An amateur who made a mark with Hey Ram has delivered a mature Virumaandi.
There are very few movies that one would like watch more than once in theater. I would like to see Virumaandi just to appreciate the festival of performances and amount of hard work that has been put into the making if this modern day tamil
classic. (i hope it turns out to be one).
Form is temporary and class is permanent, it seems that statement is applicable to Movie stars also! In some ways, Virumaandi is a grand comeback for Kamal Haasan, who gave his last big commercial hit (Tenali) about 3-4 years back. After some average comedies and a loose cannon Aalavanthan, Kamal has regrouped and got his act together in all respects for Virumaandi.
Virumaandi has something in it for all kinds of audience. For the regular movie goers it is a very entertaining movie. It is a lesson in novel movie making for students of the art. For the critics, it is a message oriented movie. And for Kamal fans, it is a cult classic in the lines of Thevar Magan.
Story:
It will be unfair and misleading if I narrate the story because the movie is a combination of stories presented as perceptions and left to the audience to take home which perception they liked most. The movie is multilayered with some layers better than the other.
Interpretation 1:
Virumaandi is a statement against capital punishment and voices its support for abolishing that form of punishment.
Interpretation 2:
Virumaandi presents a vivid picture of caste and territorial violence prevalent in southern tamil nadu, where woman, water and land are the primary reason for blood ridden riots and brutal deaths.
Interpretation 3:
It is a story or how the hero avenges the injustice done to him and the death of his beloved wife. There may be more interpretations but I dont want to list everything down. It is open to everybody’s imagination.
The most significant and appealing aspect of the movie is the story telling. The movie shifts back and forth between present and past (narrated as a set of flashbacks). The same story is told by two people from their perception with one perception being more true than the other. I think this is the first time this technique has been used in indian cinema. Irrespective of whether it is an original attempt or not it has definitely captured imagination of the public. What is worth noting is that the narration of same story twice is neither repetitive nor confusing.
Performances:
Kamal the actor: Kamal has reached a stage in his career where it is redundant to shower praise for anything he does. He is one of those rare movie stars who qualify as move artists. In Virumaandi, he has given one of his most relaxed, effortless and natural performance.
The rest of the cast:Before you think it is a kamal movie all the way, spare a though for the rest of the cast, who have complimented Kamal in every way and in some instances overshadowed his performance. Kamal does not hog the screen all the time and everybody gets as much share of the screen time as the story demands.
Pasupathy has give an outstanding performance as the villan in the movie. Abhirami is the perfect choice for the Annalachumi character. Napolean’s role is relatively smaller but he has give a dignified and calm performance. Rohini does not have too much to do but does her part as a journalist effectively. Nasser is the only person who has not been used effectively. He has hardly 2 scenes in the movie.
Finally, Kamal the Director: The ultimate winner is this guy who brought the best in all the above actors to deliver this festival of performances. A double role of sorts!
Other Observations
The movie was almost 210 minutes long but for a change it held my attention and I never felt the duration bearing down on me. Still, being a severe critic of long movies, I would have edited out atleast 15 minutes in the first half. Anyway, the duration does not hamper the movie in anyway.
Illayaraja’s soundtrack is very effective and fits the mood of the movie with perfection. However, sparing 1 or 2, the songs are not interesting to listen as an audio album. Kamal should resist the temptation to sing all the songs. He is an average singer. He should leave the singing job to professionals. The song ’Unnai vida’, a duet has been picturized very well in the dark. It has captured the full beauty of a moon lit night. Not something I have seen often...
The lovemaking scenes were better than most movies but still I feel we are still figuring out the art of acting/picturizing it. The scenes were important to the story unlike in ’Hey Ram’ where it was more of a luxury.
Kamal’s appearance constantly changes in this movie as does his role and situation. It reminded me of Saket Ram from Hey Ram going on aman hunt trying to avenge the death of his wife, a loser from Mahanadhi who is pitted against the justice system for being gullible, A village big shot from Thevar magan and finally the insane nandu from Aalavanthan when he mindlessly kills people.
The Jallikattu (Bull fight) scene was well done.
Graphics in some of the sequences were awful and avoidable. They did not add any value or interest to the proceedings
The jail sequences were well done. It was a surprise to know that the jail was a set.
There is a lot of violence in the movie, but that is what the movie is all about. In some ways it is a violent lesson on peace. Anyway, it is not anymore violent than the peaceful world we live in.
The were a few humorous moments to lighten up in the first half. Also a few tongue in cheek remarks like ’Virumaandi, Amma vecha peru ...’ an obvious reference to the name change of the movie suggested by Jayalalitha (Often called as ’Amma’)
I felt that the the message on Capital punishment was lost for a while in the middle portion before finally falling in place in the end.
I liked the ending. I always like optimistic endings. :)
It was hard to accept that Nasser survives in the end despite being stabbed multiple times. Also, it was hard to accept kamal running around, jumping and climbing the walls after being stabbed and with the knife still sticking out of his back. Maybe that was for the fans!
The madurai tamil dialect lends a unique flavor to the movie
Highly recommended for multiple viewings.
Watch the movie with anybody.
I rate it 4.5 *s.