Sivaji Ganesan- A man regarded as one of the greatest actors of Tamil, nee Indian cinema. A man who would be the role model for many actors down South, the way Dilip Kumar was for many actors of Bollywood. An actor often called as Tamil Cinema’s answer to Marlon Brando.
Kamal Hassan- An actor who pushed the limits of excellence, perfection and passion. An actor with a staggeringly wide range of roles. A method actor par excellence, he was an actor who combined commercial success with artisitic sensibility. And a person who totally modelled himself on Shivaji Ganesan.
When the Mentor and his disciple met for the first time as leading actors on silver screen, the expectations were immense. Would this clash of Titans live up to it’s name? Would Kamal and Shivaji on screen, equal the Brando-Al Pacino combination in Godfather? The man assigned for this task was Bharathan, who had an award winning Malayalam movie, Vaishali to his credit already. And when they came together in Thevar Magan(1993), ** the silver screen, expectations were surprassed, as the Shivaji- Kamal combination on screen, created a movie magic, that will endure for generations together.
Thevar Magan is the story of Sakthi( Kamal Hassan), the son of Periya Thevar( Shivaji Ganesan). To those not familiar, Thevar is a dominant community in the Southern districts of Tamil Nadu, especially in the Madurai-Tirunelveli area. Sakthi arrives in the village from London, along with his girlfriend Bhanu( Gouthami). Sakthi does not like the village intrigues and the rivalries, and wants to return back to the city, and start a restaurant business, to the dislike of Periya Thevar, who wants him to look over the village. Thevar’s younger son, is a dissolute alcoholic, and his only hope is Shakti.
However the feud between his family and that of his paternal uncle and his hot headed cousin Mayan( Nazar), drags Shakti unwillingly into the conflict. When Periya Thevar dies heart broken after innocent people are killed due to the dispute between him and his brother, Sakthi now has to take over his father’s mantle. **What happens after Sakthi takes over his father’s mantle? Will he marry Bhanu? What about the feud between him and his paternal uncle’s family? Well watch the movie. Many in Hindi must have seen the remake of this movie, Virasat, starring Anil Kapoor.
*There are quite a large number of scenes in this movie that simply spell classic stamped right on them.
But one scene is sufficient to show director Bharathan( or is it ghost director Kamal)’s genius. It is the death scene of Shivaji. Consider the set up, Thevar returns to his home heart broken after witnessing the death of villagers in a flood engineered by Mayan. He slowly lies down, and asks his grand children to play with him. And then he asks them to sing the song "Potri Paadadi" . As his grand children play around him and sing the song, he passes away slowly. One of the best death scenes, no teary speeches, no emotional melodramatics, just a person slowly passing away. And yet so haunting.
And of course the scenes between Kamal and Shivaji, are brilliant, . Consider the first scene when Kamal comes to his home, and his talk with Shivaji. He is afraid of his father, fears him, respects him and talks to him in a nervous tone. Also during the dinner, when he talks about his girlfriend’s family, shows the difference in the way the city and village people think. Especially when Sivaji expresses surprise over the fact that Goutami’s father sent her to the village, even before marriage, as he says in tone marked with sarcasm **"Nalla Appa, Nalla Ponnu"( Great father, great daughter).
Another brilliant scene is the confrontation scene between **Shivaji and Kamal, when Kamal tells Shivaji he has no intention of staying in the village, and wants to go back to city, and Shivaji rebukes him, calling him a coward. When Kamal tells them that he cant live in an outmoded atmosphere, Shivaji admits that the villagers live that way, and asks him, why he cant change their thinking. Fantastic scene.
Other great scenes in the movie
The confrontation in the village court.
The scene where Kamal visits Yeski( Vadivelu) in hospital.
The scene where Kamal marries Revathi, after her bridegroom runs away in fear.
Matter of fact, almost every scene in this movie shines with sheer brilliance and intensity.
On the flip side, though, the movie could have done with better editing. Also the scene when Gouthami comes back, and finds that Kamal has married Revathi, just drags along, and is frankly boring.
Shivaji Ganesan delivers a performance, which can be described only as awesome. In a vast majority of his movies, Shivaji Ganesan, often had to resort to over the top acting. But whenever he acted in a natural manner, like in another classic movie, Mudhul Mariyadhai, he was just outstanding. As a village chieftain, as a father, as a loving and doting grandfather, he does not act he lives the role. You see in him your own father, your own grandfather, you see in him the village head man. Consider the scene when in the argument with Kamal, at one moment, he grabs his shirt. And then immediately he brushes it. Watch the way he switches from an angry to a caring mood, just fantastic.
Complimenting Shivaji, is of course Kamal. Though in many of the scenes with Shivaji, Kamal does get pushed a bit into background, in the later half of the movie, especially when he assumes the role of Thevar, Kamal is just brilliant. Especially in the scene when Revathi’s father accuses him of letting him down, and breaking his trust, watch the expressions of hurt on his face. Just outstanding.
Pitted against the two titans, Revathi still manages to make an impact, as an innocent village girl, who is caught up in events beyond her control. Watch her expressions in the scene, when she accuses her father of playing with her life. She truly deserved the National Award for this movie. This was one of the very few movies where I could tolerate Vadivelu on screen, while Nazar makes a good villian also. Cant same the same about Gouthami, whose performance is frankly irritating, I was pretty much relieved when her role ended.
Ilayaraja provides one of the best background scores ever seen for an Indian movie, not too loud, not too jarring, but fitting in with the mood perfectly. Of the 9 songs for this movie "Inji Idhupazhagi" and "Potri Paadadi Penne" are the best. While many must have watched Virasat, I still recommend you to watch this movie, just to see the brilliant performances by Shivaji and Kamal.