Mayakkanadi - Review

Cast : Cheran, Navya Nair, Radharavi and others.
Language : Tamil
Music : Illayaraja
Director : Cheran

Summary:

• Cheran and Navya work in saloon.
• Navya’s family is a typical middle class family where buying a new slippers and tuition fees for children are put into serious consideration. But Navya is least bothered but to hang around with her boy friend Cheran.
• Cheran’s aim is to have some lakhs to spend it lavishly.
• They both join as LIC agents and approach all their customers in saloon. They fail miserably by getting only 3 policy holders.
• Cheran gets inspired to become an actor.
• Cheran loses his job as hairstylist. So he starts trying for movie chances full-time.
• He is offered a work from a business tycoon who deals with peddling drugs and makes use of our hero. After knowing this, he quits the job.
• Navya’s parents come to know of her affair (phewww!!! Finally) and demands Cheran to earn 2 lakhs to marry her.
• Cheran’s mother is admitted to hospital and the operation expense is some lakhs.
• He approaches the business tycoon for money and gets caught for peddling the drugs.
• He spends 3 years in jail.
• He rejoins the old saloon and works peacefully after listening to a big lecture from Radharavi.

Watch out for:

• Cheran’s dialogues like “Aye vaa pissa sapidalam”, “vaanam poligirathu …” where he can’t even pronounce the ‘zha’ properly.
• The FM channel in background playing a song from Mayakkanadi composed by Illayaraja when they approach as LIC agents.
• The change in straightened hair to curly hair when he comes out of jail.
• Guest appearaces of Malavika, Sarath Kumar, Arya and director Rajkapoor.
• The old Nayagan dialogue from the business tycoon.
• Pudupettai movie house-full in mayajaal on a weekday. J

My Cut:

• Cheran should get the point clear that people cannot bear with him as hero if he says that main hero is the story line and not the cast of the movie. Yes, true but not always.
• @Cheran: Stretching the movie with the duration of approximately 170 minutes doesn’t make it a good movie.
• Why on earth did he think of having the rape scene? Where did he get that guy to act in that scene? I hope he is not the main character in his next film.
• Illayaraja’s music is the sole convincing part in the movie.
• Navya throws up an over-acting performance in the scenes to show up her curiosity over Malavika’s life or in the place to show her interest in the bride’s jewels.
• What made Cheran think that people will not identify his inspiration of Nayagan dialogues?
• Cheran who made the perfection to brought realism in his earlier movies had failed this time to bring something even close to perfection.

Mayakkanadi (-) Cheran (-) clichéd scenes = an average movie

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang...

Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty is back in the news again for her kissing act with Hollywood star Richard Gere at an AIDS awareness event ‘Seena taan ke’ organized for the truck drivers.

The Hollywood star Gere held Shilpa’s hand and kissed it. He hugs her and bends over her and kisses her on her cheeks. No this is not a scene from any stage play or from any Richard Gere’s bollywood flick. The kiss act was a part of an AIDS awareness event organized to highlight the importance of safe sex. This happened when Shilpa appreciated Gere and this Hollywood actor responded it in a style for which he would regret. She giggled “Ye thoda zyada ho gaya tha”(this was a little too much) with an embarrassment.

“An attack on our cultural ethos”, the protesters claimed. In other part of the country, students burnt the effigies of Gere and demanded him to go back from the country. (Did he ever apply for a visa to stay with Shilpa? :P). “Such a public display is not part of Indian tradition”, cries another political party.

The Big brother winner in replying to this issue said, “I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here”. What is this supposed to mean? Did she really think that this is an attack on cultural ethos but she didn’t want to refuse the kisses from People magazine’s Sexiest man Alive (1999) /one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world(1991)?

Shetty tried downplaying the event saying “it was not so obscene”. And finally she made one sensible statement saying “this was not such a big thing for people to over-react in such a manner”. Yes, it is not. After all, we want something else on news channels and newspapers and not your romance with any actors.

Anjali Gopalan, head of Indian Aids prevention group says, “I think he responded as an actor. He was playing to the gallery. I don’t see anything bad”. You are right. This isn’t too bad.

Every news channels had the kissing scenes played regularly and the next day morning all the newspapers carried the picture on their front pages. Are there any sms contests around the country to report the count of the kisses he planted on her cheeks? :P I thought news channels are only to give a minute by minute update on Bollywood’s biggest wedding of the year and the details of bride’s saris and mehndi designs.

But in the end, the fortunate ones were the 4000 truck drivers who were part of this ‘Seena taan ke’ event and also audience for this entertaining show. Lucky you J