the idea and pursued it. Now, I am at University of Southampton’s Hartley Library typing this post.

There would be millions of questions when it comes to overseas education and most of them stay away from doing a course abroad because of the cost and safety reasons. A typical Indian family would not like their children going far away from home for the purpose of studying. Doubts ranging from food to the cultural impact might turn away parents from allowing their children doing an international course. Nonetheless, to be honest, the education system and student culture in countries like the UK are far superior to the education systems available in India (that calls for a separate post).

For most of the students and parents, overseas education seems to be a mystery. They don’t understand how it is possible for an average student to arrive at a good overseas university. Some of them don’t figure out how go about the whole process. Is it tough? Yes, but not if you know how to do it and where to do it. Is it easy? No, there are plenty of processes and intricacies involved. Sorry, I am not trying to confuse you. This is a step-by-step guide on how to choose an international course and successfully get in to a foreign university.

Step 1: Choose the course

The problem for most students is the fact that they choose the country first. I wouldn’t blame them because the countries are the ones that fascinate people. They believe that it would be better to do a course in the country they like. However, it is not the right way. I have seen many students meeting the consultants and ask directly what they want to get in to USA. USA has this ‘country of dreams’ tag that everybody likes. US universities have restrictions on a lot of things like relevant work experience or higher grades. Even some of the UK universities have strong rules before choosing a student. For example, my university got more than 8500 applications for the different management programs they offer, but we have only 300 students in the business school. You can do the ratio by yourself. So it’s not that every student who applies for a course gets in.

One of the biggest advantages of doing a course in an international university is the option for specialised courses. For both under graduation and post graduation, you have extremely specialised courses that you can make a choice between. The postgraduate courses are much more specialised to the micro level. For instance, University of Southampton has two separate courses for Digital Marketing and Marketing Analytics, although there is a lot of synergy between both. The universities ensure that they will cater to the industry with unique specialised programs. Nevertheless, the question is what course would you choose. My choice was quite obvious thanks to my work experience, but I would suggest the students and parents to think about the different options available. Google the subjects you are interested in and I bet you will find courses that will suit your taste. I have a friend at the university who is doing Physics with Nanotechnology specialisation. Another friend studying medieval history and one more doing Palaeolithic Archeology and Human origins… Yup, Don’t look surprised.

Take a list of universities from all over the world that offers courses you want. You would need at least 2 days for this work. You have to be patient and focused. If you are committed to it, do it sincerely. Also, make a maximum of three course choices.

I can hear some questions – “what if I don’t know what to study based on my under graduation and work experience?” You would be a mechanical engineer working in the software industry – quite possible in a country like India. If so, proceed to the next step.

2. Choose a good consultant

When you don’t know which course or country to choose, it’s better to approach a consultant who is specialised in diverse countries. Edwise is good with UK. Australia and Ireland; IDP has a satisfactory rating with respect to Australia. I have heard decent things about Chopras and Study Overseas. A good consultant will check your grades and work experience and tell you which course would be suitable for you. They will also talk to you about the cost, why it is good to choose a country or a university and how likely you would get an admission. The second approach is just my way. I chose the consultant after deciding my course. They facilitated the admission. I had positive choices with respect to the course and universities.

Caveats:

• Consultants are not admission officers. They are just facilitators. A mediator between you and the university. They can’t assure you a seat in any university. Even the university representatives can’t do that. Spot offers you receive during education fairs are conditional offers. If your grades don’t satisfy the admission office at the university, you will be unable to get a seat.
• Consultants charge or don’t charge a fee based on the university and country. For instance, all the consultants charge a fee to facilitate an admission in the US while most of them don’t charge a fee for UK admissions. UK universities due to intense competition give commissions to these consultants for every student they send.
• Choose a consultant who has tie-ups with your list of universities. If they have a tie-up, the application fee is generally waived. At the UK universities, a single application might cost you anywhere between £40 to £80 (do your math, if you are applying for 5 universities)
• You need to be constantly in touch with the consultants because they will be handling more than 20 students at any point in time. At the same time, they are humans too and prone to make mistakes. They can’t be perfect all the time. I suggest that you do your homework before badgering them for every little thing you need.
• If you are doing an undergraduate course, doing the whole process with a parent makes sense but if you are doing a postgraduate course, bring your parents when they are needed.
• Consultants arrange special sessions with university representatives. Meet them whenever you get the chance and you can also take your parents to meet them. Make a list of questions to pose. Be specific and quick because there will be other students waiting to meet them. The same goes for education fairs.

How to make the most out of an education fair?

• Every now and then, you would see overseas consultants arranging education fairs that have a lot of universities from different countries at the same place. The consultants list out all the universities on their website.
• Draw up a list of universities you want to meet. Do a Google search and get basic information about the university. Check out whether they offer any course related to the subject you like.
• Make a list of questions that you want to ask them. Ask specific questions and that will give a good impression of you.
• Keep copies of your transcripts, statement of purpose (will elaborate on this little later), passport and educational certificates ready. If they request it, just give them a copy. I did get a conditional offer from a university on the spot. They were literally surprised at the level of preparation I had.
• And meet each and every university you just wanted to meet. Patience is a virtue.

I chose Edwise because they had tie-ups with all the universities on my list. I didn’t need to shell out a single rupee and my personal consultant was Asiya, who was helpful throughout this process.

Next post in the series:

• How to draft a statement of purpose?
• How to choose a university/country?
• How to apply? What are the documents you need?
• What are the prerequisites? What exams should you take?

If you want me to cover any of the topics, please leave your suggestions in the comments section.

The post The Ultimate Guide for Indian students who would like to do overseas education – Part 1 appeared first on Sylvianism.

When the NSA tracking scandal broke out, the whole world raged about the privacy of common people. But the truth is that we have been silently giving out our personal details to online ad networks without any qualms.

Privacy activists are fighting against behavioral retargeting of ads by online companies. Europe’s latest legislation on the right to forget and the UK’s rule on “Do not track” notifications are steps taken in order to curb unethical online tracking by companies. But major ad networks are lobbying against these rules and calling for self-regulation of ad networks, which usually never happens. In fact, recently, companies like Yahoo have openly declared that they will not honour the “Do not track” option on browsers.

While these issues are unsolved, ad networks are moving into more sophisticated targeting method called “Device Fingerprinting”. Over the years, some companies have been collecting information from the browsers of various devices. Although every phone or laptop can have similar operating system and hardware, the clock setting, fonts, applications installed and browser settings are different. Based on these characteristics, each device can be uniquely identified without even placing a cookie on a browser. For example, Peter Eckersley of the Electronic Frontier Foundation demonstrated this technology on a specific website. He could track 94.2% of unique device ids from 2 million visitors of the website whereas cookies can give only 78% unique device ids. (Richmond, 2013)

While the legality of cookies is debated, device fingerprinting is considered legitimate as it was originally used for security purposes to prevent online fraud. It’s stateless, doesn’t need implicit permission from the user and will work even if the browsers are in ‘private’ mode. Interestingly, 145 websites out of the top 10,000 use flash based fingerprinting, while 404 out of the 1 million top websites use JavaScript based fingerprinting. (Richmond, 2013)

How does this change marketing?

1. Device fingerprinting is a universal solution as it enables cross-device tracking; the devices of one person can be tied up together to get more information. For instance, the browsing history on your PC can be linked to the books you read on a Kindle, thereby enabling marketers to create more personalised ads for books.

2. The marketing messages can be modified real-time. For example, Facebook can change the content of the ads based on what device you are using to access Facebook.

3. The accuracy is relatively high and the technology is a low cost alternative for the ROI it provides.

How will consumer privacy be affected and how can we modify it?

Device Fingerprinting is the biggest attack on individual privacy as it is anonymous. Regardless of the fact that companies like Blue Cava and Maxmind allow people to opt out from tracking, the websites that use their services don’t mention this explicitly, unlike the cookie policy. Ideally, there should be legislation to control the information that can be used but with web services companies lobbying for self-regulation even on the behavioral recruiting issue, this would be impossible.

