Kanchivaram

Cast:
Vengadam (Prakash Raj), Annam (Shreya Reddy), & Thamarai (Shammu)

Men behind the marvel:
Priyadarshan (Original Story, Screenplay, & Direction)
Thiru (Director of Photography)
Sabu Cyril (Production Designer)

I am an avid fan and an unnecessarily extreme critic of Priyan (I have my own reasons to love him and hate him at the same time). In this movie, (sorry I will stop calling this motion picture a movie and I am replacing it with the word "Marvel") I do not have anything to complain, but to sit back and watch, rejoice, cry, hate, love, and live Priyan's portrayal of the Marvel.

Storyline: The Marvel is a flashback set in the Pre-Independence era and unfurls in the silk town of "Conjeevaram". It goes on to make the viewer live the life of a poor, innocent weaver who does a tightrope walk between many facets of his life.

The marvel opens with the rays of the torchlight moving across the screen in pitch dark with the heavy downpour of thundering rain. The moment you see the old Vengadam being escorted from the jail by 2 policemen and with the darkness, streaks of lightening, rain, and the thunder adding to the mood, you figure out the story is going to be told in "Akira Kurosawa" style, making the best use of natural elements to torch the scene.

We start our travel along with Vengadam and the 2 cops to Conjeevaram. Vengadam, the master weaver, during this travel looks back at some of the characters and events that had made his life. Vengadam has just lived the life of an affectionate and ever-loving husband to a dutiful wife; a loving father to his loveable daughter; a passionately young communist attracted by the communism of the 1940s; the weavers leader; and last but not the least a prisoner of blind love for his wife and daughter, which ultimately results _____ (Go watch the movie).

One can see the extraordinary amount of research and work that has gone into this movie to create the 1940s atmosphere to a tee. Priyan just has got everything perfectly right from the look and feel of the movie to nailing down the fine aspects such as the socioeconomic classification that existed, the gossip mindset of South Indians (this is the truth), the rich and poor divide in the pre-independence era, the middlemen squandering the weaver, the Tamil lingo, etc. etc. etc. I can go on like this.......

There is Prakash Raj written all over the film and the ease with which he plays all the above said roles is a visual treat to watch. When Vengadam asks "Who has lived a life without telling a single lie ?" - You are left to wonder whether you can tell a lie or not, especially living in this crime-ridden, treacherous society full of lie. For me, I have strongly felt that if I had to lie I will lie to give happiness to me and to others (maybe it sounds stupid or against any doctrine), and this is exactly what Vengadam does in his life full of mad love to all the people who had come across in his life.

Apart from Prakash Raj the master craftsman you have two more craftsmen (sorry women) who excel in relation with Prakash Raj and they are Shammu and Shreya Reddy.

I will not say anything about Thiru and Sabu - You have to go see this marvel through Thiru’s lens.

The storyline even today has strong relevance. Try answering the following question:
What does an average Indian do to give his family happiness? The answer is unarguably small small lies and these are his “Lies to Happiness.”

This movie is etched with so many poignant scenes and it is sure to leave an everlasting mark on you. I would say this movie is Priyan’s tribute to Indian cinema and ardent film buffs of realistic movies like me.

Pokkisham

Cast: Lenin (Cheran) & Nadhira (Padmapriya)

Storyline: Love and not Romance, because nowadays people use both these words in an interchangeable fashion.

Word of Caution: If you belong to the generation that can't wait for things to happen then this is not your cup of tea and if you are looking for sexy bikini dances, slick stunts, cool chicks, racy but unrealistic story & screenplay, double-meaning dialogues, comedy, etc. etc., then SORRY again this is not the movie for you. If you can sit through two-and-a-half hours and a bit more & open your ears and listen to the lengthy but meaningful, poetic dialogues filled with love then you are the one to enjoy this movie.

With Pokkisham, Cheran has made an earnest attempt to portray the joyful ecstasy of being loved and the muted sorrow of having lost it. The film is a flashback set in the 1970s - and the screenplay to a major extent is set in the past. Mahesh, Lenin's son accidentally comes across his father's priced possession - the letters that Lenin had written to his lady love of the past, Nadhira. Pokkisham starts to unfurl as Mahesh reads the letters and his father's diary page by page.

Cheran's team of Assistant Directors along with Vairabalan (Art Director) & Rajesh Yadav (Cinematographer) have made a painstaking effort to etch the India of 1970s. To name a few apart from the normal traditional stuff such as hand-pulled carts, post office, hospital, etc. - meticulous detailing had gone into small things such as the size of the currency notes used in the 70's, the way Madras was spelt in Tamil, the trunk call booking process, the design of postal letters, the ad posters of the 70's, and more importantly the Muslim lingo.

Lenin has his first word with Nadhira during his father's hospitalization and from there on friendship blossoms into love. One may easily sum up Pokkisham like this, but the way Cheran tells us this tale of love using the letters written between Lenin and Nadhira is a poetic treat to watch. Padmapriya comes across as a ravishing Muslim girl and Cheran as his own self with cinematic expressions at some places when he comes to terms with life after knowing that he has lost his love. Parallels can be drawn between Padmapriya and Amala of "Mella Thiranthathu Kadhavu." Nadhira scores more when compared to Lenin on the acting front too.

As all inter-caste/inter-community love stories, this one also faces problems with the family goons in the form of father and mother playing tricks close to their chest. Lenin's love for Nadhira takes a hit from Nadhira's father and from here on whether their love succeeds or the foolishness over caste succeeds is what the story is about.

People may say that Cheran could have made the screenplay a little more racier with some artificial stuff, but I am of a strong opinion that there are certain things in life which is worth the time it takes, and Pokkisham for me is worth a movie to watch to celebrate the intricate tenderness of love.

When I left the theater, I could only hear the audience bad-mouth this tale and I fear that Cheran had consumed a whole lot of time to explain this lovely tale of love to the ever Speedy GenNext guys..........