It's indeed rare that i'm posting about a movie. Movies don't fascinate me much and that reason is enough for me to say that I don't watch many movies. Of course I do watch some, but that's just for some time-pass and I don't get much involved in them. That being the case, there are few movies which had captured my interest and I remember every detail of it. And i'm sure that the contents of this list is very small and the movie topping the list is Apoorva Raagangal.
Directed by the veteran K.Balachander, it is also the first movie where Rajini Kanth appears (a well known fact) The others include Kamal Hassan, Srividya, Jayasudha, Major Sundararajan, Nagesh and to name a few.
The movie begins with the song Ezhu Swarangalukkul, sung in a concert by M.R.Bhairavi, also referred as M.R.B, played by Srividya. The story later unfolds itself, with Nagesh being the family doctor of M.R.B. Kamal Hassan portrays Prasanna as a perfect angry young man. Prasanna is a revolutionist and gets involved in unnecessary fights. Major Sundararajan is Mahendran, who owns a theater which stages dramas and during one funny play there, Jayasudha gets introduced as Ranjani.
Prasanna's mother had passed away long back and his relationship with his father is not in good terms, as his father doesn't support his revolutionary ideas. This makes him go away from his home and after the turn of certain events lands up at M.R.B's home. Ranjani gets introduced to Mahendran and later it is shown that she is the child born out of wedlock between M.R.B and her lover, who ran away from responsibilities before they could enter into wedlock. Ashamed of this fact, Ranjani runs away from her home and lands at Mahendran's.
Though out of context, the funny moments of Nagesh do not drag or reduce the pace of the movie. Some turns take place and the couples decide to get married in spite of the age differences. Though it may seem bizarre, the director justifies the events that take place and while watching the movie, one doesn't feel the bizarre-ness. The two couples are still unaware of what is happening at the other end and it is two tracks running all the while. K.B proves his mettle here!
Meanwhile sruthi bedham (synchronization loss) comes into the song. The past lover of M.R.B, who is also the biological father of Ranjani, Pandiyan, played by Rajini Kanth, comes in. He looks really stylish, right in his first on-screen appearance. He has had no looking back from then! The two separate tracks merge in and the movie gets heated up and it is well maintained till the climax.
People usually consider Rajini Kanth's character in this movie as a negative one. Making your lover pregnant and running away is of-course a bad man's work, though given the circumstances and the bgm played for Pandiyan, makes him appear as the one of the most pathetic character, only after M.R.B. In fact I would say that Prasanna has some grey shades to his character.
Music is an another special aspect here. M.R.B being portrayed a music artiste, it is obvious that a good deal of music must be thrown in and it is given in right doses. Adhisaya Raagam..one of the major hits from the movie is a very special composition and really a "Adhisaya Raagam"
Now some things that linger are my mind are that whether there were any protests while this movie was released, and if any other director would have taken such a subject, without an ounce of vulgarity?! It has become a trend now-a-days for groups to protest against films stating that it affects their 'culture', this or that. But given the controversial subject and that too in the year 1975, it seems to have had no issues and went to win several awards and critical acclaims.
Whether the movie is good or bad depends upon the way it is done by the director and the way he extracts the work from the actors. The choice of actors is again a plus point in this movie. Rajini Kanth hardly appears for hardly 20 mins yet his work was appreciated by many and the rest is history.
I would say this is one of the 'landmark' movie for the Tamil Movie Industry (I hate the word Kollywood). And again I want to mention the director's caliber here. K.B has done several other works which shine to-day, though Apoorva Raagangal seems the best of his, to me.
Just imagine if the movie is remade today..and if it is done by the likes of S.J.Suryah!! OMG!! I just can't imagine the mess that would be the result!! :D Just kidding.
So keep watching good movies, also some not-so-good ones, at-least to know that we are quite intelligent than many of the other homo-sapiens present out there! :D
God Bless
Ref : Apoorva Raagangal - Wikipedia
Though out of context, the funny moments of Nagesh do not drag or reduce the pace of the movie. Some turns take place and the couples decide to get married in spite of the age differences. Though it may seem bizarre, the director justifies the events that take place and while watching the movie, one doesn't feel the bizarre-ness. The two couples are still unaware of what is happening at the other end and it is two tracks running all the while. K.B proves his mettle here!
Meanwhile sruthi bedham (synchronization loss) comes into the song. The past lover of M.R.B, who is also the biological father of Ranjani, Pandiyan, played by Rajini Kanth, comes in. He looks really stylish, right in his first on-screen appearance. He has had no looking back from then! The two separate tracks merge in and the movie gets heated up and it is well maintained till the climax.
People usually consider Rajini Kanth's character in this movie as a negative one. Making your lover pregnant and running away is of-course a bad man's work, though given the circumstances and the bgm played for Pandiyan, makes him appear as the one of the most pathetic character, only after M.R.B. In fact I would say that Prasanna has some grey shades to his character.
Music is an another special aspect here. M.R.B being portrayed a music artiste, it is obvious that a good deal of music must be thrown in and it is given in right doses. Adhisaya Raagam..one of the major hits from the movie is a very special composition and really a "Adhisaya Raagam"
Now some things that linger are my mind are that whether there were any protests while this movie was released, and if any other director would have taken such a subject, without an ounce of vulgarity?! It has become a trend now-a-days for groups to protest against films stating that it affects their 'culture', this or that. But given the controversial subject and that too in the year 1975, it seems to have had no issues and went to win several awards and critical acclaims.
Whether the movie is good or bad depends upon the way it is done by the director and the way he extracts the work from the actors. The choice of actors is again a plus point in this movie. Rajini Kanth hardly appears for hardly 20 mins yet his work was appreciated by many and the rest is history.
I would say this is one of the 'landmark' movie for the Tamil Movie Industry (I hate the word Kollywood). And again I want to mention the director's caliber here. K.B has done several other works which shine to-day, though Apoorva Raagangal seems the best of his, to me.
Just imagine if the movie is remade today..and if it is done by the likes of S.J.Suryah!! OMG!! I just can't imagine the mess that would be the result!! :D Just kidding.
So keep watching good movies, also some not-so-good ones, at-least to know that we are quite intelligent than many of the other homo-sapiens present out there! :D
God Bless
Ref : Apoorva Raagangal - Wikipedia
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis film was a path-breaker during its time I hear. My mother talked a lot about this film to me. The film discusses complex relationships and complicated people. When I first saw this film, I was unable to get the drift - how can the daughter fall in love with the man who is almost her father and how can a younger man fall in love with someone who can be his mother.
ReplyDeleteThe title itself describes the entire film - Apoorva ragangal - Strange melodies. This film was ahead of its times and was quite a futuristic film. For those days, it was revolutionary. Today's Cheeni Kum and certain other films are certainly a rip off from Apoorva Raagangal
Did you enjoy the film?
Joy always,
Susan
This is one of the films I love to watch again and again. Enjoyed it very much.
DeleteTruly ahead of its times and surely a inspiration for many other films to come :)
naturally, a big disappointment. most suffering is silently borne by women, who never establish their preferences, and who seem destined to be martyrs, while, men as usual, as in all tamil films, get away with murder, and eventually, have the luxury of pontificating on the virtues of the status-quo. Sri Vidya or Jayasudha never once say, "What about me ?". Bewildering.
ReplyDelete