As marketers, the responsibility lies on us to give adequate information to the users and it is preferable to use the “permission marketing” technique. We should track and market our services to the users when they opt-in for this service instead of putting the onus on the users to opt out. The question: is are we ready to do it?

List of references

1. Richmond.B (2013) How “Device Fingerprinting” Tracks You Without Cookies, Your Knowledge, or Consent. Available from http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/device-fingerprinting-can-track-you-without-cookies-your-knowledge-or-consent [Accessed 17 October 2014]

2. Julia.A and Devries J.V (2010) Race Is On to ‘Fingerprint’ Phones, PCs. Available from http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704679204575646704100959546 [Accessed 17 October 2014]

3. Brodkin.J (2014) Yahoo is the latest company ignoring Web users’ requests for privacy. Available from http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/05/yahoo-is-the-latest-company-ignoring-web-users-requests-for-privacy/ [Accessed 17 October 2014]

The post Device Fingerprinting: is this the most dangerous weapon of digital marketers? appeared first on Sylvianism.

I have given up on reviewing Tamil movies, but sometimes it pains a lot to see how even media reviewers are swayed by sentiments that are totally against the ideals of the society we live.

Kaththi is a movie about a criminal who takes the place of an identical social activist. Initially he tries to loot money using the other person’s name but later gets impressed by his life and solves the original issue in his own way. Directed by AR Murugadoss, with Vijay in the lead, the movie is an allegory on the Kudankulam issue but to be a part of the safer side, they pick up a villain who runs a cola company. The issue is of water and one of the famous Cola companies trying to takeover the village for the abundant water resources.

The fundamental question that struck me when I saw the movie was “Who is the hero?”. Jeevanandam, social activist and fights for the people take up the mantle of ahimsa and never resorts to violence even when goons beat him up. Kaththi Kathiresan, is a criminal and resorts to violence, beats up even 50 goons (that coin fight was well shot) finally wins the case for the people. So Mr. Murugadoss, do you mean that ahimsa based social activism is useless? If all those activists who fight for people’s rights through ahimsa and democratic protests see this movie, how would they feel about it? Don’t you think, you have made the biggest joke on them? Do you really know what is grassroots activism? Did you actually take an effort to study and talk to these activists?

The real hero of this movie is the character of Jeevanandam (subtly played by Vijay) and I really wished we could get more of him. But what we see is an action filled usual Vijay, who kills at his will and made as a hero for people to cheer because he beats up the bad guys. The truth is the actual hero Jeevanandam dies when Kaththi Kadhiresan takes up violence. The difference between masala and a classic ends there. If Jeevanandam had won, it would have been a classic but as Kaththi Kadiresan has won it, it has become a masala that gives a bad after taste.

Kaththi is a half-baked effort with respect to the social message it offers us. If you consider a monologue from the hero filled with statistics is enough to make people learn about the issue, Mr.Murugadoss, you are living in a fool’s paradise. Don’t worry, they will clap for it while drinking the coke they bought during the interval. Talk about irony.

The funniest part of the movie (definitely not Sathish, Samantha love story comes a close second) is the way corporate honchos plot the murder of Jeevanandam. By the way, do you know Shirag (played by Neil Nitin Mukesh – get back to Johnny Gaddar type movies please) is the Indian CEO of a multinational company, he uses local goons to kill people and of course, he gets killed by Kaththi Kadhiresan!!! (you guys don’t get it, do you?)

I don’t like to speak about logical loopholes and the idiocy in the screenplay. The biggest problem is the way local media houses and ‘educated’ reviewers doling out good reviews because it talks about farmers. The issue is not about the end, but the means used to achieve it. By giving good reviews, you have just approved the biggest joke on grassroots activism and the activists who sacrifice their lives and fight for the livelihood of people.

A superstar acting in a masala movie is much better than acting in a movie that shows false idealisms.

The post Movie Review: Kaththi – Who’s the hero? appeared first on Sylvianism.

Airtel, one of the leading telecom providers from India aired an advertisement that was supposed to break gender barriers at work, but the ad also reinstated another long standing gender stereotype in the Indian society.There were discussions on social media and it became a news hour debate on TV (probably sponsored by Airtel). I questioned but also defended the ad with few people.

When I was reflecting on the reactions to the advertisement, it dawned upon me on how this brand was using feministic ideas to sell their brand. On the other hand, I realised the brand deliberately manipulated the emotions to create a buzz in the market (needs a separate post).

Feminist ideas were used in advertising to make a false promise of empowerment and sell products based on that. One of the earliest examples that I could think of was a cigarette ad from the 1920s; Craven A was the first brand to use women’s empowerment message as a way to market their brand. Of course, they had to expand the market and women were the best targets. Owing to these ads and the socio cultural norms it purported, women smokers in the US increased from 5 percent in 1923 to 18 percent in 1935 (Penny,2014). The most famous campaign was from Virginia Slims in the 1960s. The extremely disturbing aspect of these advertisements was the fact that they were selling a product that will potentially kill women in the name of women empowerment.

Image Credit: Dee Leitner, Pinterest

In the recent years, we especially see a surge in the ads targeting women in developing countries that show faux feministic ideologies to sell products that indeed reinstate the same stereotypes. A case in point is the Dove’s real beauty ads that camouflage women’s empowerment message to sell their skin care products.

The ad talks about the insecurities of women while they describe themselves to an artist. But, the irony is that there were no implications on these big companies that created these insecurities through selling beauty products. The real empowerment message that the parent company (Unilever) could have given was by stopping the sales of their fairness creams in South East Asian and South Asian countries. The market for fairness creams in India alone is estimated at $54 Bn (Bhatt, 2014) and Unilever wouldn’t want to lose that money, as they are the market leaders.

Recently, FCKH8, an online retailer of clothes, made children from 6-13 speak out supporting gender, race and feminism. But, there were two major issues, one they were eschewing many F-words and the brand was trying to sell anti-sexism t-shirts. This was the same company that tried to sell Ferguson t-shirts when the case was widely publicised in the US.

One of the reasons why there is a recent splurge of female empowerment based ads is that in the social media world, brands are expected to stand for more than what they actually sell. Every brand is running behind likes and shares in the social media world, and tagging a social message along with a multi-million dollar ad campaign gives them the leverage they want. The discussions that ensue gives them the expected publicity and Airtel did enjoy widespread publicity by just making a false woman empowerment ad.

Johnston and Taylor (2008) call this as ‘feminist consumerism’. The problem with campaigns like Dove’s “Real beauty” or Pantene’s “Sorry, but not sorry” or FCKH8’s campaign is that they expect women to buy a product to feel empowered. These products reestablish the same societal constructs that feminism is against. Grassroots feminist activists make more impact in bringing in change to the society, but the problem is they don’t have the same budgets as these multi-billion dollar companies.

Do you need to purchase a product to feel empowered? When we voice against objectification of women in advertising, don’t you think even faux idealisms that promote consumerism are also equally dangerous?

P.S: I was guilty of sharing some of these ads on my social media pages. Education in a way should make you question certain things and that’s what my Digital Marketing course at University of Southampton is making me to do. This blog post started because of one question – did Airtel use feminist ideas to create a ripple in social media?

