Thenaliraman (Vadivelu)
The movie opens to a prologue, where King Parasbaram (Radha Ravi), ruler of a rival kingdom and the nine ministers of the Kingdom of Vikata Nagaram are on their way to a Chinese consulate's mansion. They are warmly welcomed by General Wang (Wilson Ng) and courtesan Hong (Vivienne Tseng) once they reach there. The Chinese consulate, headed by Chao Gong Gong (Nickson Cheng), wishes to engage in trade with the people of the Kingdom of Vikata Nagaram and reap the benefits. Thus, the ministers strike a deal with Parasbaram and the ministers to help them, promising them a huge share of the benefits. One of the ministers, Nandivarma Rayar (Joe Malloori) objects to this, saying that he doesn't want to betray the King and his people for money. Chao Gong Gong realising that he is of no use to the plan, has courtesan Hong kill him with a poisoned needle from her hair.
The film then introduces Tenaliraman (Vadivelu as the common man) who captures a gang of thieves (led by "Besant Nagar" Ravi) and teaches them a lesson. He then takes off for Vikata Nagaram where he meets the feisty Princess Maadhulai (Meenakshi Dixit), daughter of the King of Vikata Nagaram, and defeats her in an arm wrestling competition.
The film's plot then shifts to the King (Vadivelu again, as the King of Vikata Nagaram), who is ruling over his kingdom along with his nine ministers, whom he claims to be the Navarathnams (nine jewels) of his court. The most interesting aspect is that the King has a rather large family comprising 36 wives and 52 children and is confined mostly to his palace. He believes his people are happy based on the sayings and reports of his ministers. In reality, the people are being robbed and cheated by the corrupt ministers and are living in poverty. During his administration, he realizes the absence of Nandivarma Rayar and asks about it to his ministers, who reply that he had passed away. The King then declares that a new minister be appointed in Nandivarma Rayar's stead. The guards then announce the news in public. Tenaliraman overhears the news and goes to the palace as a candidate for Nandivarma Rayar's post.
After a display of his all-round talents (singing, dancing, wit and humour), Tenaliraman impresses the King and soon becomes an integral part of the King's court, even closer to the King than the presiding ones. In the meantime, love blossoms between Tenaliraman and Princess Maadhulai. Tenaliraman, in reality, is a rebel who is sent by his comrades to kill the King, whom he believes at first, is responsible for the poverty of the people. Later, while having dinner with the King and the ministers, he discovers that it is the ministers who are at fault and not the King. He tries to warn his comrades of this, but his pigeon who carried the warning message, is captured by one of the ministers (Manobala). He informs the other ministers that Tenaliraman is a rebel and they twist Tenaliraman's message to the rebels, saying that the King will be killed that night. Tenaliraman's comrades believe the twisted message sent to them and raid the palace, only to have them and Tenaliraman get captured by the King. On learning of the conspiracy, the King banishes Tenaliraman from his kingdom.
After a few months, many changes have taken place in Vikata Nagaram. The Chinese have entered the fray and are trading with the Kingdom. Unbeknownst to the King, they are reaping the rewards for themselves, leaving the people even poorer. Parasbaram and the ministers get their share and are enjoying themselves. The King is now very sad thinking of Tenaliraman and misses him. Princess Maadhulai then tells him that Tenaliraman could not have done such a thing and comforts her father. He learns from Tenaliraman's comrade, Kaaliappa (Bose Venkat) that the rebels were wrongly informed and that Tenaliraman was not at fault. The King goes and successfully brings back Tenaliraman to his Kingdom.
Tenaliraman then informs the King in private, that all the rules and regulations and schemes organised by the King on the trade with the Chinese are being carried out in such a way that it only benefits the Chinese and the ministers and not the people, who live in utter poverty, and since the King confines himself mostly to his palace and believes the words of his ministers and that he has lived a rich and prosperous life all along, he cannot mingle and live with the people of his Kingdom even for one day. The King then bets Tenaliraman that he can live with his people incognito for 10 days, and at the same time, find concrete evidence that the people are being robbed and cheated by the Chinese and the ministers. Leaving the care of his Kingdom to Tenaliraman and lying to his wives that he will be going to a nearby Kingdom for administrative purposes and for attending a feast, the King begins his mission.
