Kalloori !!

Hi All

I am an ardent admirer of the Director of the Film "Kaadhal" which shook me off totally exactly 2 years back on the same day...(Yes, I think that film was released during Dec of 2005 and I happened to see this film on Jan 1st of 2006...if my memory is correct).

I liked every thing about this film, the subject, the message, the portrayal, the dialects, the actors, the songs and above all the direction. The film overpowered me so much that after reaching home (I saw it in First Show on Jan 1st reaching home by 3 PM), my whole body was shivering when I was trying to take some rest lying down at my home.... It was very clear that I allowed the film too much into my system and told my wife categorically that WE are going to the same film once again the same evening.....I dont want to add here that both my wife and my daughter did not like the movie as much as I liked - which was not a surprise for me....& I saw it again for half dozen times after Jan 1st.... (yes, some times, you need to repeat great moments of your life, quite consciously !!0

Now, the same Director has come out with a wonderful film called "college" starring all fresh faces. It is said that all his actors of the film (the friends gang around which the story revolves) are yet to go to college - meaning that they are just 17 or 18..... but they appear to be too good a students capturing what the director had asked them to do.... Hats off not to the entire gang of the students but also to the numerous characters of the film (college lecturers, principal, the auto rikshaw father and other house members of all the friends INCLUDING the college senior ("puruvam thooki" ) boy with a broken heart as the heroine did not accept his proposal).

It needs lot of courage to take film on a real life incident that happened (1999) and the Director had moved in my heart by an inch when I read some where that he had appealed to the state of Tamilnadu "not to go to the theatre with "kaadhal" in the back of the memory"....people at times stun us with this type of radical statements.....He just did not want to bank on the earlier success and I felt that he had not dissappointed the fans (at least me).

The film portrays a college... I mean a real college, no cinema sets, no vivek & charlie posing as college students and Delhi Ganesh / Kavundamani as College Lecturers. The Heroine girl appeared quite aneimic at the first sight and not so eye catchy (except her over fairness), but as she settled down in the story, I too got convinced with her acting abilities. She is extremely natural and had played her part too well...and I dont mind saying I still remember some of her wonderful facial expressions....

Inspite of the Director's appeal, the music director reminds us forcibly of the earlier film (the same music director) but the solace is that the songs are quite consistent to the earlier film. The Hero boy and the friends - every one of them - will remember this adventure for their life time....so will I....!!

I saw a small article in Anandha vikatan where this director was posing with all the main characters portrayed in the film in an open terrance, simply sitting in the middle of the gang of friends....This man seems to be a huge potential....and I pray he comes out with even more wonderful films in the years to come. It is quite a tragedy and crude reality that many such talents does not get flourished during the prime of their career (he looks around 45 at least).

Tamil Industry needs some naturalism and nativity before our cinema creators completely surrender to alien cultures and money power....

suchoo