List of references:

1. Airtel India, (2014). Boss Film – The Smartphone Network. [image] Available at: http://youtu.be/T9BlI9nhqTE [Accessed 23 Oct. 2014].
2. Bhatt, S. (2014). Journey of fairness creams’ advertising in India. [online] The Economic Times. Available at: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-02-26/news/47705699_1_fairglow-fairever-skin [Accessed 24 Oct. 2014].
3. Dove United States, (2014). Dove Real Beauty Sketches. Available at: http://youtu.be/litXW91UauE [Accessed 23 Oct. 2014].
4. FCKH8.com, (2014). Potty-Mouthed Princesses Drop F-Bombs for Feminism. Available at: http://youtu.be/XqHYzYn3WZw [Accessed 25 Oct. 2014].
5. Johnston, J. and Taylor, J. (2008). Feminist consumerism and fat activists: A comparative study of grassroots activism and the Dove real beauty campaign. Signs, 33(4), pp.941–966.
6. Pantene, (2014). Not Sorry. ShineStrong Pantene. Available at: http://youtu.be/rzL-vdQ3ObA [Accessed 24 Oct. 2014].
7. Penny, L. (2014). Laurie Penny on advertising: First, the admen stole feminism – then they used it to flog cheap chocolate and perfume to us. [online] Newstatesman.com. Available at: http://www.newstatesman.com/laurie-penny/2014/04/first-admen-stole-feminism-then-they-used-it-flog-cheap-chocolate-and-perfume [Accessed 23 Oct. 2014].
8. Virginia Slims super woman print advertisement. (2014). [image] Available at: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/528680443729254738/ [Accessed 26 Oct. 2014].

The post The ugly face of Feminist Consumerism appeared first on Sylvianism.

People would not have guessed the fancy titles that we have in marketing today. Social media manager, digital marketing manager and mobile marketing manager were non-existent ten years back. So when our professor Mike mentioned about Minority Report and Simone in our class, (yeah, yeah. I know. We have a professor who talks sci-fi in a marketing class) I thought what kind of marketing titles would we see in the future.

1. Marketing Manager (Eye): This one seemed so obvious to me. In the next 10 years, everyone will have a personal marketing manager. Probably, one person will be a marketing manager for 100 (or 500) people with an algorithm choosing the ads that have to be displayed to every individual. First, it would be marketing managers for the wrist as we are seeing an onslaught of smart watches but later it would be for the eyes because the future is probably contact lenses. Contact lenses will act as our eyes, and we will be intruded with unwanted advertisements. TV soaps, movies, news and music will be tailored to an individual.

Each person will sign up with a marketing company, and they will be responsible for ads that should be displayed based on the preferences of the consumer. The companies might have to negotiate deals with the marketing companies to get ad space (or eye space!).

2. Nostalgia Marketing Manager: We have a market for antiquities but later people might forget their memories resulting from the overload of information. Even governments might wish to erase them. They would not want you to know the horrible things of the past. Classical conditioning will be a norm. So there will be places where memories are stored in the åcloud and there will be companies selling nostalgic services. We might encounter ads that might say, “Relive your child birth (inside a test tube), and offer ends today”

Image credit – Joblo

3. Election campaign manager (Robots): I don’t subscribe to the idea of robots taking over the world by force. I think it will be a gradual acquisition of our world, and I expect robots to have voting rights by 2050. Robots will be contesting in elections as a first step in acquiring a world. It would be hard for them to do tactical marketing that makes or breaks elections. So they would obviously recruit humans to market their manifesto. Imagine robots giving out “God bless America” speeches (I do think God as an idea will stay but the important question is who will be God?)

4. Relationship marketing manager: Wait, it’s not the same relationship marketing that is done currently. There will be marketing for relationships and how relationships should happen as I expect the world to become inclined towards recreational sex. The babies will be born inside test tubes at labs across the world denying the genuine love that creates the bonding between mother and a child. Love and relationships will need marketing. Marriages, let’s see.

5. Marketing manager (Death): I expect sanity to prevail until 2064 and so I don’t expect governments to kill old people. Nonetheless, there will be companies that will sell death as an option to leave this world. Salvation will be a marketing tool or recreation of famous death sequences from history. People might want to die like Gandhi (if they remember him) or they would want Darth Vader to kill them (Oh, Star wars will have its 20th sequel that year)

So what do you think of my list?

Image sources:

1. http://s612.photobucket.com/user/Pilikia_photos/media/minreport.jpg.html
2. http://www.joblo.com/newsimages1/total-recall-science.jpg
3. https://flic.kr/p/8QpT9c (through creative commons)
4. https://flic.kr/p/5eEDyv (through creative commons)
5. http://www.hitthefloor.com/film/secret-cinema-back-future-survival-guide/ (Back to the future)

The post 5 marketing jobs that you will apply for in 2064 appeared first on Sylvianism.

It all began with the lecture on ethics and how marketers are presented with ethical dilemmas in their work life. Two modern ethical frameworks were discussed – teleology and deontology. I have faced ethical problems at my work place and I never took decisions based on these theories or in other words, my decisions didn’t fit in to these theories.

Using teleology or consequentialism, people take decisions based on the greater good. It takes a position where a few people can be “sacrificed”, if the actions create benefits for a greater number of people. In simple words, US army drone attacks are legitimized based on this argument. Deontology, on the other hand is built on the rules or the duty of an individual towards the society. It is based on the welfare of an individual and the rules are universal – for instance you can’t differentiate between an adult and a child. The means are more important than the ends.

The biggest problem with these ethical frameworks is, they are based on the actions taken by a person in a context and to be honest lot of individual ethical decisions are not taken based on means or ends. As I couldn’t fit my decisions in to any of these, I went in search and I got the answer from an ancient Tamil (my mother tongue) text Thirukkural (1330 couplets written on virtue, ethics, politics and love). Although, there are about 380 verses on virtue and ethics, the essence can be brought out in one single couplet

“From virtue weal and wealth outflow. What greater good can mankind know?”

Western equivalent this virtue ethics was originally based on Aristotle’s theory of eudaemonia but lost track after the introduction of teleology and deontology. A 1958 paper by Elizabeth Anscombe titled “Modern ethical philosophy” kindled the re-emergence of virtual ethics framework. In her paper, Anscombe criticized consequentialism and deontology frameworks as they were based on a universal lawgiver and doesn’t account for the characteristics of an individual who takes those ethical decisions. Her philosophy became the basis for modern virtue ethics.

Virtue ethics depends on the morality of the individual who makes the decision rather than the decision itself. It deals with the character of an individual instead of analyzing the ethical rules or consequences of the action. It doesn’t deal with different situations a person encounters but an overall development of an individual over his lifetime. Virtue ethics is more appropriate because human beings have a tendency to assess the character of a person rather than seeing the goodness of the actions. In plain words, it helps a society to develop good people instead of using rules to deter them from doing bad. Case in point, gun laws in the US.

How does it relate to marketing? Let’s take an example. Selling credit cards to hapless customers in India is quite popular. It’s a norm that the credit history of a person should be checked before giving him a new credit card. If a person has a bad credit history, a teleologist might sell the credit card because the bank will ultimately profit through stifling the customer. A deontologist will also make the sale because the customer is definitely happy in receiving a new credit card without thinking about the consequences. But only a sales person who genuinely has a virtue of integrity will take a decision not to sell the credit card considering the well being of the client and also the company in the long run.

For a more real life example, Coca Cola is selling a drink that causes obesity but both teleologists and deontologists will end up not giving a right ethical decision but a company with honesty would tell their consumers the side effects of drinking Coke (Coke’s recent obesity ad is an example of virtue ethics in play)

Virtue ethics framework has its own negatives like the other normative ethical frameworks. It doesn’t give you clear direction towards actions that can be made when people are in an ethical dilemma but that’s one of the advantages of virtue ethics. The decisions are taken based on the inherent virtues of a person and the context in which the decision has to be taken.

Other criticism levied on virtue ethics is that there is no clear set of virtues a person should hold. Patrick Murphy, one of the flag bearers of modern virtue ethics has come forward with the list of virtues that a marketer/company should posses. They are integrity, fairness, trust, respect and empathy.

I have always taken my ethical decisions based on the virtues I hold and my parents are the role models in my life. A company’s values trickle down based on the inherent values of the top management. The loyalty that we see in Japanese companies or the ‘Dharma’ (based decision-making in Indian companies like Tata is all because of in-built virtues. A Buddhism based marketing theory will also have virtue ethics at its centre. Have you taken decisions on ethical issues at your work place? What ethical framework are you likely to use in such a situation?

