Anathaaru - what's in a remake?

Bala's modern Tamil classic, Pithamagan, is probably not the first film you'd choose to remake. It's a dark and grim tale of a man who barely knows how to communicate via speech, and its other protagonist is a scam artist - the film only operates in shades of grey when it comes to morality. It's also a film packed with powerhouse performances; not only did the film put Vikram on top of the list when it came to versatility in Tamil cinema, it's also remembered for Surya's portrayal of the lovable con artist, and the female leads (Laila and Sangeetha) were solid as well. (My Pithamagan review, for further reading.)

To my great surprise, however, Anathaaru, the 2007 Kannada remake of Pithamagan, does not fall that much behind its original counterpart. Perhaps what happened with Nanban, the vivacious Tamil remake of 3 Idiots - I love the original so much I cannot help but also love the same story and characters in the remake.

So much rested on Upendra's shoulders. Could he match Vikram's original dialogue-free performance in any way, shape or form? I was impressed that he more or less did. He doesn't copy his acting cue's from Vikram, but makes the character his own. The performances do not feel identical, though they clearly share the same roots in the story. I've been of two minds when it comes to Upendra as a film maker (see my reviews of Super and A) but I'm definitely of one mind when it comes to the man as an actor: he's talented.

Darshan plays Sathya the conman, and has the same infectious likability as Surya's performance in the original film. The character is still a horrible human being, and never changes for the better precisely; the romance he has with the young girl Parvathi (Sanghavi) after scamming her is still one of the more questionable romances I've witnessed on screen. And yet, I like both of them, and more astonishingly, I root for them to be together.

And naturally his scenes are hilarious to watch as well. 

Sanghavi portrays Parvathi with the same kind of petulant, yet sympathetic pluckiness as Laila did in the original. I'm sure some people find this character grating; I don't, and will like her in every version of the story.

The low-grade DVD (with English subtitles, thankfully) does not show a strong directorial hand, however, and I find myself wondering if it's just the DVD or perhaps the remake is simply not as well directed as Bala's original. The cinematography is fairly dull, and the colours even more dull - if I didn't already love the story, I'm not sure if I'd be that impressed with it this time around. It's a good film, but perhaps because it's not original, it's not a great film. 

Still, for the performances and the ability to bring life to this story a second time, I have to give the Kannada film makers props. It's a challenging film to remake, and they did a decent job of it. I would recommend it for Upendra's strong performance, but for those who've not seen the original - do not see this one before you've witnessed Pithamagan.

Thoughts on awards, functions and what any of it means.

Sorry for blog silence. University stress hit me like a ton of bricks and my head hasn't been in the right place for Indian film watching/pondering. Except now. Thanks for the overwhelming response to the celeb Tweet posts, I promise I'll try to do more in the future.

So news hit today of various National Award winners and though I haven't seen that much response coming from people who enjoy Bollywood, there is some, and it is somewhat puzzled. People are used to thinking of Filmfare, Stardust etc as fluffy award ceremonies - watched for the stars, the performances, the red carpet photos and acceptance speeches. Nobody is necessarily under any illusion that the best movie will win, or the best actor, or indeed anybody. And yet the consensus seems to also be that it's nice to see your favourite films get a bit of honor.

National Awards is a different ballgame. This is the respectable, considered stuff. This is the stuff some Malayalam film you've never heard of wins. This is the awards Shyam Benegal has piles of in his cupboards. This is the awards that truly seems to look at Indian cinema at a whole; all industries. Therefore the winners are typically from Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali.. the biggest non-Hindi industries, with the occasional Hindi winner here and there (for example, the category for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment is pretty much always a Hindi film). The winers are typically from alternative, more arthouse cinema.

The reason I lay down these basics is that it seems some people are puzzled and a bit miffed that Priyanka Chopra got the Best Actress Award for Fashion. It does seem a bit odd. If they are looking at all 2008 Indian films, it would seem odd that Priyanka Chopra's, whose skills have frankly never really impressed me, rates above all of them. I haven't seen Fashion, but even so. I'm not against her winning; I just find it somewhat surprising.

With that said, I'm stuck because I keep landing on the question; does it matter?

The pictures in this post are of past National Award winners (none in the films their won for). Vikram won Best Actor for Pithamagan in 2004 and the next year, Saif Ali Khan won the same award for .. wait for it ... Hum Tum. Shabana Azmi has won Best Actress more times than I can count.

