One of the evenings that you don’t plan and instead end up reserving a ticket to a movie that was never in the planning as well. Oh, BTW, how many of you plan your evenings? That might sound silly to people with a $day_job.
Likewise, I ended up watching “Anjathey, a film by Mysskin (as he is spelt on screen). The Tamil equivalent should be pronounced as “Mish-kin”.
Me and Ram decided to take a ride on his newly purchased, Mahindra Max XX Jeep. As we headed randomly, we decided to head towards the south-eastern part of the temple city to Vandy-oor Theppa-kulam. On our way, Adlabs caught our attention. The old Ganesh Cinema Hall has been remodelled to cater to the new generation of movie-goers. I have to say, it is probably the best Cinema hall available in Madurai. Madurai, typically and long billed as a B Center, is void of Multiplex. One has to understand that the income levels of families in a Tier-2 City like Madurai is modest and represents the widening divide between Tier-1 living standard and Tier-2 living standard on a superficial level. That would be a separate blog if I am going to bicker about and wouldn’t fit in to this context.
So, yes, Adlabs is a pretty decent place with ticket prices at INR 40 and INR 50 and they offer advance “over the counter” reservation as well. Somehow, this hasn’t caught the attention of the movie-goers in Madurai. They are so used to the last minute “hustle and bustle” of purchasing tickets over the counter and find it hard to grasp the convenience of an early and comfortable reservation. Adlabs offers the convenience of online reservation as well.
I should say, I enjoyed my experience watching the movie as much as the bright red interiors of Adlabs. Only complaint would be the seating levels. Such a short-sighted design by the Engineers that remodelled it. Anyway, coming back to the movie, I think Mysskin (the Director) has certainly elevated the level of story telling! I am not going to tell you the story over here. So, no spoilers.
The Director has represented the idealism in individuals (the so-called good guys) as well as the astuteness of individuals (the so-called bad guys). His narrative also explains the reality of (or probably gets close to) Police profession in this part of India. Strikes a pessimistic note to begin with but gets more optimistic with regards to the nature of individuals in the Police profession - as the story progresses. What is beautiful is the lingering tinge of uncertainty in the air. It keeps the viewer gripped to their seat in spite of a slow and not-so-racy-entertainer. This is not for the kids that are used to masala entertainers. Purely for individuals expecting a different presentation to an often touched subject.
Interestingly, there are a number of shots at extremely low angles, quite uncommon to Tamil Cinema. This has been exceptionally handled and will certainly set up an interesting discussion among the intellectual circle of Cinematographers in India. Some of the shots are really good and an average movie-goer might not be impressed. But that is not the point. I can closely relate to street photography shots. There is a lot of steady-cam and shoulder-cam shots. Intentionally used (or probably) to translate the gravity of the situation. BTW, there has been effective use of crane shots.
Is this the original script that Vikram refused to accept when Mysskin approached him earlier? If the word of mouth (mainstream media) is to be believed then sorry Vikram, you should be an idiot! Have faith in the screenplay!
Verdict: I loved it for its presentation and handling. Though there are some minus points typical to satisfying certain sections of Tamil moviegoers, i would say the Pros clearly outweigh the Cons. Mysskin surely has his trademark way of story telling. Good to see talented ones joining the promising pipeline of story-tellers in Tamil Cinema (Kilmo says: fuck the regionalism here..)!
P.S: Kilmo is my liberal alter-ego.