P.S: I think ethical frameworks in marketing needs a larger discussion but this post is an attempt to add virtue ethics framework in to the discussion.

List of references:

1. http://www.henleymalta.com.mt/news%20arts/pdfs/articles/archives/Ethics%20paper311.pdf

2. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1006072413165

3. Thirukkural English translation - http://www.slideshare.net/satyajeetbhagat1/extracts-thirukkural

The post A case for virtue ethics in marketing appeared first on Sylvianism.

Everyone in social media is an activist nowadays. A like or a share or retweet is the only thing needed to become an activist on a social network. They support a cause even if they don’t know what it is all about. There are quite number of researchers who have tried to find whether slacktivism affects real activism. Lee and Hseih (2013) has found through experiments that slacktivism doesn’t affect real activism and in some cases it influences people to take appropriate civil action.

But what about the moral implications of slacktivism? The biggest problem about slacktivism is that people are not well-informed about the cause they are supporting. Take for example, the ALS bucket challenge; it was evident that most of them didn’t know what they were doing this for. Changing a profile picture or adding a ribbon doesn’t make anyone informed about the issue. The anti-thesis of this argument is that people have good intentions in sharing a worthy cause and it is not necessary for them to in depth. However, sometimes, misinformed actions might not end up in a good cause. Case in point is Narayanan Krishnan, who became an Internet sensation after a lot of videos and news articles about his shelter for homeless people were shared on social networks. He was one of the CNN heroes in 2010, but recently it was established that there were about 120 deaths last year in his shelter home. He was charged with organ trafficking, abuse and murder that forced the government to close his shelter home. Of course, only few people shared the news on their social networks because it was not a positive story for their “slackvitism”. And, interestingly, I came across the original CNN heroes’ video being shared again on my Facebook wall recently. The other argument that pro-slactivist make is that social media sharing helps people to become familiar with the cause. But it is hard to believe that people read about a cause before they share.

Slacktivism thrives on the guilt of individuals. People feel good that they have done something good for the day by sharing that ‘important’ message to everyone in their timeline. Guilt forms the basis for slactivist tendencies and in turn help people to instantly gratify through their actions. Slacktivism also induces people to be a coward and lazy because they are happy with a Facebook share instead of getting on to the street and fight for the cause. Above all, it makes us feel happy about it.

P.S: I am guilty too…

List of references

1. CNN, (2010). CNN Heroes Tribute Narayanan Krishnan. Available at: http://youtu.be/ZJZoOGXIXQU [Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].
2. Lee, Y. and Hseih, G. (2014). Does Slacktivism Hurt Activism?: The Effects of Moral Balancing and Consistency in Online Activism. In: SIGCHI. Michigan.
3. Rajendran, D. (2014). Deaths, disappearances, abuse: CNN Heroes’ Narayanan Krishnan mired in controversy. [online] Thenewsminute.com. Available at: http://www.thenewsminute.com/news_sections/410 [Accessed 13 Nov. 2014].
4. Image courtesy: Unicef. Accessed from http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/unicef-tells-slacktivists-give-money-not-facebook-likes/275429/

The post Slacktivism: Guilty as charged appeared first on Sylvianism.

When King Lingeswaran is introduced in Lingaa, he is shown reading a book titled “The Hero of Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell (it’s historically wrong because the book was first published in 1949 and Lingaa’s story happens in 1939 – that’s a different story). This book is regarded as a seminal thesis on how the heroes are made in different cultures. Philosophers, sociologists, marketers, movie makers and film students revere this book. I was recently stunned when I read this book as it was prescribed by my lecturer to understand the story of brands.

The curious juxtaposition with respect to Rajini and the book is that his real life story follows the path of monomyth as proposed by Joseph Campbell. In fact, most of his post superstardom movies can be shown as an example of hero’s life as depicted by Campbell. There is one part which most of us wouldn’t want to happen to Rajini, the superstar – the end of the superstar. We want this super star to live forever with his superstardom. His movies are immortalised, but we want to immortalise this persona too.

Kochadaiyaan for instance is an attempt to revive his youthful exuberance through animation that failed miserably. Lingaa on the other hand proves why should we allow him to age gracefully and let him give up his superstar status. Lingaa is a typical Rajinikanth movie in which we see a fictional (or alternative history) take on Mullaiperiyar dam. King Lingeswaran, a collector and a small king give up everything to build a dam for Solaiyur to help the village during the British rule. His grandson (Lingaa) comes back to the same village after 70 years to fulfil a duty and what happens is shown in a usual Rajini way but sans the enthusiasm that we usually see in a Rajini movie.

There can be multiple reasons why Lingaa doesn’t work. The screenplay (KS Ravikumar) doesn’t engage you like the usual superstar movies. It doesn’t allow you to root for Rajini like you usually do in all of his movies. The lack of formidable antagonists, tired musical score by AR Rahman and lacklustre acting pile up the woes.

But above all, Lingaa is a feeble attempt to manifest every superstar fan’s dream. A dream where he does everything what his fans expect him to do. Over the past few years, these dreams have become a burden over his head. A handcuff made of adulations that he is not in a position to leave. This happened to superstars like Dev Anand and Amitabh. Dev couldn’t manage it while Amitabh moved and started taking graceful roles to suit his age and acting prowess.

Rajinikanth is an impeccable actor. His earlier movies and few scenes that you see in his later movies are testimonies to his brilliance. Nevertheless, as fans we don’t want him to leave his superstar status. I think its time we allow him to move on. Allow him to do roles that will make him enjoy his acting. We should allow him exit gracefully. Trust me, we will still love him the way we do now. We need to give him his space. A space where he can get back to doing roles like Chakravarthy (Netrikann) or Santhanam (6il irundhu 60 Varai). Why not a romantic comedy like Cheeni Kum or a complete villain role or something that will excite him as an actor. Why are we constraining him to do be a super star while he can do plethora of roles? Why are we still killing the actor in him?

There is a scene in Lingaa (the one scene I like the most) where the people from Solaiyur plead him to come back. They want to make him a king again and give back his wealth as he is living as a simpleton. He replies “I have seen that life and enjoyed it. I want to enjoy this as well”.

I believe there is a larger message for his fans too. We have to let go “Super Star” and bring back Rajinikanth. Let’s permit him to move on.

P.S: Ok Ok, I can hear the mind voice -’Should we see the movie or not?” – To be honest, it’s slipshod effort to hold the superstar status of Rajinikanth in which KS Ravikumar miserably fails. A 1.5/5 and not a worthy watch.

The post Lingaa Movie Review : Why we should let go ‘Super Star’ and bring back Rajinikanth appeared first on Sylvianism.

Although I wrote less number of reviews this year due to my PG study plans, I watched 75 movies out of the 200+ Tamil movies released this year.

To be honest, it was a tough choice to choose the top movies of this year as I felt we had some quality movies that pushed the boundaries forward than 2013.

Top 5 Tamil movies of 2014

1. Kadhai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam

It might be perceived as a surprise choice but it deserves this place just for the meta brilliance of Parthiban. A director who always made movies with strong conviction came back with a bang. He proved that it is possible to make a movie only through screenplay and also it critiqued Tamil cinema with the usual punches. The ‘meta’ part is for the ardent Tamil fan (and world cinema fans) to savour.

2. Pannaiyarum Padminium

Although I was skeptic of this movie at the first instance, a second watch made me love this movie. The simple story line combined with some brilliant performances from Jayaprakash, Thulasi and Vijay Sethupathi made this a memorable movie of the year. Nostalgic trip about cars – can’t beat that.

3. Poovarasam Peepee

I could not see this movie in theatres as it had limited release. It got stuck between two big releases week. Halitha Shameem, a debutant director made a perfect depiction of adolescence and the adventures of teenage boys during their summer break. I had a toss up between this and Goli Soda but I think Poovarasam Peepee was more natural and believable than the former. Hats off to Halitha for bringing us this beauty. If you haven’t watched it, you should give it a shot.

