This post has been divided into two parts, the first of which is posted here.
10. Manal Kayiru:
The movie dealed with one of my favourite topics. It was hard hitting comedy drama of how bride groom-to-be places some stupid conditions to be fulfilled by the bride and her family. Though Visu was in his usual over acting mode, I loved this movie. The performance of S.Ve.Shekar(Kittu mani), Shanti Krishna(Uma), Kishmu, Manorama was picture perfect. The conditions put forward by kittumani are not met by Uma and in enters Naradhar Naidu(Visu) to dupe S.Ve.Shekar and get the couple married. What follows is a series of hilarious sequences when the entire family conspires against Kittumani and makes his believe that Uma is indeed his ideal partner. After they get married, Kittumani gets to know about the lies within a week and then it is upto Visu to solve the problem and unite the couple. The dialogues were witty and had me in splits most of the time. Some of the most memorable dialogues include "Avalava kekathe?illam avalavum kekalaya??",
"Unga amma ennada shankarabharanam manjubhargavi mathri aaduve nu sonnanga, inga ennada naa saani mithikare". The songs were composed by M.S.V and the song "Ettu vidha katalaigai "is hilarious especially when Kittumani decides to commit suicide by falling in front of express train but it goes in reverse direction and kittumani starts to chase it.
Over all a good time pass and a movie with social bearings.
9.Motor Sundaram Pillai:
A family drama starring Sivaji Ganesan, who plays the patriarch of a big family. Sundaram Pillai (Sivaji Ganesan)married to Sowcar "Azhumoonji "Janaki, is the owner of a car manufacturing company and a devoted family man. He is extremely mellow in nature and always sees only the good nature of a person rather. This quality endears him to his subordinates and equals alike. He gets his elder daughter(Kanchana) married to Sivakumar who is the son of Major Sundarajan. His other daughter played by Jayalalitha is in love with her class mate Ravichandran. All is rosy till he decides to get his daughters married and arranges for their betrothal when suddenly a teenager appears out of nowhere and says that Sundaram Pillai is indeed his father and that he had come to meet him. All hell breaks loose and Sundaram Pillai is accused of being unfaithful by the family he loves so dearly. His patience is tested when his elder daughter is sent home by her parents-in-law casting aspersions on her character. Sundaram Pillai finally decides to break his silence and spills out the truth about his other family. Sundaram Pillai, an orphan is raised by Sowcar's father who provides him with education and all comforts. Sundaram Pillai is secretly in love with the younger sister of Sowcar Janaki but fate intervenes and he is married to Sowcar and they move to Burma when world war 2 breaks all of a sudden. During an attack, Sivaji gets to know that his entire family has been wiped out and he heads back to India heartbroken. He marries the other girl only to discover that his Sowcar is indeed alive. He decides to keep the other family under wraps and leads a normal life. The movie was indeed a welcome break from the usual over acting of Sivaji Ganeshan and one of my all time favourites.
8.Michael Madana Kama Rajan:
Watching a kamal movie is like eating chocolate ice-cream. Watching four Kamals in a single movie is like eating cheese cake with hot chocolate topping. The movie revolves around four siblings(quadruplets) who are separated soon after their birth. Their mother falls prey to the conspiracy hatched by her husband's brother and is made to flee. The movie then deals with how the brothers are reunited. Kameshwaran(kamal haasan) is under the care of Delhi Ganesh(Palakkad Mani Iyer)who is a cook. He falls in love with Urvashi whose grandma is a habitual stealer (my most fav. character in the movie!!). Rajan(Kamal) is a fire fighter and a drama artist in love with Kushboo, a painter. Michael (Kamal)under the tutelage of Santhana Bharathi does all sorts of nefarious activities ranging from printing fake notes to bumping offpeople. And finally the suave Madan(Kamal again!!) is adopted by his own father not knowing that he is indeed his own blood. How these four brothers cross each other's path and are finally re-united forms the rest of the story. The credit for this rib-tickler rests on writer Crazy Mohan for his humorous dialogues and Kamal Hassan for his impeccable timing. Only Kamal Haasan could handle such a movie which needed him to portray a malayali cook, a millionaire, a smuggler and fire tender. Not once do we get the feeling that we are watching Kamal Haasan on screen. The body language, the slang of each character is brought to the fore by Kamal Haasan magnificently. And finally, the movie also had the legendary comedian Nagesh in the role of Avinashi, an unscrupulous employee of Madan who swindles his father to the tune of 25 lakhs. My most memorable scene is the first night scene when Nagesh intervenes the proceeding and Kamal utters "First night la moonu paeru naan kelvi pattathey illai.."Hilarious to say the least. Lost count on the number of times I have seen this movie.
