Happy birthday, Sir!
People are celebrating the Ulaga Nayagan's birthday in their own ways. So I thought to myself, "Why not watch one of his best works again?" On any other day, I would have preferred either "Michael Madana Kamarajan" or his other equally hilarious "Pammal K Sambandam". But having sat through several classes of psychoanalysis, I decided on "Anbe Sivam" instead.
It's been thirteen years since it released, and I remember watching it several times during the summer of that year as a child. As someone who merely watched movies for entertainment and couldn't understand subtleties or notions of communism, even if it was blatantly obvious. So this time around, I paid attention to all of it. The street play song, the direct and indirect references to the bourgeoisie, the suffering of the proletariats, the painting and the domination of the color red throughout the movie. It's no coincidence that Madhavan is an ad film maker in the movie (he does a brilliant job in this film, by the way). Consumer fetish and advertising are core concepts in Marxism. I seem to be rambling again.
What I found beautiful and amazing was how Kamal Haasan seems to take such complex issues/concepts/theories and effortlessly weaves them into story lines that the common man would not just understand, but also be entertained by. That is definitely hard to do, for any creative person. Agreed, I sometimes wish he didn't harp on the whole "I never said there's no God, I just think it would be nice if there was a God" in most of his movies (think "Dasavatharam" and "Anbe Sivam" for instance). But I suppose that is a part and parcel of the creative liberty that comes along with being an artiste, so we can let that go.
There are enough articles and features written about why Kamal Haasan isn't as popular as Rajinikanth (despite the fact that Kamal has a huge fan following himself). I would be lying if I said I never wondered why a brilliant actor like him, who has always been ahead of his times, does not get more accolades. How is it that Rajinikanth manages to extract thunderous applause from a theater full of people merely by laughing while Kamal Haasan toils and sheds blood (sometimes literally) just for appreciation from a select few? Perhaps it is Karma (Kamal would definitely scoff at such a logic, if he were to ever read this). But it's hard to explain why else an actor like him, who has always amazed people with his choice of roles and story lines, still does not get the kind of reception Rajinikanth does. All this comes from a hardcore Rajini fan, who (despite trying to convince herself that she's an unbiased movie critic off late) was one among the thousands who eagerly watched "Kabali" in the theatre and hooted when Rajinikanth came on the big screen.
Some might argue that Kamal Haasan probably feels validated given the fact that he has more National Awards than Rajinikanth does. But is that really satisfying enough for an artist who is part of a film community that treats Rajinikanth like a demigod?
P.S: If this was too mundane and layman-ish for your tastes, you should probably check and see if Baradwaj Rangan has penned any write-up as a tribute for Kamal sir. I am sure Rangan won't disappoint you!
It's been thirteen years since it released, and I remember watching it several times during the summer of that year as a child. As someone who merely watched movies for entertainment and couldn't understand subtleties or notions of communism, even if it was blatantly obvious. So this time around, I paid attention to all of it. The street play song, the direct and indirect references to the bourgeoisie, the suffering of the proletariats, the painting and the domination of the color red throughout the movie. It's no coincidence that Madhavan is an ad film maker in the movie (he does a brilliant job in this film, by the way). Consumer fetish and advertising are core concepts in Marxism. I seem to be rambling again.
What I found beautiful and amazing was how Kamal Haasan seems to take such complex issues/concepts/theories and effortlessly weaves them into story lines that the common man would not just understand, but also be entertained by. That is definitely hard to do, for any creative person. Agreed, I sometimes wish he didn't harp on the whole "I never said there's no God, I just think it would be nice if there was a God" in most of his movies (think "Dasavatharam" and "Anbe Sivam" for instance). But I suppose that is a part and parcel of the creative liberty that comes along with being an artiste, so we can let that go.
There are enough articles and features written about why Kamal Haasan isn't as popular as Rajinikanth (despite the fact that Kamal has a huge fan following himself). I would be lying if I said I never wondered why a brilliant actor like him, who has always been ahead of his times, does not get more accolades. How is it that Rajinikanth manages to extract thunderous applause from a theater full of people merely by laughing while Kamal Haasan toils and sheds blood (sometimes literally) just for appreciation from a select few? Perhaps it is Karma (Kamal would definitely scoff at such a logic, if he were to ever read this). But it's hard to explain why else an actor like him, who has always amazed people with his choice of roles and story lines, still does not get the kind of reception Rajinikanth does. All this comes from a hardcore Rajini fan, who (despite trying to convince herself that she's an unbiased movie critic off late) was one among the thousands who eagerly watched "Kabali" in the theatre and hooted when Rajinikanth came on the big screen.
Some might argue that Kamal Haasan probably feels validated given the fact that he has more National Awards than Rajinikanth does. But is that really satisfying enough for an artist who is part of a film community that treats Rajinikanth like a demigod?
P.S: If this was too mundane and layman-ish for your tastes, you should probably check and see if Baradwaj Rangan has penned any write-up as a tribute for Kamal sir. I am sure Rangan won't disappoint you!
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