4. Vaayaai Moodi Pesavum

After his simplistic Kadhalil Sodhappavadhu Eppadi, director Balaji Mohan immediately experimented with his second movie. It’s my personal favourite after Kadhai Thiraikkadhai due to its theme of how we are talking too much but stopped communicating with each other. Don’t stop these experimentations Balaji, we need more from you.

5. Sathuranga Vettai

This one was a surprise that bamboozled everyone this year. A con movie that showed how scams happen in the nook and corners of Tamil Nadu. The sophistication with which they operate should have made people think. The finesse in the making and wonderful acting made this movie one of the top movies of this year.

5 movies that missed the cut

These movies just lost out to the 5 above

6. Mundasupatti – the second short film that made a mark this year.

7. Goli Soda – A movie that showed growing up in a different light

8. Yamirukka Bayamey – Thank you for introducing horror comedy to Tamil cinema. It did make a mark

9. Oru Kanniyum Moondru Kalavanigalum – another inspired experiment from Chimbu Devan.

10. Jeeva – Once again Suseenthiran proved why is a better director than lot other empty vessels in the industry with this cracker of a movie on cricket politics.

Notable omissions

1. Jigarthanda – I don’t think it deserved the adulations. According to me, it blatantly mixed two brilliant Korean movies and I am not going to put it in my top 10 movies

2. Madras – I felt the movie was a cliched representation of gang wars and political manipulations. So no marks for using North madras as a setup.

3. Pisasu – Although, the performances especially Radha Ravi’s was brilliant, Pisasu didn’t make the top 10 cut. May be number 11.

4. Kayal – Kayal was a good movie but the problem with Prabhu Solomon is that he is stuck in his cliches. Over indulgence is the bane of Tamil movie directors.

5. Kaaviya Thalaivan – I really didn’t understand why people were praising this movie . Oh no, if someone takes a period movie, does it mean that we have to sacrifice the focus on screenplay and storyline? Uninspiring movie from Vasanthabalan.

6 movies that you wouldn’t have watched but probably should give a shot

1. Burma – A neo-noir experimentation by Dharanidharan that entertains to the hilt. A little care in execution would have made it even better.

2. Ra – It was indeed a surprise when I watched this movie. Although, it could have been more focused, it didn’t fail to scare. Definitely worth a try for its making.

3. Poriyaalan – A slick thriller works mainly due to the brilliant screenplay is worth a watch for Mohan Ram’s acting.

4. Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah – This is the movie that suffered due to negative reviews on the social media websites. To be honest, it was a good watch and extensive detailing of marriage ceremonies is a treat. Worst case, you can watch it for Ghibran’s songs.

5. Ramanujan – Although it received excellent reviews from critics, it ended up as a multiplex movie. A movie every Tamilian should watch – as simple as that.

6. Damaal Dumeel – A simple but worthy thriller from a newcomer.

Top 10 albums/songs of the year

1. Kaatru Veliyin/Indha Porappudhan from Un Samayal Arayil

Although the movie didn’t match up to the original, these two songs just made my year. Kaatru Veliyin stayed as my caller tune until I left to UK.

2. Cuckoo (the whole album except Enda Mapla)

Santhosh Narayanan made lot of strides this year with his wholesome albums. Aagasatha, Manasula Soora Kathe, Potta Pulla and Kodaiyila was on repeat mode for most of the year for me. But sadly the movie didn’t match the expectations.

3. Enthaara/ Kannukkul Pothi Vaippen/ Khwaja Ji from Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah

Ghibran was a delight in this album. One of the best albums of the year that was soulful, different and broke boundaries.

4. Paandi Naatu Kodi/ Jigar / Thanda from Jigarthanda

The band musical instruments used in Paandi Naatu and the background score was a cracker. The theme music still lingers in my mind but alas the movie cheated me.

5. Enge Pogutho Vaanam from Kochadaiyaan

SPB – Rajinikanth – Rahman – Magic. It felt nostalgic and at the same time fresh. The orchestration was brilliant, let’s not talk about the movie.

6. Pesadhe from Thirudan Police

It was a dull year for Yuvan with Pesadhe being the lonely brilliance. Hope he makes a reprieve next year.

7. Rasa Magarasa / Kadhal Kanave from Mundasupatti

Sean Roldan had a memorable debut this year with string of hits in Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, Mundasupatti and Sathuranga Vettai. But Rasa Magarasa stood out due to the rustic tune and orchestration.

8. Ramanujan

More than the songs, Ramesh Vinayagam fascinated me with his background score. A commendable come back.

9. Yenga Pulla Irukka from Kayal

What a soulful rendering by Balram and heart wrenching tune by Imman. How can I miss this?

10. Mugilo Megamo/ Kalvane from Megha

And the top 10 list ends with one of my favourites – Kalvane is the most unexpected orchestration that you can savour this year.

The post The Annual Kollywood Roundup 2014 from Sylvianism appeared first on Sylvianism.

Whenever KB movies are discussed, reviewers and writers always speak about his most famous creations. You can see Thillu Mullu, Apoorva Ragangal, Ethir Neechal and Sindhu Bhairavi in every article that talks about KB. So this article is about 5 Balachander movies that you wouldn’t have watched but should give them a shot.

Punnagai (The Smile) (1971)

Punnagai is a movie about 5 friends from different backgrounds take an oath in front of Gandhi statute that they will follow the path of truth in their profession. After an accident, in which they lose one of their friends, they take different professions. The movie analyses ethical problems that each character faces and how they buckle under pressure. Wonderfully portrayed by Gemini Ganesan, Muthuraman, MRR Vasu and Nagesh, the movie had music from MSV. Nagesh’s character acts as the moral compass, chronicler and narrator of the movie – of course who else KB will use for that pinnacle character.

Naanal (Reed) (1965)

Although Nanaal appears to be quite popular with ardent KB buffs, it’s not much talked about movie among the mainstream movie fans because nobody believes that he could make a thriller.

Naanal is a movie about 4 jail birds escaping the prison to avenge the judge who sentenced them. They take hostage of his house and the movie is built around how the judge and his family escape from the hostage. Although the movie has a supporting cast that shines throughout the movie (Sowcar Janaki, Muthuraman, KR Vijaya Srikanth and of course Nagesh), Naanal is brilliant because of Major Sunderrajan (who plays the leader of the rat pack) and VS Raghavan (who plays the judge).

When Crazy Mohan wrote his first play for S.Ve.Sheker’s troupe, he was inspired by Naanal to create Crazy Thieves in Palavakkam. Why the name Naanal? – Watch the movie.

Nool Veli (Fence made of thread) (1978)

Nool Veli is an extremely controversial movie that talked about an incestuous relationship between a man and his step daughter. KB delicately deals the issue and poses moral questions to his audience that will be tough to handle.

The characters are wonderfully portrayed by Sarath Babu, Sujatha and Saritha. The movie had music from MSV. Mounathil Vilayadum Manasatchiye rendered by Balamurali Krishna is a noteworthy song in the movie. Kamal Hassan did a guest role in the movie.

Kalyana Agathigal (Refugees of marriage) (1985)

Kalyana Agathigal is KB’s expectation of what women will do due to the oppression they face. Six women who are oppressed by men and society through different ways live together and also run a band under the banner “Kalyana Agathigal”. The movie starts when a girl from a small village, Ammulu (Sarita) joins them.

The most heartening thing about the movie is that it doesn’t preach, but it just shows how women would live their life independently. There is love, betrayal and sweet sentiments laced throughout the movie. The girls make fun of each other, tease men and Saritha even puts marks for every man they see. The music was by VS Narasimhan with some interesting compositions – the most famous one is Manasukkul Utkarnthu Maniadithai. Nasser made his debut in this movie.

Oru Veedu Iru Vaasal (One house with two entrances)(1990)

Oru Veedu Iru Vaasal is an experimental movie that has two intertwined stories in the same movie. Both the stories talked about how women from two spectrums are ostracised by men. Although the linking between the two stories is contrived, the movie is an interesting experiment from KB.