Vikram I'll honestly agree with, because I think even if I distanced myself from my insane love for his masala fare, the step he took as an actor in Pithamagan and Bala's direction complementing it is well enough. Saif's an odd choice. Especially for Hum Tum. I mean, I love him and I adore the movie - it's among my most rewatched Bollywood flicks of all time - but ...a National Award? In the same year he had Ek Hasina Thi? Oh, if only they'd known to wait for Omkara..

So there have definitely been quizzical choices in the past. And I'm sure every time somebody you've seen in a movie that didn't blow you away will grab one of these, it'll be a bone of contention. If it's a Southie flick you've never heard of, you're not likely to argue the issue, right?

But as I asked before, does it really matter, what wins and what doesn't? Be it National Awards, Filmfare, Stardust or Na-real? The more the global media is getting psyched about the Oscars and whether Avatar (ugh let's not go there again) will sweep it, the less I realize I genuinely care. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love some Oscar-winning films a ton. And sometimes those awards, be they from European movie festivals, Indian award ceremonies or the Oscars, make me appreciate the films I love even more. But in general, I don't really care. I rarely end up watching the Oscar-winning films. I don't necessarily even bother to keep up with what's winning what on the Bolly side of things.

What makes a film stand the test of time? I mean, we forget about stuff all the time, because there's only so many things you can remember. I suppose the worst thing for a film is not necessarily to bomb in the box office or not win any awards, but to be forgotten in the public consciousness. Not be remembered as a film worth watching, or simply not remembered at all. I remember looking through the list of past Filmfare winners and noticed some films I'd never even heard of. Consider for example, Be-Imaan, which swept the Filmfares in 1972. You seen it? You heard of it? '72 being the year of such films as Seeta aur Geeta and Pakeezah. How come those two are much more well-known and watched than this award-winner (as far as I know anyway)?

I don't know, how do you feel about this? Do awards matter in the long run? Or are they just good for entertainment, a bit of TV programming with stars, glitz and filmi jokes? What truly makes a film classic, one people will remember decades from now?

More mini-reviews.

11. Bunty Aur Babli (2005) - What's not to love about this movie? Colourful, fun romantic comedy filled with catchy music, costume changes and hijinks. Brilliance! Rani and Abhishek are fantastic in it. It's also special for me as it was one of the first Bollywood movies - if not the first - I anticipated, listened to the music beforehand and was otherwise dying to see. It did not disappoint, and it got better with rewatches. This one's a favourite for sure.

12. Dushman (1998) - I watched this revenge story when I decided I needed to see more Kajol films, and somebody told me her performance had really impressed them in this. I have to say I agree. Nevertheless, great Kajol performance great movie does not make. The film itself feels trite and boring. I just wasn't feeling it.


13. Jugnu (1973) - A damn fine 70's masala film starring Dharmendra and Hema Malini. I believe I've talked about this before (indeed I have!) so I'll just say it's still on my "to buy" list as I can't find the DVD anywhere! Thankfully most of the songs are on youtube - this film has some awesome Hema dancing.

14. Paheli (2005) - Visually stunning film with jewellery product placement like whoah, starring Rani Mukherji as the unsatisfied just-married wife of boring businessman (Shahrukh Khan). Naturally she falls in love with a ghost (Shahrukh Khan!) who enters her life and seduces her. I'm not big on infidelity stories - it's one of those tragic real life issues I don't particularly want to mix up in my romantic movies. Still, this one's not too annoying, and I loved seeing Shahrukh in the role of the husband - so un-Shahrukh, it was certainly refreshing.

15. Omkara (2006) - Amazing film I have naturally discussed previously, Vishal Bharadwaj's modern Othello interpretation. Very near flawlessness. Awesome performances. Of course, as it stands, not an easy watch - nevertheless, I've seen it multiple times. I look forward to viewing it again, but I think I need somebody to share it with .. otherwise I'll weasel out of watching it all the way through, right to the heart-wrenching ending.

16. Kya Kehna (2000) - Life is wonderful! Or is it? Not if you take nearly 3 hours of your life watching this movie. Okay, okay, I'll admit: Preity Zinta does give us a great performance in it. Saif Ali Khan has an unbearable mullet and a douchebag of a character to play, however, the movie is tiringly 90's and it's just ..not very good. It's just one of those films I'd rather not waste time thinking about.

17. Pithamagan (2003) - Director Bala's best work that I've seen, Vikram's award winning performance, stellar Surya - this one is hard-hitting Tamil cinema overall. Of course I've reviewed it before but I suppose it never hurts to re-recommend it to people. Just remember: don't go in expecting light entertainment.

