Sunday, August 11, 2013

Thalaivaa, my view

Yesterday, we went to see the Tamil movie, Thalaivaa, starring Vijay.  Thalaivaa means Leader.  I am not a big fan of Vijay.  We read that there is a big controversy surrounding this movie. Therefore, wanted to see this movie out of curiosity.

Movie is just a mediocre one.  The usual Vijay movie - dance, fight, dance, fight. What is difference in this movie is his portrayal as the Don who is calm and collected in the second half.

Songs and music are excellent.  Music Director is G. V. Prakash (A. R. Rahman's nephew).

The story begins with Vijay living in Sydney, Australia, having his own water bottle business and having a good time winning the dance competition.  His dad (Satyaraj) was in Mumbai, is the local popular Don. After his death, Vijay takes over his place in Mumbai. And, then the usual masala.  This movie reminds me of the other popular movie, Kamal Hasan's Nayakan.

The word "Bro" (meaning brother) was uttered several times in the movie and it started to irritate me.

I read certain people in Tamil Nadu do not want this movie screened because certain dialogues are critical of the government.  Well, I have seen so many movies where the hero is critical of the politicians and police.  Nothing new in this movie.

Some friends told me Vijay has political ambitions and a few politicians are seeing him as a threat. Therefore, this objection to screen the movie in Tamil Nadu.  The only vague reference I could see was a one line where Vijay's lawyer tells him (I paraphrase):

People are waiting for you.  They want you to come as their leader.

I can understand why certain politicians take umbrage.  Tamil Nadu politicians are very sensitive.

This movie did not get Entertainment Tax Exemption because the government said it has more than 400 English words and very violent.  I am not a fan of Vijay. But this is ridiculous.

I have issue with this film portraying some people as world leaders:  Here is a partial list:

Abraham Lincoln
Mahathma Gandhi
Nelson Mandela
Winston Churchill
Karl Marx
Vladimir Lenin
Mao Zedong
Ho Chi Minh
Fidel Castro
Che Guevara
and a few others I forgot.

In my opinion, Lincoln, Gandhi, and Mandela are fine.

Churchill - I don't agree.  He is the one bad mouthed Indians. He called Indian leaders as "low calibre and men of straw".  He described Gandhi as "half naked fakir".

Other leaders - They all have embraced communism.  If you like communism, it is ok.

He could not find anyone else (other than Gandhi) from India.

Vijay trying to portray himself, in a subtle way, as equal to these world leaders? Come on, give me a break.

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22 comments:

  1. Who Posted This?August 11, 2013 at 11:50 PM

    Wow! That's it?
    All this hoopla for a stupid line or two?
    Man, Indian politicians are uber-sensitive.

    I totally agree with your analysis on the politicians listed.
    Lincoln is one of the Top 2 best US presidents (and US politicians/leaders) ever.
    Mandela and Gandhi are also fine.

    But why have all those Communist Clowns - including that SOB Chairman Mao?
    Chairman Mao had at least 40 million people killed. Hitler was waaaayyyy less than that.

    Don't even get me started on that Fatty Churchill.
    He desperately needed the help of his 7th cousin (ME!) in order to save England and Europe.

    Regards,
    Franklin D. Roosevelt

    ReplyDelete
  2. SGAugust 12, 2013 at 8:37 AM

    Thanks for your comments Mr. President. Without your help, that guy would not have survived a single day.

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  3. Destination InfinityAugust 12, 2013 at 10:11 AM

    These days it has become a fashion to create controversies just for getting free(?) publicity through news channels, news papers, etc. It shows their desperation.

    Irrespective of what opinion Churchill had about Indians, his actions (dragging Britain into a war, when Hitler did not want to fight England) benefited so many of its former colonies (including India) and helped them get independence. We should actually be thankful to him.

    Destination Infinity

    ReplyDelete
  4. SGAugust 12, 2013 at 10:22 AM

    Thanks for your comments Rajesh. "Helped them get independence". "We should be thankful to him". That is where our problem is. We should have kicked the British out of India, just like the Americans did.