The stories were written by Anuradha Ramanan while the music was by VS Narasimhan. The movie had Ganesh-Kumaresh violin brothers in the lead with Vaishnavi and Karthika (best known for her role as Kamal’s daughter in Nayakan) did the female roles.

K Balachander is an auteur par excellence who never shied away from making controversial movies. This article is just to introduce some rare gems from him that you wouldn’t have watched.

The post 5 movies of K.Balachander you wouldn’t have watched but probably should give a try appeared first on Sylvianism.

Some movies stand out because of performances. Some movies impress you because of the screenplay and direction. Some might bowl you over with cinematography. This movie will baffle you because every aspect of the movie will sweep your feet off.

Moondram Pirai (1982)

Moondram Pirai is a story of Bhagyalakshmi (Sridevi) who gets affected by retrograde amnesia after an accident. She lands up in a brothel and meets Cheenu (Kamal Hassan). Owing to her childish character, Cheenu sympathises with her and rescues her. As she doesn’t remember her parents or her whereabouts, he gets her to Ooty and names her Viji. Their relationship grows gradually and Cheenu falls in love with Viji. Cheenu finds an ayurvedic practitioner to cure Viji. Meanwhile, Viji’s parents find her whereabouts through a passenger who saw Viji and Cheenu on a train. They find that she is getting treated at an ayurvedic hospital. Viji gets back her memories and prepares herself to go back with her parents. And the movie concludes in one of the most heartbreaking climaxes you have ever seen in Tamil cinema.

Sathyajothi Films produced the movie and Ilaiyaraaja scored the music.

Why is it special?

1. The movie is special because of the bold story it portrayed. One question will linger in your mind at the end of the movie – is it possible to fall in love with a girl who is not in her senses? The screenplay is so deft that it makes you believe that it was possible.

2. The performances of the lead actors – Kamal Hassan and Sridevi. If Sridevi slowly collected her boundaries scene by scene for 120 minutes, Kamal hit flurry of sixes in the last 10 minutes. Their performances are so delectable that you will be in love with them. You will see why that generation was obsessed with this lead pair like no other.

3. The performances of supporting characters especially Silk Smitha as the sex starved wife who lusts on Cheenu, proved that she is more than just an item number dancer.

4. The cinematography is deemed to be a milestone in Indian cinema. Revered by many cinematographers, the movie was influential in the glorification of this particular technical aspect

5. Songs and musical score of Ilaiyaraaja are regarded as classics in Tamil cinema. The climax sequence is the testimony for the perfect harmony of performance from the actors, the directorial brilliance and haunting background score.

Why it is in the list?

1. One of the best love stories to be told on celluloid and a perfect movie with respect to every aspect of movie making.

2. The movie was lauded by critics and was revered by the audience. It was the biggest hit of Balu Mahendra’s career and the movie ran for 379 days in Sathyam theatres, Chennai.

3. For marrying the boundaries of art and commercial cinema. The movie’s Hindi version, Sadma, reinstated Kamal Hassan as a threat to the existing clans of Bollywood after his debut in Ek Tuhje Ke Liye in 1981. It also cemented the position of Sri Devi because she had a critically acclaimed Sadma and a commercially successful Himmatwala.

Trivia

1. In an interview with Anu Hassan on her Koffee with Anu Show (Vijay Tv), Balu Mahendra admitted that the movie was indeed a metaphor for his relationship with Shobha who passed away in 1980.

2. Kanne Kalaimane became the last song written by Kaviyarasu Kannadasan and was rendered by KJ Yesudas. Kannadasan passed during the making of this film.

3. The movie was dubbed in Telugu under the title Vasantha Kokila, but Balu Mahendra decided to remake the movie in Hindi with most of the cast from the original repeating their roles. Sri Devi’s role was offered to Dimple Kapadia, but she couldn’t give dates for the movie.

4. One interesting aspect of Sadma is that tunes of two songs were replaced from the original – Vaanengum Thanga Meengal was replaced Yeh Hawa Yeh Fiza and Poonkatru Pudhiranathu was replaced by Aye Zindagi Gale Lage Hai. Aye Zindagi used the same tune as En Vazhvile of Thambikku Endha Ooru. Gonjasufi, an American singer sampled Yeh Hawa for his song Sheep.

5. Balu Mahendra and Ilaiyaraaja started their association with Moodupani. Their partnership had an unbroken run for 21 movies in 33 years until his last movie Thalaimuraigal. A long lasting friendship that gave Tamil cinema some wonderful music to cherish

6. Kamal Hassan won the National award for Best Actor and Balu Mahendra received the National Award for Best Cinematography. Sridevi lost the award to Shabana Azmi who won it for Arth. Incidentally, Balu Mahendra remade Arth in Tamil as Marupadiyum.

The entire movie is officially available on YouTube. Watch and enjoy

You can access the remaining 24 movies from the below link

http://www.sylvianism.com/50-tamil-movies-to-watch-before-you-die/

The post 50 Tamil movies to watch before you Die – 25 – Moondram Pirai appeared first on Sylvianism.

Shankar’s movies are supposed to be extravagant. Hideously fantastic that will make your jaw drop on every visual he makes. Tamil audiences are quite used to stereotype the actors. But we have also started stereotyping directors. Shankar just has to give us a big budget blockbuster. Bala has to give a dark serious movie. And that’s why ‘I’ is extravagant. Profligacy of ‘I’ will make you think that probably Shankar was high when he conceived those visuals. The beauty and the beast song or those wild dreams of a man coming alive in Merasalayitten leaves you in awe. And PC Sriram plays the perfect partner in crime.

To be fair, Vikram’s (Lingesan) dedication shows up in every scene in the movie. He possesses the characters as if they were his alter egos from his real self. Amy Jackson (Diya) was a surprise package. She showed that she could carry a character that doesn’t need to delve on her international background. ‘I’ as a movie will not bore you as it doesn’t give you time to think. It’s the same tactic that is used by Hollywood blockbusters, but it suffers from the same problem. ‘I” lacks the soul

The impact of a revenge story depends on the way in which the audiences connect with the soul of the movie. It can’t be denied that ‘I’ reminded of Kamal’s Apoorva Sagotharargal as it deals with deformity too. The latter had a convincing back-story and painful one-sided love that makes the protagonist to retaliate on the villains. Although, the deformity is about stunted growth, audience could connect with it. If you take Shankar’s previous movies that talks about social evils, each one has a personal tragedy attached to it. Be it the friend and mother’s demise in Gentleman or the daughter’s horrible death in Indian, as an audience you relate to those issues. You don’t mind the robin hoodish actions of the protagonists.

But in ‘I’, even though the director tries to portray how important is Lingesan’s love, it doesn’t affect you that the way it should. Beyond the visuals and songs, the love story doesn’t give you the vital influence that will force you to support Lingesan’s revenge after he is deformed. The second issue is the lack of strong antagonists despite the fact that the director has 5 of them. They are mere caricatures than villains. And when did Shankar become so constrained when it comes to showing the revenge. The elaborate schemes are the better part of any movie. In fact, Lingesan uses interesting methods to punish the perpetrators and most of them happen at a blink of an eye. The audience can’t remember them even if they want to.

‘I’ is a technically brilliant movie. Every bit of visual, the detailing in the art direction and make up will baffle you. Rahman’s score is mostly enjoyable and you can’t stop admiring Shankar’s imaginations. But ‘I’ has no soul. Not even misplaced, it is non-existent. ‘I” was intended to show the beauty of love. Alas, you end up looking for it till the end. Deeply thoughtful lyrics of “Ennodu Nee Irunthal” mean nothing when you watch those visuals. Exceptionally beautiful flowers of Lijiang mean nothing because you don’t fall in love with Lingesan and Diya. Over the years, Shankar is slowly transforming in to a director who is trading off opulence for the soul. If he shows the same sincerity in creating emotions between his characters, his grandeur will have more impact than it is now.