18. Eklavya (2007) - Christ, what a waste of great cinematography and casting this film is. I cannot believe Vidhu Vinod Chopra kept writing and re-writing this movie for aeons - you'd expect such a huge effort to actually produce a good story. But no, the story is cliché and trite, despite being packed into a short running time. Sigh. Original review here.

19. Johnny Gaddaar (2007) - I still prefer Ek Hasina Thi but this one is another nice proof of talent from Sriram Raghavan. It's a who-dunnit where you know who did it, but are still on the edge of your seat. The pace could be better but still, I really enjoyed this movie. Now I just need to find the time to rewatch it!

20. Bheema (2008) - My original review pretty much says it all - what a dull movie. I'm hoping Vikram's future efforts are more entertaining than this one. However, seeing as how the release dates keep getting pushed back, I have my fears..

The world of Bala. Pithamagan, Sethu, Nandha.

The cruelest of worlds is not the one that kills you; it's the one that kills the ones you love. It's this world that Tamil director Bala conveys in his films - a world of outsiders, struggling to make it, but not completely without hope. There are always glimpses of light, of humor. But there is also a spiral that seems inevitable, one of violence and grimness.

Sethu (check bollywoodblog.de for screencaps) launched Bala as a director, and made Vikram into a reckoned name in the industry. The success of the film lead to a pretty known Hindi remake of it, Tere Naam starring Salman Khan and Bhumika Chawla - a film I've not seen. Sethu is a destructive story of desperate love - stalking the one you love, pestering her endlessly is not alien to Indian love stories, but the story here does not end as happily as it typically does.

Vikram, whose nickname 'Chiyaan' comes from this movie (it's a nickname of the title character), proves his worth with this performance, though I was already a fan when I put this movie on. The transformation of the character is tragic, and partly incomprehensible; his co-star Abitha is plain-looking, and possesses no charisma whatsoever. Why Sethu falls so madly in love with her, I still haven't figured out. Why he goes through hell for her is equally puzzling.

The film may lack the layers that made Pithamagan, Bala's third film, one of my absolute favourites, but it is by no means a bad movie. I wasn't attached to the characters and still remained glued to my seat.

Nandha is a tragedy that taps into a central theme in Indian movies; family bonds, and those bonds falling apart. Nandhaa (Surya) is but a child when he defends his mother against an abusive father, and ends up committing patricide. After serving his prison sentence, he returns home, only to have his mother deny him.

The film is perhaps my least favourite Bala film, but even then an interesting watch. Where Sethu made Vikram a star, Nandha gives Surya Sivakumar a chance to portray an interesting character, and Surya does well with the role - many say this film changed him into a good actor, period. Laila plays a Srilankan refugee whose character provides a slightly more light-hearted romantic storyline to the movie. While her acting skills are limited, she has a lovely presence and definite chemistry with Surya.

It's also interesting to see such positive portrayal of Srilankan Tamils in a Tamil film. I've heard that Tamil Nadu people tend to have a slightly negative attitude toward Srilankan Tamils as they are known for their violent actions (Tamil Tigers and what have you). This film portrays Tamil unity; according to subtitles, one song claims, "Tamils are always great!".

Pithamagan is the Bala film I saw first, and one that blew me away. In it, Vikram plays Chiththan, who grows up in a cemetary, cared for by a neglectful priest. When the priest dies, Chiththan wanders into the real world, meets a female drug dealer (Sangitha) who helps him land a job. Being unaccostumed to human company, having always lived in seclusion, Chiththan cannot cope, however, and lands himself in more trouble than previously. Through these ordeals he meets Sakthi (Surya), a humorous conman, who befriends Chiththan and begins to look after him.

Some have questioned the realism of Vikram's character - can a man truly be so animal-like in his behavior? While the details of the character might not be correct (eg. his small proficiency in language), I believe in theory it is very possible, though of course unlikely. Bala is inspired by seclusion; sometimes it works for the character's benefit, sometimes being an outsider is the one thing that leads to their destruction. There is so much I could say about Vikram's performance here. It's unsettling, believable and tragic all at the same time.

I have talked about Surya and Laila, the film's other stars before in a post about Vivah and Pithamagan. Their romantic storyline is funny, and sweet, though in a very Bala-sort of way, with some disturbing elements thrown in.


Another great aspect of Pithamagan, or perhaps the best aspect of it, is the interaction between Surya and Vikram. I doubt we'll see them together in a movie again, since Tamil films do not typically contain two heroes - and that's their status nowadays, no doubt about it - but in this film, their characters have an odd, but touching connection and friendship.