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  5. BK Chowla,August 12, 2013 at 8:48 PM

    Politicians being against a particulr movie is a political move,especially,when movie shows the true picture.
    Who wants to see hi self in a cracked mirror

    ReplyDelete
  6. SGAugust 12, 2013 at 9:30 PM

    Thanks for your comments Mr. Chowla. You are absolutely correct. However, some VVIP's think he is a threat for their survival

    ReplyDelete
  7. AshaAugust 12, 2013 at 11:55 PM

    One of his fan has committed suicide due to the release issue claims newspaper.

    Agree with you SG, apart from lincoln, Gandhi and Mandela, the rest like castro, Guevara are all localized heroes. Just like Vijay who is a TN cine hero. ( i am not a vijay fan too:)

    but the hype and controversy around me is not about Thalaivaa it is about SRK's Chennai express. Hope to catch the train soon:)

    ReplyDelete
  8. SGAugust 13, 2013 at 9:34 AM

    Thanks for your comment Asha. It is so sad people are this much crazy (to commit suicide). You are absolutely correct. These are localized heroes.

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  9. Krishna/കൃഷ്ണAugust 13, 2013 at 9:45 PM

    A good review...

    There are many problems between Tamilnadu film stars and politicians.

    The worst issue was screening of Viswaroopam.

    thanks

    ReplyDelete
  10. ASAugust 14, 2013 at 8:52 AM

    Hi

    nice post! whattt!! pple committing suicides for their fav actors :P

    Bollywood and Tollywood films depict anything but reality (except a few ones of course)

    ReplyDelete
  11. rudraprayagaAugust 14, 2013 at 9:54 AM

    You said it SG,as W.Churchil is in no way a model leader. Except the three you mentioned here, none led others,but led themselves to penny and power.Good topic.

    ReplyDelete
  12. SGAugust 14, 2013 at 11:56 AM

    Thanks for your comments Krishna. Tamilnadu politicians and movie stars have too much ego. I don't know how to translate the Tamil word "thimir".

    ReplyDelete
  13. SGAugust 14, 2013 at 11:58 AM

    Thanks for your comments AS. Too much thimir.

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  14. SGAugust 14, 2013 at 11:59 AM

    Thanks for your comments Sarala. I agree with you 100% on these "leaders".

    ReplyDelete
  15. InsigniaAugust 15, 2013 at 9:33 AM

    Thangala Thailava...This is what I updated my status on FB..

    Itha than sontha kasula sooniyam vachikarthu nu solvanga..

    I spent 380 Rs INR for this waste movie

    ReplyDelete
  16. SGAugust 15, 2013 at 12:03 PM

    Thanks for your comments Insignia. Since I am not in Facebook, thanks for sharing your FB status. I agree with you 100%.

    ReplyDelete
  17. SandhyaAugust 15, 2013 at 9:12 PM

    The govt. is 'promoting' this movie by blocking its screening like it did with 'Vishwaroopam'. Vishwaroopam too became a block buster hit because of this nature of the govt. Otherwise it would have been a normal hit movie!

    I don't know why govt. pokes noses in entertainment field.

    GV Prakash's songs in other movies also are very good. No influence of his uncle!

    ReplyDelete
  18. ChitraAugust 16, 2013 at 12:11 AM

    Hi SG, this movie yet to be released here..The usual drama,I do not know is it going the same way as Kamal's recent movie Vishwaroopam...May be these small stunts help in raking more revenue later.

    ReplyDelete
  19. SGAugust 16, 2013 at 7:06 AM

    Thanks for your comments. It is the ego problem.

    ReplyDelete
  20. SGAugust 16, 2013 at 7:07 AM

    Thanks for your comments. May be ego problem or a stunt to gain publicity.

    ReplyDelete
  21. smAugust 16, 2013 at 4:19 PM

    nice post
    was it real or for marketing ?

    ReplyDelete
  22. Meera SundararajanAugust 18, 2013 at 8:05 AM

    I rarely watch Tamil movies - and Vijay movies NEVER :) ! But I find that people like to stir up a controversy just so they get the attention of the public and the movie becomes a box office hit!!

    ReplyDelete

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