Prologue
Thalapathy in Thamizh roughly translates as ’Commander’ in English. Mani Ratnam, the master of story telling in a technologically advanced way weilds the pen and the megaphone in this movie starring two stalwarts of South Indian cinema - Rajinikanth and Mammooty. Having to work with stars is a huge ordeal for any producer and director. At the time this movie was released Rajini’s popularity was at it’s highest and Mammooty was fresh from the two national awards he won for Mathilukal and Oru Vadakkan Veeragaatha. It’s takes a Mani Ratnam to cast stars who can burn the screen down and remember, Mani had before this movie casted Kamal Hassan whose performance in Nayagan would go down in the history of cinema as one of his best ’ever’.
What this move is all about?
Thalapathy takes you to the semi-urban town which is not named really. It is a story about two guys who happen to be the best of friends. I guess I am starting the story from the beginning of the movie. The movie starts with a young unwed mother deserting her just born child in a railway cargo wagon. This child is adopted by a kind hearted woman and he grows up to be a darling of the masses. He can never tolerate injustice and believes in the power of the hand. Over the course of teaching a lecherous henchman a lesson he kills him. He’s jailed for that offence since the henchman is working for a big goonda in the town who eventually rescues him and takes him in his group. The goonda is Mammooty superbly etching the character Devarajan with panache and ease which only he can.
The actors and the story ....
Rajini as the destituted do-gooder earns our sympathy and applause as Surya, the one who burns. Deva has a dutiful and loving wife played to the tee by Geetha. Nagesh as their well-wisher and right hand man does a neat job. Surya fall for the classical music singing brahmin dancer whose father works in the collectorate. Shobana sparkles in the role of a young lady torn between her love and her father and eventually ends up marrying the lover’s foster brother. The love not bearing fruit leaves Surya a broke man inside. He’s goaded into re-marrying the widow of a henchman he killed by Devarajan and provides shelter to the lady and her daughter. This character sperbly portrayed by Bhanupriya is the most understated performance in the movie after Rajini’s.
Meanwhile, a new collector arrives in town. He’s suave, he’s dignified and he’s courageous. Arvindsamy as the collector in his debut celluloid appearance steals our hearts with his inspiring speeches and disciplined demeaneour. He believes in the law and will do all he can to enforce it. Jaishankhar is his father and Srividhya his mother, both living with their son. Life moves on with rival gangs wooing Surya, Amrish Puri being the foremost and trying to poison Surya’s mind. Surya simply is not a person who’ll fall into this trap and manages to stay clear. Devarajan is injured in a planned attack on him by conniving with some insiders in his gang. This leaves Devarajan alone in the world with only Surya to defend him.
Does this sound interesting to you or do you think I simply gave out too much of the story? Though this movie is a decade old I wouldn’t want to reveal the story like I was peeling a banana. I leave it to you to watch the rest and make your own decisions. The movie opens with the visual of a goods train. This is by far one of the best titles in the history of Thamizh cinema. You have the camera on top of the train, in the front of it, hanging from the sides, perched under a bridge when the train makes it way from the top and what not. The song that accompanies this visual is spell binding to say the least. You get to see a scintillating Mani and Santhosh managing to pull off the best train song ever in ’Dil Se’, this time with much advanced technology and lots off light.
Music
In a way this song ’Chinna thai aval thantha raasa aavay....’ matches the situation perfectly, but digging deepers this song sound a trite too much of a tribute to the music director here whose name is Ilaiyaraja also known as Raasa in his hometown. Was this a coincidence or deliberate, you decide? Ilaiyaraja’s songs and background score hit you right where it pains, the pain that makes you smile. He’s composed absolute a classical gem like ’Yamunai Atrilay eera katrilay ....’, a western sounding orchestra which blends with ’Sundari ..kanaal ... or seidhi’, a folkish songs which again blends with the orchestra ’Rakamma kaiyai thattu’ in the midst of which he dares to break the song to take reculse in a classical raga based composed with Mani Ratnam blending the visuals for the change in momentum. Then there is the quintessential friendship song ’Kaattu kuyilu ...’, folk song ’Margazhi thaan odi pochu ...’. The background score is a tad too loud at times but all the more appropriate and masterful.
Visuals
Cinematography by Santhosh Sivan is a treat to the eyes or should I say senses because more than what you can see on screen, what you cannot creates melancholy. One shot to mention is the scene in which the dead henchman’s wife is shown for the first time in the movie. Light is thrown on her stomach to denote her pregnancy and then she slowly falls down to the ground exposing her face. Most the the frame except the center part is dark creating drama. Only Mani Ratham can see things the way it is. Shooting in minimal light became fashionable to the point of letting characters grope in the dark, but what the heck, this formula worked and to this day Mani Ratnam is true to his style except for the latest movie (Ayutha Ezhuthu) where he’s used lots of light.
Editing & Action
Editing by Suresh Urs is top-notch in the sense that you don’t know a cut or a cut is not conscious. There is no fast cuts as we have in all movies these days. The first fight is shot fully in slow motion and it requires a lot of guts to do that. Compare that with the first punch Surya delivers in Ayuthu Ezhuthu and you’ll know what I am talking about. If Matrix redefined action pictureisation, Thalapathy broke all rules in almost coming close to shooting the longest stunt scene in Thamizh involving two people, but also keeping the viewer engrossed in the scene. Super Subbarayan’s name deserves a mention here.
Set Design
Thotta Tharani’s meticulous sets resembling a collections hutments is absolutely real in an artificial way. Apart from this one big piece of work, he’s done art work for the songs which lend a majestic touch to them. Since this was the era before DTS and DD took over, sound is quite good for a stereo phonic soundtrack. It’s the director/writer who stands out. Make no mistake, this is not a movie with a water tight screenplay nor is it with deeply etched characters. But this movie strikes a chord about friendship, love, belonging, affection etc. That’s the victory of Mani the writer and keeping the movie engrossing and telling a story in an interesting and engrossing way is the victory of Mani Ratnam the Directory.
Epilogue
If I had to pick loose points I would say that the blossoming of friendship between Mammooty and Rajini was not depicted in detail and this was an area I would have liked more insight into though this happenned only almost half an hour into the film. It happenned a bit too fast. Overall, Thalapathy is one classic product which not only had stars in it, but had stars playing characters and in the process striking an emotional chord with the audience. This is a must-see movie for it’s sheer simplicity, straight story telling, melodious songs and excellence in cinematography.