Soundtracks are not typically strong suits of Bala films; they contain more haunting melodies that reveal character mental atmospheres than catchy tunes one can shake a leg to. However, there is one track that has to mentioned: a stand-out remix of old Tamil film tunes title Aruna ruunam, featuring actress Simran as herself (in fabulous irony, Simran is one of the heroines that has her dialogues dubbed by somebody else).

I rarely call myself a fan of a director - for one directors are even less reliable in quality than actors, at times, and for two, there is hardly anybody whose specific style I've fallen in love with. However, should Bala ever make another film (his last one was in 2003!), I would definitely want to see it. His world may be gloomy and his characters more or less hopeless, but there is something utterly captivating in them nevertheless.

Say no to shy girls! - Vivah & Pithamagan.

I began watching Vivah, the 2006 Amrita Rao-Shahid Kapoor starrer in curiosity for Shahid, after I had enjoyed his performance in Jab We Met so much (a movie I heartily recommend, by the way). Emphasis on "began", since I did not manage to watch all of it, or even as much as make my way towards the halfway mark.

The reason? Quite simple. I had to surrender in the face of the conservative, very "Indian" values of Vivah. I simply couldn't stomach it. The film's story is that of an arranged marriage - a concept I'm perfectly okay with. But the saccharine sweet family scenarios and particularly the character played by Amrita just made me conclude this was not a film for me. I couldn't wrap my head around why Shahid, why anybody could agree to marry this shy, bland girl who reveals no personality after their first meeting (or I must assume - throughout the whole bloody film). Her downcast eyes, quiet behavior, how she's valued for her beauty (even though she's supposedly an educated, intelligent girl)...

All are reasons why this film makes for incredibly ungrateful feminist viewing. But hey, I'm not looking for feminist heroines in my Bollywood. I know better than to expect all heroines to have jobs and independent lives and kick ass here and there and all over the place. What I would like, however, is a girl who can, oh I don't talk, talk to the hero. Whilst looking at him. Is that so much to ask, really?

However, Vivah is just one of those films. You accept it for what it is, and it's a smooth fluffy sail, I'm sure. If you let these things get to you - as I do, I apologise - then it's not going to work at any step of the way.

After Vivah I needed an anti-dote. Curiously, I turned to one of my favourite Tamil films, Pithamagan, for a completely different reason - I just wanted to rewatch it. But as I began rewatching, it hit me - this was it! My perfect Vivah-antidote.



Pithamagan, directed by Bala, tells a story of a boy who was born and raised in the cemetary. Chitthan grows up secluded and doesn't learn human communication, apart from funeral hymns. When he finally wanders out into the real world, he naturally finds himself in a lot of trouble. The film is grim, realistic and portrays the world of criminals and outcasts. Chitthan is played by my favourite Tamil actor, the versatile and unmistakably charming Vikram, who won the National Award for his performance in the movie.

Chitthan is helped out by a jolly fraud (420) named Sakhti, played by another favourite of mine, Surya. Sakhti has a romantic storyline with a college student named Manju (played by the sweetfaced Laila), whose money he successfully cons. She does not take it lightly, however, throwing an absolute fit after losing her money and some of her belongings, and later when she runs into him on the train, she raises all kinds of hell.

Manju is my Poonam-antidote (Poonam is the character who Amrita Rao played in Vivah). She's not the perfect spunky heroine - she's actually quite over-the-top, throwing exaggerated fits when she gets angry, but in the end she is what she needs to be to match Sakhti. He's a criminal, a charming one but not really a very nice guy, and for whatever he did, she's the only person who's not letting him get away, no chance in hell. She even stands up to her father no problem. Manju is quite a firecracker, sure of herself to a flaw, but I love her for that. Whereas some Indian film heroines would get beaten down and stay down, perhaps weeping silently for their pain, Manju would scream her lungs out, then get up, chase whoever beat her down and do her best to beat him down, as well. Whether smart or not, I love her guts!

The way the romance eventually develops is not something I'm extremely fond of - I will not say more as not to spoil anybody - but it does fit into the harsh reality of the film. That Sakhti, deep down a good person, could actually not be good at all, and that Manju, who stands so proudly against whatever stands in her way, could easily be struck down by the evil that exists in the world.

Luckily Manju stays as she is despite the peculiar plot vehicle, full of life and character.


There's a lot of other things to be said about Pithamagan, too, but I'll leave that for another rewatch, and another post. The above image is from another Laila movie, Dhill, not as impressive but I just love her eyes whenever she smiles and feel the post could use a bit of cheering up (as could I, after finishing Pithamagan just now).