I like sincere movies.
This week for me, I believed, was scarred and blistered after the weekend RA.one debacle. Three hours trapped in the middle of nowhere ( IMAX Wadala) I believed that I was not going get through this. Needless to say, I was much relieved to be back home and be able to yes to a film with one of my closest friends.
The fun started much before going to the actual movie.
One of the more genuine attempts at movies, and definitely of the most sincere movies this year- 7aum Arivu (Seventh Sense) is definitely a movie worth watching. Starring Suriya and Shruti Hasan, and directed by the impeccable Murugadoss, this was my first Tamil encounter in the cinemas.
Being born a Tamilian- Marathi , and having spent my entire life, first in Bombay and then in Mumbai, I obviously had no understanding of a single syllable of Tamil. Jalebi language, what I used to call, and for no understandable reason did I make an effort to learn it. Me and my friend had decided to catch 7aum Arivu (sevent sense) a movie by the Ghajani director and starring Surya and the extremely noteworthy Shruti Hasan. Having heard a lot about the film, I had great expectation, and it was with these great expectations that I called up Cinemax and asked about the timings.
The conversation was as follows-
Me: I wanted to ask if the film 7 AM Arivu at Cinemax Sion has English subtitles.
Cinemax Lady : Which show?
Me: 7 AM Arivu?
Cinemax: I am sorry the show is at 3.05 pm, Sir.
When I cleared out my mistake, her fluency in Tamil made me sense a slight disgust in her tone for my lack of knowledge of Tamil. It was almost as if she knew I was half Tamil. And, in my defense, I really am.
And then me and my friend landed in the cinema, hoping to find the perfect seats to be able to read the subtitles.
The movie banks heavily on the crowd pulling Suriya and noteworthy Shruti Hasan to work out strong roles. Murugadoss writes and directs this epic, spanning over two time periods. The movie begins with a bang, taking us into the past to 1600 AD, where Bodhidharman begins is journey from his Tamilian kingdom to China. The production value instantly strikes us and I really hope more movies would watch such movies to see the effect and impact of production value on the selling prowess of a regional movie.
Suriya shows skill and charm as he shifts his roles between an 1600 AD healer-warrior-legend to an extremely talented circus performer.
Shruti Hasan, (huge fan), plays out the lead role in the movie with grace and ease, that of young Tamil biotechnologist, proud of her culture and using science to study our heritage. She plays the anchor in the move, her character joining the threads of this plot together till the very end. Her acting skills impress and amaze.
The movie proceeds with a lot of flaws, and a rather jerky time line, but with fluent direction and excellent cinematography. The characters are well painted and while the director/writer takes time for their development, this makes the movie a bit too long for one's taste. The music goes well the film, but could have been much better, as is the expectation with Tamil movies. I dont want to go into the details of this movie, but want to point out a few important facts that I came out with, after leaving the cinemas-
---- The message Suriya and Shruti Hasan leave us with, as the camera moves slowly on and away from Murugadoss, impressed me, and it seems to patch up some of the holes left in the movie. Suriya explains how the Tamil heritage is slowly being lost in the same place which it should be preserved. Shruti points out that no one should be forced to resort to Science to 'awaken the Tamilian within us' when we all have the power to do it ourself. This small and seemingly unnecessary and pedantic interview at the end of the movie explains how well the metaphor of 'helping to bring back Bodhidharman to life' is, in fact, an effective metaphor to bring out the true message, as it was intended by the director.
---- Regional movies, I agree, will always be bound by certain frames, and I feel that is necessary to keep regional films regional. However, this movie is a good example of how great production, direction and a big budget can make a regional film not only at par with, but also above the quality of Bollywood films.
---- Innovation- something 90 percent of all movies in Bollywood consciously exclude from their process. To explain this in one single line I want to point out a scene where Suriya takes Shruti for a ride on his elephant on the streets of India, and how Shruti manages to ' awaken Suriya's genetic memory' within 15 days. The base line is that 'innovation pays'
----I would really hope films like these help directors realise the importance of taking risks. This movie goes to prove that taking a risk with the right talent and good attitude is better than the fan following of any super star. RA.one was tangled mesh of a half a dozen sci-fi movies and depended only and only on SRK's appeal and special effects to sell a film that basically lacked any script whatsoever. RA.one- good movies can be made without being so bland- SRK, take notes.
This movie not just helped me recover from a bad bout of RA.one from the earlier week, but it actually gave me a feeling of pride of being half Tamil. It reminded me that even though I have lived my entire life in Mumbai, I have been born in Bangalore. It reminded me that I have more than one hometown.
It showed me the best part of being an Indian- you get to enjoy two cultures at the same time. You get to be proud of any number of cultures you want to. Considering this movie got its message out to me, and made me feel what it intended me to feel, and also not forgetting I have been completely blinded behind a Marathi veil for my entire life to my Tamil culture, I think this movie is not bad at all. It made me think, and I like that in a movie sometimes.
Everyone appreciates sincere movies.
Ed lithium
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