Friday, July 18, 2008

Rajni was an actor once upon a time

I saw a hoarding in Tuticorin inviting all Rajni fans for a discussion on how to celebrate(?) the release of his latest movie Kuselan. It is this kind of fan base that builds the myth of Rajni and which in turn attracts more fans. A self perpetuating cylce that killed an actor and built a star.

Just watch these two scenes from Mullum Malarum.


Reminds you of Paruthiveeran sequence, doesn't it.


Added bonus in this scene is Ilayaraja's great background score.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

as far as sentiment goes, the second scene is following the hoary tradition of paasa malar.

Anonymous said...

Mullum Malarum can be watched even today. Pasamalar would look like a comedy film today. In particular that " Anandam .. Aanda Kanneratan..".

For more fun watch.

Mirudanga Chakravarthy. And also the songs "Mella nada Mella Nada" and the "Nan Pesa Ninipadellam Nee Pesavendun". In the latter Sivaji sniffing S. Devi's neck will remind you of a pig sniffing a dustbin.

In T. Mohanamambal, Sivji gets Knifed in a Scene. His over acting will suggest that he has got Kalkka Valippu and not injured, you can watch that clip in you tube aswell.

In Johnny, when Bama (Deepa) says our kids will be ashamed that you are barber, Rajnikanth reactions of concealing his disgust and anger is worth a watch. And also his expressions when killing Bama.

I’m not a fan of Rajini, but he had his decent moments

Pro Wrestling Fan said...

Anonymous - Tamil cinema fans get what they want. They wanted Sivaji to overact and he did. Loud, over-the-top performances were considered the norm for good acting those days. Not just Sivaji - you could accuse S.S.R, AVM Rajan, and plenty of other actors of the same.

Next generation kids might make fun of Ajith's over-the-top performance in Varalaaru. But the movie was a huge hit. So, blame the audience. They exactly get what they deserve.

m said...

Hmmm...i think i would also not forgive some of these monsters who killed the actor Rajini and instead made such a crappy nonsense out of him...there are quite a bunch old films of him that are beautiful and still fun to watch!

Chenthil said...

Anon - may be, but notice how his arrogance comes back when shoba russhes back to him.

Anon - to be fair to Sivaji, leave out his movies in 70s and 80s upto Mudhal Mariyadhai. Color films weren't good to him. Mudhal Mariyadhai showed what a good director could do with the actor. I rate it amongst my top 5 Tamil movies of all time. For what it is worth, my top 5 is - Aval Appadithaan, Mudhal Mariyadhai, Mullum Malarum, Palaivana Solai and Anbe Sivam.

Krishnan - we deserve the movies we get :-).

Ela - his movies in late 70s and early 80s were great till SP Muthuraman became his director of choice.

Anonymous said...

Geez -- anon2 lighten up!

Nobody takes any movie(over-acted, under-acted/just right) that seriously.

Anonymous said...

This is Anon2.

Chenthil I’m not great movie buff. But I used watch Sunday DD movies when I was young, and a lot of them were Sivaji’s. I do agree that in M. Mariyathai he did not go over board. I think even in Thevar Magan he was good.

My top five are

1) Uthiri pookal.
2) Aval Appadithan.
3) Kalloori
4) Mullum Mlalarum
5) Azhagi

I must confess here, that I’m not a great movie buff and my data base is very small. I watch only after my friends recommend it and drag me to the movie halls. I have not watched Palaivana solai and many others. I believe that Nenajathai Killathe is also good, but I was too young when I saw this movie and did not get a chance to watch it again.

I’m not cool with Balu Mahendra’s movies as most of them, barring a few like Veedu, are remakes of Hollywood flicks.

Best Comedy film I think is Michel Madana…

Anonymous said...

anons, theriyaadha vishayathai pathi pesa koodadhu.
Rajni was a fine actor and MM is proof of that, but bachchas (you two chenthil) commenting on sivaji is too mcuh.
In the 60's and 70's there were many movies where he 'over-acted', quite a few where he did what a aamir khan or nasser shah would be proud of today. Motor Sundaram Pillai? Lakshmi kalayanam? Kelvi kood apattirukka maattenga - neengellallam pesa koodadhu sivaji pathi.

Anonymous said...

For the record, Rajni's style is largely picked up from Sivaji. Watch UthamaPuthiran, watch Shanti. Idhellam paartha Rajni style engerundhu varudhunu theriyum. Sivaji was a complete actor. The only actors who can be mentioned in the same breath are Kamal and Rajni-of-70's.

Anonymous said...

dabbler,

do u have a hotline to my thoughts ? Just kidding..I was exactly thinking the same thing.He is a fine actor who could have been used better.There are many films in late 80's where his performances were simply superb.S P muthuraman and AVM productions did not kill rajini's acting skills but also of ilayaraja's musical creativity.The day he scored music for 'nethu rathiri yemma' made all the difference.But v r discussing about rajini not IR.Kamal was doing the same thing but he had his moments when we wroked with balu mahendra and K vishwanath.But even with an AVM production like 'nallavanukku nallavan' rajini gave a decent performance.Even mani ratnam had to tailor his story to suit rajini fans.As far sivaji is concerned he might have hammed in many pictures but his performance in earlier pictures proves beyond doubt that he is the first among equals.

The fan

உமா said...

yes,rajini's versatality was lost to his stardom
see his acting in 16 vayathinele
6lirundu aruopathuvarai..aval appditthan ofcourse m.malarum

Sushan said...

Any star can be devoured by human adoration, twinkle by twinkle.
- Shirley Temple Black