Ripples on the brain

I never thought I’d back to the same place that I came to for the last time, to the same project, to work with the same folks. I went back in May and came back in July to complete some unfinished business.

The best part of the journey was the movie “Kalloori” I watched on the flight from Chennai. I enjoyed every bit of the movie. The initial story kept reminding one of April Madhathil and 5star in parts, but obviously this movie is at a different level (it is a reminder of a real incident that happened a few years ago in Tamil Nadu). The story and screenplay are very simple, but the settings and the actors infuse realism into the movie. Except for the leading girl (who looks gorgeous, but still suits her role), the movie makers have shunned glamour and opted for actors who will suit their parts. Excellent selection of actors I must say! The country-side settings, which are crucial to the story, have been captured very well. The acting is above par for most of the time, considering most of the actors are novices. Except for the heroine, it is difficult to even find the names of the other actors who played crucial roles in the movie. The music is also excellent without being pompous and suits the overall story very well. I liked the first song that takes place in the bus very much.

The movie kept reminding me of my own experiences in my engineering college. It was for the first time I had the company of students from the rural background. Many of my classmates came from Tamil medium schools and hence, some lecturers taught the initial classes in Tamil.

I just realized that Shankar produced the movie. What a guy? I mean Shankar as a director and Shankar as a producer cannot be more contrasting. Look at the list of movies Shankar has produced - Kaadhal, Imsai Arasan 23 am Pulikesi, Veyyil and now Kalloori. (Ofcourse, Shankar also seems to have produced Mudhalvan and Arai Enn … Kadavul which are outliers in the list). It is very difficult to choose these small budget movies that involve first time directors and, more often than not, novice actors. But Shankar seems to hitting the jackpot every single time.

I could see 4 people in my vicinity in the place who were also watching the same movie. Actually, the other Indian movie that was among the options was Race (Hindi). I couldn’t help thinking Kalloori’s budget should have been less than the salary of each of the leading actors of Race and still Race couldn’t have been crappier. A good study in contrast, again!