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Reviews
Thalapathi (1991)
My favorite movie of all time!
Overall, its no secret that the plot is influenced by Mahabharat, especially the relationship between Karna and Duryodhan, and Karna and Arjun. Mani Rathnam once again proved his brilliance by incorporating a great epic to a real life situation. My favorite scene from this movie are two scenes that is the climax of the movie. The first scene is when Kalyani's husband after realizing Surya was the lost son, was the third person witnessing them at a temple, praying. The most moving moment, was when they both hear the train behind them, and they look back and gets emotional by the significance of the train. The acting done by Rajnikanth and Srividya was excellent in this scene. My second favorite scene, was when Arjun confronts Surya and Deva and asks them to stop. To which Surya replies "Have you ever been poor? Have you ever been hungry? Without food in the stomach, have you ever tried to make money?...They don't have the money and time to file petitions to get justice, that is why they come to us". Another good scene is also the confrontation is when Kalyani finally meets with Surya, and apologizes for her mistakes as a child, and asks him to stop being with Deva, to which Surya refuses. This is very reminiscent of Kunti, coming to Karna in the Mahabharat, and asking him to come to the side of Pandavas to which he refuses, since Duryodhan is a friend.
The similarities between this movie and Karna's life, is strikingly similar.
-Karna being thrown away since Kunti was a teenager, when she had him, which is similar to what happened to Deva.
-Deva's stepbrother is Arjun, who is on the side of righteousness and is against Deva for using violence and fear to bring justice, is similar to Karna's stepbrother, Arjun, who was a Pandava, that was against Duryodhan for not giving them what they deserve for being the sons of Pandu.
-Surya pledges his life to Deva, for treating him above his status as an orphan which is similar to Karna and Duryodhan, when Duryodhan offers one of his kingdoms to Karna.
-Kalyani's husband confronts Surya, and tells him that Kalyani is her mother and Arjun is his stepbrother, and tells him to give up the life of violence and join them, is similar to Krishna approaching Karna and tells him that he is a Pandava, since he is the son of Kunti, and asks him to join the Pandavas, to which he says that he vowed to Duryodhan that he will be with him till death, to which Krishna respects Karna for.
-Surya is known for not refusing anyone's demand, which is reminiscent of Karna, not refusing anyone's requests, when he is worshiping the Sun.
The greatness of this movie also dwells on certain subtle elements added by Mani Rathnam, like the Sun, that can be seen behind Surya at all times, emphasizing the similarity between him and Karna, son of the Son god. The music by Ilaiyaraaja, was the best music produced by him for any movie. The acting done by Mamooty and Rajnikanth is unparalleled. I think Rajnikanth's acting in this film was superior to Kamal Hassan in Nayagan. This is probably the best acting by Rajnikanth in any of the movies acted by him. Overall this is a great movie and I would recommend this movie highly.
Roja (1992)
One of Mani Rathnam's greatest movies
As a Background, this is the first time, we have seen Mani Rathnam write and direct a movie, that involves the conflict of terrorism and more of a global movie (concerning India) rather than Tamil Nadu. When I first saw this movie, I was moved in tears by the story, direction and music. This is by far the best directed movie I have seen by Mani Rathnam (even better than Iruvar), mostly because the story flowed so smoothly and the subtle details that were present, especially when Rishi Kumar (Arvind Swamy) was kidnapped.
So to start of with the plot, the story revolves around Rishi Kumar and Roja (Madhoo), who get married in the beginning after many hurdles faced by both of them. Rishi Kumar originally was supposed to marry Roja's sister, but after Roja's sister confessed to Rishi Kumar, that she is in love with someone else, but cannot marry him now, due conflicts between their families. Rishi, then takes the blame for not marrying her, by saying he was in love with her younger sister, Roja. Due to the fact, that Rishi Kumar is well educated, handsome, and holds a good job, they were unwilling to refuse to Rishi Kumar's request, and Roja ends up marrying Rishi Kumar, and her older sister marries the person she loves. Due to Rishi Kumar's rejection of Roja's sister, she resents Rishi Kumar, until he tells her about why he chose to not marry her. After realizing her sister was happy with her husband, she begins to fall in love with Rishi Kumar.
Due to the illness of Rishi's boss, Rishi had to take a special project in Kashmir, where he as a cytologist, had a special task of cracking codes from the enemies. Due to the insistence of Roja, Rishi takes Roja with him, to Kashmir. Due to the high profile security around both Rishi and his wife, the terrorist who are demanding freedom for Kashmir, uses this as an opportunity and kidnaps Rishi Kumar, and asks the government to release a terrorist leader, who has killed many, Wasim Khan. Due to the nature of the situation, the government refused to release Wasim Khan for Rishi Kumar. This leads Roja, to plead with the police and the heads of government, to do anything to free her husband. From the pleading of Roja, the government finally allows Wasim Khan to be released, for Rishi Kumar, to the disappointment of head police chief (Nasser), who worked hard to imprison Wasim Khan. Finally in the end, when the exchange was supposed to take place between Wasim Khan and Rishi Kumar, the terrorist just give them clothes of Rishi Kumar, and Wasim Khan was immediately taken back, since the terrorist didn't keep up with their end of the deal. In the end, we realize that the terrorist couldn't hand over Rishi Kumar, since he escaped, and Rishi Kumar faces off with the head terrorist (Pankaj Kapoor), who after many conversations with Rishi Kumar, changed him as a person, and lets him go. The film ends with Rishi Kumar and Madhoo, reuniting at the end.
The greatness of this movie is the direction of Mani Rathnam and music by A.R. Rahman. This is by far the best music produced by A.R. Rahman, and from Roja to Slumdog Millionaire, I would say his debut film, Roja, was the best movie, he has made music for. The most moving moments in the movie, are scenes after Rishi Kumar gets kidnapped. When Pankaj Kapoor, tries to make him plead for release of Wasim Khan on a recorder, He refuses and says "Jai Hind" and every time he says it, he gets beaten by his guards, until finally they point the gun at him to shoot, and he continues to say "Jai Hind", at which moment, Wasim Khan stops them from shooting him. Another good moments from the movie, is the interaction between Roja and the police chief (Nasser), where the police chief doesn't believe that Wasim Khan should be released for a normal citizen like Rishi Kumar, and he should risk his life for the country. To which Roja, asks if he would say the same, if it was the son of the prime minister, or anyone related to someone in power. Also when Roja, confronts Wasim Khan in jail, and asks him why he is trying to kill someone who is innocent, for his personal gain. And further asks him why he doesn't just go to Pakistan, if he does not like India, and stop killing innocent civilians like her husband. The best moment in the movie I believe is the moment, when one of the terrorist guard informs (Pankaj Kapoor) that they have refused to release Wasim Khan, and for the bad news he takes out the flag, and tries to burn it. Rishi Kumar reacts to this by forcefully breaking the window, and jumping over the flag, to extinguish the fire. And he tries to fight off the guards, and finally gets restrained by them. The background music for this scene was well done, and the camera work, where one cannot see the flag, until he burns it, was very well done by Mani Rathnam. Overall the plot, direction, music, make this one of the finest Tamil movies ever taken. The acting by Arvind Swamy and Madhoo was excellent. Overall this is a great movie, especially if you enjoy patriotic movies, like Border, Kargil etc.