7.Mouna Raagam:
Mouna Raagam(Silent Symphony) still remains a bible for young lovers. Those where the days when Karthick was the heartbeat of every young girl. Though am not a very big fan of yesteryear star Mohan, I loved his subdued portrayal of a understanding husband to the vivacious Revathi. With this movie, Maniratham proved his mettle as an outstanding director and tasted success and a few unsuccessful outings. The story revolves around Divya(played brillaintly by Revathi)who is sort of a rebel and has the guts to come home late night so as to avoid the ponnu paathufying function. Chandrakumar(Mohan, one of his finest performance)finds Revathi suitable and marries her despite the fact that Revathi asks him not to go ahead with the proposal. The young couple move to Delhi(later came to know that the Delhi scenes where shot in ace cinematographer P.C.Sreeram's Chennai home) and settle down to the rigours of life. Divya constantly spurns Chandrakumar's advances and he is baffled by his wife's behaviour. He finally gets to know that she was in love with Manohar (Karthik,one of his finest cameos)a small time activist with a heart of gold) The flash-back scenes between Karthik and Revathi is as refreshing as a cup of tea on a rainy day. After the tragic demise of Karthik in a mishap, Revathi is haunted by her past and is thus not able to lead a normal life. Slowly Divya gets to realise the selfless nature of her husband and has a change of heart. When she decides to lead a happy life, Mohan gives her a copy of divorce papers and she prepares to leave for Madras. Revathi finally confesses that she has indeed fallen in love with him and that she is ready to wait till he has a change of heart. Revathi boards the train and Mohan finally realises the enormity of Revathi's words. He pursues her, boards the moving train and All izz well!! Manirathnam, the man with a midas touch brings out the nuances of each character and brilliantly portrays the travails on a young married couple.
6.Thevar Magan:
Kamal Haasan's take on Mario Puzo's Godfather. Sakthi(kamal Haasan) returns to his hometown after completing hotel management studies. He is accompanied by Banumathi(played by the ravishing Gowthami).The headman of the village played by the immortal thespian Sivaji Ganeshan wishes that after him, his younger son Sakthi should take his place as his elder son('Thalaivaasal' Vijay)is a wastrel. The younger brother of Sivaji and his son(brilliantly portrayed by Nasser) are rebellious and seek to overthrow Sivaji at every oppurtunity. Their enemity deepens when Isaki(Vadivelu) breaks open a disputed temple at the behest of Kamal Haasan. Subsequently Vadivelu's hand's are chopped off which anguishes Kamal deeply. Nasser then destroys a water body which consequently floods the entire village resulting in huge loss of life. Kamal sacrifices his dream of opening a chain of restaurents and stays back to help his father tide over the problem. Eventually Sivaji dies after a heated argument in the oor panchayat with Nasser and Kamal Haasan becomes the all powerful headman. He then decides to help out the villagers caught in the clutches of Nasser which forces him to marry Revathi much to the disappointment of his lover. He is torn between Revathi and Gowthami and leads an unhappy life. Gowthami's outburst on knowing about kamal's marriage and his subsequent reaction is very subtle. He then feels that it is time for him to start leading a normal life with Revathi but destiny has something else in store for him. His enemity with Nasser deepens and in a dual, he chops off Nasser's head and is stricken with remorse and guilt. He is then jailed for his actions.
Most remembered for powerful dialogues, excellent cinematography by P.C.Sreeram, deft direction by the late director Bharathan and of course the flawless acting by the giants of tamil cinema Sivaji and Kamal Haasan
Second part of the post to come out soon.
mouna ragam nice movie
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