‘I’ will make 100 crores or even more than that but if you ask me if it was a satisfying movie, I would say No. Shankar needs to make a simple movie sans the extravagance. As an audience, I reckon it is time for us to allow him to make such a movie. Why not bring out the soul that’s hiding behind the prosthetics?

A 2/5 for Shankar’s ‘I’ and I wish I could give more.

The post Movie Review: I – Beauty without soul appeared first on Sylvianism.

Sorry for the delay with the follow-up posts. I got busy due to university coursework and presentations. Although, we have less number of lectures compared to India, we are given a lot of references to read during the free time. And as a sincere student (!!!), I do read most of the referred books and papers, sometimes even go beyond them.

In the last post, I covered the following topics

1. How to select a course?
2. How to select a good consultant?
3. How to make the most of education fairs and university representative meetings?

You can read the post at the following link.
http://www.sylvianism.com/2014/10/07/the-ultimate-guide-for-indian-students-who-would-like-to-do-overseas-education-part-1/

In this post, I will be covering the following topics

• How to select a university or a country?
• What are the prerequisites? And what exams you have to take?
• How to draft a satisfactory statement of purpose?
• How to apply? What are the documents needed?

Step 3: Choose a good university or a country

As I said earlier, students choose the country before even choosing the course. But I strongly advise that course should be the primary choice instead of the country. When you select a course, you will have a list of universities that offer the course. Here is the tricky part, the more widespread specialization you are looking at, more universities you will end up with.

For example, there are only a handful of universities offering digital marketing course in Europe while every university will be offering a course like Marketing Management. So it’s important that you do your research. There are few ways you can identify the right university for you

• Check the rankings offered by different independent marketing research organisations/media publications. Every year, these publications release rankings based on different criteria (course content, student satisfaction, employability etc.,). You should check how the universities are faring in different categories like world university rankings, continent based rankings (Europe or Asia or Americas), country based rankings and also subject wise rankings (ranking in your chosen subject). The rankings can help you to shortlist a list of universities if you are taking more generic course.

The rankings that you can check are

1. QS World University rankings
2. Times Higher Education Rankings
3. The Complete University Guide by The Guardian
4. Global Business School Rankings by The Financial Times
5. Business School rankings by The Economist
   And there are plenty more.

• Check for the research papers submitted from the University – especially your faculty. The quality of professors can be assessed based on the research papers they have submitted to diverse journals. If your lecturers have authored papers in 4 star journals, it means that you will be safe hands and the modules will challenge you.
• Check out student forums for experiences shared by alumni. The Student Room in the UK has a huge forum and students consistently supply information on courses. Even university representatives answer specific queries in these forums.
• Check for specific research based innovations that has happened in the university. For instance, my university prides itself on engineering innovations that were pioneered at the campus. This attracts excellent researchers, professors and students to the university.
• Check Facebook pages/groups of your university. Every course has its Facebook group for the current year. The students have closed groups to rant about their problems in the university. It’s one of the best places to obtain feedback.
• Talk to alumni in different social media platforms.
• Check for facilities at the university. The diversity of the library, the infrastructure needed for your course, hostel facilities, travel facilities and above all the food.

Important questions that you should answer before choosing an university

1. Is this the best university for my course?
2. Will they give me a seat if I apply? (Your consultant can help you with this)
3. What are my alternatives?
4. Is the fee affordable?
5. Does the university have excellent research facilities?
6. How does it rank among other universities?
7. Will I be capable of coping with the pressure?
8. What are the visa restrictions in the preferred country? For example, Ireland gives an extra year to find a job whereas UK gives only 4 months extension.

Step 4: The tests that you need to take

1. IELTS – If you like to do a course in the UK, Canada, Australia or Ireland, you have to take the IELTS exam organized by The British Council, Cambridge University and IDP. The exam is divided in to four modules – reading, writing, listening and speaking. Most universities need an average band score of 6.5 (out of 10) and minimum 6 (out of 10) for each of the modules. IELTS exams are not tough, but it’s tricky. If you are not confident, it’s better to take a short course in any of the institutes that train you for IELTS exams. I have seen people failing the exam multiple times. I met a student in Chennai who took the exam for the third time and he still didn’t make it.

Sometimes students can’t clear the required IELTS score. In that case, students can take an one-year foundation course (English for academic studies) at a UK university. Usually, students from China, Middle East and South East Asian countries take this course. European students go for a three-month foundation course (usually from June to September) before taking the actual course. It does cost a lot when you consider it in Indian rupee. My suggestion is tantamount to clear the IELTS exam in India. It is valid for 2 years.

2. GRE and GMAT – If you wish to take an engineering based course in the US you should clear GRE and GMAT if you are looking for MBA. The consultants will be in a position to specify the average scores that you need to gain a seat in specific universities as it differs from each university. Sometimes consultants advise you to take the exams before applying so that it would be helpful for them to assess.

Step 5: Application process and documents needed

As I indicated in the previous posts, it is better to use an agent’s help while applying to universities, as there would be no application fee. A university will give you two types of offers when you apply

1. Conditional offer – this is given when you don’t have some documents needed for them to release a complete offer. For example, I applied to most of the universities without taking the IELTS exam and all the universities gave me conditional offers.

2. Unconditional offer – This is a complete offer provided by the university after they receive all your documents. Some universities will also require a refundable deposit to reserve the seat for you.

These are the documents that you are required to submit while making your application. The agents will take only copies (so don’t worry about losing your originals).

1. Complete transcripts of your 10th, 12th and UG course (if you are applying for masters)

2. UG certificate (if you are applying for masters)

3. Statement of purpose – an important document that you write to the admissions office stating why you are the best fit to take this course

4. IELTS or GRE or GMAT mark sheet

5. Reference letters – if you don’t have work experience, you have to get two reference letters from your college or school. If you have work experience, one reference letter from your college and one reference letter from your work would suffice.

6. Written application form if the University requires one – I had to write for two universities but most of them take it electronically

7. Work experience certificate and if you are taking sponsorship from your company, the required documents can be presented. This will help you to get the offer quickly because they know your funding is sorted.

Step 6: Write a good statement of purpose

Statement of purpose (SOP) is extremely important because that’s the single document the admissions office will read in order to shortlist your applications. The transcripts are given just to prove your claims on scholastic excellence. SOP should clearly state why you want to take the course and how you are eligible to do the course.

1. Make your SOP personal and show that you have done a good research on the university

2. See program requirements and write relevant points to show that you match those requirements

3. Give a structure to your SOP and keep it organized. Clear signposting of what you are intending to write in the document will help.

4. Ensure that your goals are clearly articulated in the SOP. Don’t be cocky but be confident.

5. Stick to the length specified by the University. Usually UK universities expect one page to one-and-half pages long while US universities expect a 1500 word essays.

6. Don’t copy stuff from the Internet. That’s hara-kiri.

7. Give it to someone who can proofread, make changes and give constructive feedback on your essay. A professional is preferable.

Caveats

1. Like in India, there are good and bad universities in every country. There is a difference in getting a degree from London School of Economics and London School of banking and finance. I would suggest students to research about their course and the universities. You are spending hard earned money or getting loans to do this course. So make your decision after complete research.
2. As I mentioned earlier, agencies are just facilitators. If you provide them with perfect documents, they will process your applications quickly with the universities.
3. Apply to minimum of 4 universities to have back ups incase you don’t receive an offer from your preferred university.
4. Receiving conditional offers from all the universities should be the first priority. The follow up posts will help you to choose the best university go to after receiving the offers. I will share the process that I used with you.

Next post in the series will be online next week. These are the topics that I will cover in the post.

1. How to choose the best university after getting a conditional offer?
2. How to make payments? What are the problems you will face with Indian banks?
3. How to get loan, scholarships and funding for your course?
4. What are the accommodation choices? Private or university hostels?

The post The Ultimate Guide for Indian students who would like to do overseas education – Part 2 appeared first on Sylvianism.

