You know that there are enough Indians / people of Indian origin in New Jersey when Tamil movies not starring Rajini or Kamal are running in local theatres. Two Pongal release movies, Jilla and Veeram, being screened in NJ is enough incentive to put enthu and enjoy all the unreal fistfights, random storylines, family sentiment, punch dialogues etc., not to mention the cheers in the theatre which accompany the fistfights and punch dialogues.
As I figured out from the trailers, the main characters in both the movies subject the movie watchers to all of the above. They are local overlords/dons, who don't think twice while thumping 20 people at a go for justice/business/family/spectator entertainment (and making Newton turn in his grave for the nth time). Cue: Book your tickets, keep your brains at home, grab a seat and enjoy. However, as things turned out, there was a slight departure from the usual script.
Now, we have seen enough "Don" / "Dada" / "Thalapathi" movies over the years in tamil movies (Too many of them to name, I will leave it to the reader to look up on wikipedia). The hero, named/nicknamed will play the role of a mafioso, which of course is his retaliation against a corrupt society, devoid of morals. Additionally, the hero has suffered personal tragedy as a child (mostly death of parent, in unjust circumstances). The title character, with his henchmen, resorts to activities such as beating up rival gangsters, small time ruffians and thieves (not innocent people, mind. The title character is on the good side of morality). His occasional big ticket to fame and subsequent controversy / rival retribution will be bumping off some corrupt minister's / bureaucrat or their sons indulging in a life of debauchery. He will never, I repeat, never solicit flesh trade or any other form of harm to women folk (protector of women, thangachi / amma sentiment of course). Drug smuggling mostly falls in the prohibited category, though exceptions do exist.
The two aforementioned movies, however, marked a slight departure from the above trends, where the title characters are.....er....reformed by different sources, instead of glorifying their righteous (?) causes. The storylines are as under: (Spoiler alert, but then, who cares, you know what to expect in the movie within the first 10 minutes).
1) Jilla: We have the title character who has, in one case, witnessed his father's death at the hands of a policeman as a young boy, and subsequently brought up by his father's boss, the mafioso. He becomes the (adopted) father's right hand man, and the adopted eldest sibling to his father's real children. He also grows up despising everything about the police force to the extent of not wearing khakhi shorts as a school boy. However, things take a twist when the father asks his son to become a policeman, so that he is able to control the police force. The son witnesses a major incident that reforms him (aided no doubt by his lady love, who is a policewoman). From then on, he tries to dismantle his father's empire, though the presence of a third party common enemy within the family is standard fare.
2) Veeram: Title character Thala Ajith, (not exactly a mafioso, but someone ready to resort to violent ways quite often), has devoted most of his adult life to bringing up his young brothers (Cue: Heavy caring non-marrying elder brother sentiment). He (and his four younger brothers) are violent, without being morally wrong, and bash up wrongdoing businessmen, rival dons etc. Thala Ajith's resolve to stay unmarried is broken by a girl who looks 20 years younger, and has a name used by our great-grandmothers (to add to it, he falls in love because she has the same name as his childhood "sweetheart").
Here, the twist in the tale comes in the form of the lady love's father being a non violence adherent. Cue: The brothers end up shaving for a change, and promise never to raise their arm on anyone. However, third party villains now have their eyes on the peaceful, close-knit large family of the lady love. The job of the hero is to now protect the family against the evil forces attacking them, while letting the family sleep peacefully at night, since "they have reformed us, they have shown us rustic blokes what family means". After this, standard fare prevails, with the lady love's family finding out, banishing him, and he hero (+his brothers), redeeming themselves at the death.
This makes for an interesting paradigm shift in Kollywood. Not sure about whether the masses are impressed, but these two movies sure do get a few brownie points at least for "not negatively influencing the youth".
NOTE: This post is a light-hearted take on this years' Pongal releases. There is no intention to hurt anyone's sentiments about the movie or about the actors themselves.
Tam Glossary for the uninitiated:
Thalapathi: Commander / Ringleader
Thangachi/Amma Sentiment: Sentimental scenes involving the Younger sister/Mother of the title character, often causing flooding in cinema halls.
Thala: Head (Both in the physiological and leadership context)/ Boss / Leader
As I figured out from the trailers, the main characters in both the movies subject the movie watchers to all of the above. They are local overlords/dons, who don't think twice while thumping 20 people at a go for justice/business/family/spectator entertainment (and making Newton turn in his grave for the nth time). Cue: Book your tickets, keep your brains at home, grab a seat and enjoy. However, as things turned out, there was a slight departure from the usual script.
Now, we have seen enough "Don" / "Dada" / "Thalapathi" movies over the years in tamil movies (Too many of them to name, I will leave it to the reader to look up on wikipedia). The hero, named/nicknamed
The two aforementioned movies, however, marked a slight departure from the above trends, where the title characters are.....er....reformed by different sources, instead of glorifying their righteous (?) causes. The storylines are as under: (Spoiler alert, but then, who cares, you know what to expect in the movie within the first 10 minutes).
1) Jilla: We have the title character who has, in one case, witnessed his father's death at the hands of a policeman as a young boy, and subsequently brought up by his father's boss, the mafioso. He becomes the (adopted) father's right hand man, and the adopted eldest sibling to his father's real children. He also grows up despising everything about the police force to the extent of not wearing khakhi shorts as a school boy. However, things take a twist when the father asks his son to become a policeman, so that he is able to control the police force. The son witnesses a major incident that reforms him (aided no doubt by his lady love, who is a policewoman). From then on, he tries to dismantle his father's empire, though the presence of a third party common enemy within the family is standard fare.
2) Veeram: Title character Thala Ajith, (not exactly a mafioso, but someone ready to resort to violent ways quite often), has devoted most of his adult life to bringing up his young brothers (Cue: Heavy caring non-marrying elder brother sentiment). He (and his four younger brothers) are violent, without being morally wrong, and bash up wrongdoing businessmen, rival dons etc. Thala Ajith's resolve to stay unmarried is broken by a girl who looks 20 years younger, and has a name used by our great-grandmothers (to add to it, he falls in love because she has the same name as his childhood "sweetheart").
Here, the twist in the tale comes in the form of the lady love's father being a non violence adherent. Cue: The brothers end up shaving for a change, and promise never to raise their arm on anyone. However, third party villains now have their eyes on the peaceful, close-knit large family of the lady love. The job of the hero is to now protect the family against the evil forces attacking them, while letting the family sleep peacefully at night, since "they have reformed us, they have shown us rustic blokes what family means"
This makes for an interesting paradigm shift in Kollywood. Not sure about whether the masses are impressed, but these two movies sure do get a few brownie points at least for "not negatively influencing the youth".
NOTE: This post is a light-hearted take on this years' Pongal releases. There is no intention to hurt anyone's sentiments about the movie or about the actors themselves.
Tam Glossary for the uninitiated:
Thalapathi: Commander / Ringleader
Thangachi/Amma Sentiment: Sentimental scenes involving the Younger sister/Mother of the title character, often causing flooding in cinema halls.
Thala: Head (Both in the physiological and leadership context)/ Boss / Leader