I don’t know about other reviewers but I also tread on a thin line (mellisana kodu). Either, I like a movie or I don’t. I liked Yennai Arindhaal because it is simple, but a taut cop movie that kept me interested throughout the entire span of the movie. Yennai Arindhaal is not a classic. But it has pushed boundaries in Tamil cinema in more than many ways. I have to admit that I felt the shades of Gautham’s previous cop movies but I felt he deliberately made it in that way (he later accepted it in few interviews) but the movie also had shades of Chathriyan (Director Subhash’s debut with Mani Ratnam’s screenplay).

The best thing about Yennai Arindhaal is that it didn’t try too much. It has a very simple story line completely relying on the deft screenplay and performances. Brilliance of Gautham Menon shines when he consistently refers to the “thin line” philosophy based on which the lead protagonist takes his decisions. If you are a careful movie watcher, you would see the subtle representations of ‘thin line’ in the movie. As the title says, you need to explore Sathyadev more. I have always respected the way he handled his women characters (except for Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya) and Yennai Aridhaal pushes it further more. He breaks the so called tamil film grammar when Sathyadev falls for a single mother. That scene where Sathyadev proposes to Hemanika (Trisha) is a scream.

Yennai Arindhaal differs a lot from normal masala movies. The mature handling of romance, deliberate exclusion of over the top action sequences and most importantly the principal protagonist fails multiple times. The antagonist is so powerful that as an audience you really believe that he might win. That’s what makes the movie a success.

Ajith scorches the screen with his magnificent presence and underplay. Here you have a star who is pushing his boundary to become a better actor. Unlike the other superstars fans, his fans are willing to accept their idol in any role and he is exploiting it to the maximum with roles that break his mass mould. I certainly do know that he will age better than Rajinikanth. On the other hand, Arun Vijay as Victor has finally got his due. Although, he made some brilliant performances in movies like Thadayara Thakka, Yennai Arindhaal will shine new light on this talented performer who just sizzles on screen and matches Ajith in every scene. The supporting cast of Anushka, Vivek, Anikha and Parvathy Nair just make the movie even better. Anushka’s character shows another dimension of Gautham’s women. I thought Anikha had a less speaking role but can’t complain as she could emote well while Vivek’s scenes should have seen the brunt of Anthony’s slice and dice.

Gautham bringing in a new cameraman (Dan Macarthur) has worked wonders because the change of colour tones between the romance and action scenes is interesting. The only blot in the technical part of the movie is the uninspiring background score from Harris Jayaraj. Although repetitive, his Mazhai Vara Poguthey and Unakkena Venum Sollu (both versions) are elevated through Gautham’s picturisation.

As I have mentioned, Yennai Arindhaal is not classic but it gives you lots of reasons to celebrate. Yes, there are logical loop holes in the movie, some blatant mistakes (especially in the organ trading sequences) and it has cliches of Gautham Menon. But it’s a Tamil movie where the actor wants to be an actor and not a star (It’s a shame that I had to write this as a reviewer because our movies are plagued with over the top stardom). It’s a movie in which you also see the rebirth of a talented actor. It’s a movie in which you see a director who wishes to direct honest movies not heeding to the pressures of stardom.

A 3.5/5 and a must watch to Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Yennai Arindhaal. You will come back with a smile in the end. Explore Sathyadev more and you will fall in love with him…

P.S:

• I am against plagiarism but other directors can take a cue from Gautham on how to handle his female characters.
• I wish Gautham releases the Director’s cut.

The post Movie Review: Yennai Arindhaal – You will love Sathyadev when you know more appeared first on Sylvianism.

There will be some movies that will tackle social issues and will be relevant forever. Thaneer Thaneer is one such classic that vociferously spoke about the water issues in the country at that time. If you think about it, this movie is relevant even today and will be applicable in the future too.

Thanneer Thanneer is also the epitome of freedom of expression that Tamil cinema had.

Thaneer Thaneer (1981) (Water Water)

Thanneer Thanneer was based on a play by the same name written by Komal Swaminathan. The story revolves around Athipattu, a small village, whose residents have to walk 10 miles to fetch potable water. Sevvanthi (Saritha), married to a policeman (Radharavi as Alagiri) comes to the village during her pregnancy time. She meets this stranger, Vellaisamy (Guhan) while fetching water one day. Listening to the woes of the village, Vellaisamy decides to help them by fetching water in a big mobile tank and villagers agree to give him food everyday in-return.

One day, Sevanthi finds out that Vellaisamy is a murder convict and has escaped from prison. Although some villagers reckon that he should be handed over to the police, the villagers decide against it as he is bringing water to the village. The school teacher (Vathiyar Raman) takes responsibility and villagers pledge that they will not inform police about Vellaisamy. Sevanthi even strains her relationship with her husband and mother-in-law in order to save Vellaisamy for the greater good. When the election comes up, the villagers refrain from voting and it becomes a larger news item. Fed up with inaction, the villagers propose to build a canal from the river to the village. The fate of the canal, village, Vellaisamy and Sevvanthi is explained in a poignant climax.

K.Balachander directed the movie while MS Viswanathan did the musical score.

Why it is so special?

1. The movie touched upon a very important issue that most people wouldn’t like to speak about openly. It never compromised on the rhetoric and the ideology it wanted to portray. The stark reality was so hard hitting that RM Veerappan, then Information minister of Tamil Nadu state government seeking a ban on the movie for showing state government in a bad light.

2. There can’t be a more realistic movie than this. The climax will break your heart and definitely you will think twice when you waste water next time. It pricks your conscience and also portrays the future that we will be part of.

3. The portrayals of the actors. Although, Saritha just bulldozes everyone, Guhan, Radharavi, Vathiyar Raman made the perfect cast. Even the smallest characters make a mark in the movie and mostly non-actors or the original actors from the play were utilized.

4. Of course, the conviction of K.Balachander, who moved on from domestic issues to take a much broader social issue. He handled so deftly and the ideology reached the masses

Why it should be on the list?

1. For taking up a social issue and openly criticizing the establishment on how water resources were handled. If the movie were to be made now, the movie would have been definitely banned. I can’t imagine Balachander’s state.

2. For creating a trend to make hard hitting movies on social issues without sugar coat the facts. The movie also became a commercial hit.

Trivia

1. Thanneer Thanneer was so hard hitting that made politicians from DMK and ADMK (the two main parties in the state) asking for a ban on the movie. DMK and ADMK members clashed in the parliament to revoke the censor certification of the movie. Sivappu Malli and Varumayin Niram Sivappu were added to the list and accused of promoting naxalism. [1][2]

2. Komal Swaminathan’s play was staged by SV Sahasranamam’s theatre troupe in 1980. K.Balachander got inspired by the social message and wanted to take the movie to a wider audience.[3]

3. As mentioned earlier in this article, the theatre actors were used in the movie to bring in authenticity to the roles.[3]

4. Surprisingly, there were heavy rains during the 1981 monsoon season and the movie was expected to release during October. Although, producers were wary of repercussions. Balachander was confident about the audience. And the audience responded in the right way.[3]

5. The film received two national awards in the next year – Best Feature Film in Tamil and Best Screenplay award for K.Balachander.

6. R.K.Raman, who was introduced in this movie as Vathiyar became Vathiyar Raman later.

7. Eventually, the Tamil Nadu Government amended the Tamil Nadu Cinemas (Regulation) Act of 1955 in 1987 to make a provision to prohibit any movie that might badly depict sitting MLAs and MPs. The amendment still stands. [1]

8. There is not any known negative copy of the movie. So whatever copies are in circulation is the ones available. If you want to see the movie, there is a version available on the Youtube.

9. The play has been translated in many languages in India and it is still staged.

Sources

• http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/films-and-the-politics-of-convenience/article3118113.ece
• http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/films-and-the-politics-of-convenience/article3118113.ece
• The Best of Tamil Cinema – Volume 2 by G. Dhananjayan

The post 50 Tamil movies to watch before you die – 27 – Thanneer Thanneer appeared first on Sylvianism.