During his mission, the King learns about the plight of his people from various persons. Soon, he comically finds himself in a hunger strike that is organised against him. When Tenaliraman meets the King in private and converses with him, one of the citizens (Devadarshini) overhears the conversation and discovers that it is the King himself who is among them incognito and reveals it to the citizens of Vikata Nagaram.
In the meantime, Tenaliraman is ruling in the King's state with an Iron grip and because of this, Chao Gong Gong and Parasbaram fear that they might get caught in the process. Parasbaram learns from his spies that the King is in Vikata Nagaram and not elsewhere. He reveals it to Chao Gong Gong and they issue orders to find the King and kill him.
The King, with his citizens, have started a riot in Vikata Nagaram, but unfortunately, the King is captured by the Chinese. Parasbaram, who wanted the throne of Vikata Nagaram for himself, purposefully does not divulge to the Chinese that the King was among those captured until the corrupt ministers came to the consulate to say that the King is in Vikata Nagaram. The King revealed himself and everyone are dumb founded. Chao Gong Gong orders courtesan Hong to kill Parasbarm, because he purposefully failed to realise earlier that the person they caught was the King. The King is then imprisoned in a carriage and taken to a secluded place to be executed. But the leader of a Cannibal tribe stops them midway and orders the King to be handed over to them. Surrounded by Cannibals, Chao Gong Gong reluctantly releases the King. The King, initially frightened, asks the Cannibal who he is. The Cannibal is revealed to be none other than Tenaliraman. Chao Gong Gong uses his telescope and spots something fishy and the ministers and the Chinese traders find out, after General Wang fired at the "men" on the hilltop, that the "men" were just haystacks and that they have been duped. They then to go after the pair, but Tenaliraman, in his style, chases them out of Vikata Nagaram forever using the same bag of tricks that he used on the gang of thieves earlier.
The film then ends with new people replacing the posts of the corrupt ministers. Coincidentally, most of these new people were involved in comical encounters with the King during his 10-day plan. In the end, the King selects a post for himself, on Tenaliraman's suggestion, as the child welfare minister and Princess Maadhulai is selected as the extra curricular activities minister.
The film signs off with the tagline "Iniya Payanam Thodarattum.....Dum!".
Poojai (Tamil Movie)
Development[edit]
In December 2013, Vishal stated that he would produce and feature in a film which would be directed by Hari and that the pair would collaborate again after the success of their previous venture, Thaamirabharani (2007).[6] Hari had described the film as a "triangular action story" which starts in Coimbatore and ends in Patna, while revealing Yuvan Shankar Raja had already completed composing the film's songs before production began.[7] The film was officially launched on 28 March 2014, with a press release naming the film's cast and crew.[8] Yuvan Shankar Raja was selected to compose the music for the film, whilePriyan and V. T. Vijayan were confirmed to be the cinematographer and the editor of the film respectively.[3] Vasuki Bhaskarwas selected to do the costume designing and make-up.[9]
Casting[edit]
Early reports in December had suggested that Shruti Haasan would be signed on to play the film's heroine, though she only confirmed her participation in March 2014.[10] Sathyaraj and Soori were added to the cast to play supporting roles, while actress Kausalya was announced to be making a comeback with the film starring alongside a bevy of other supporting actresses.[11] The team approached Rekha to play Vishal's mother in the film, but her unavailability meant that the team later cast Radhika Sarathkumar.[12] Prathap Pothen and Janaki Sabesh were also selected to play the parents of Shruti Haasan's character.[13] Andrea Jeremiah was selected to dance in a special number, a folk song, with Vishal.[14] Sathyaraj sported a bald look for this film thanks to his simultaneous shoot for S. S. Rajamouli's Baahubali (2015) and his role was said to be "very powerful" and also the "suspense element of the film".[15][16] Bhojpuri actor Awadhesh Mishra was selected to play an international don in the film which marks his debut in Tamil cinema.[17] Actor Vaibhav Reddy was selected for an important role in the film.[18] The Youth, Arts and Culture Minister of Bihar state Vinay Bihari was selected to play the role of a district collector in the film's climatic portions when he expressed his interest in acting to Hari when he was in Bihar for location scouting.[19] Barath Raj who has won Mr.INDIA second runner up 2014 title has played a crucial role of collector's son from Bihar. Actress Abhinaya was selected to play a supporting role.[20]
Filming[edit]
Principal photography commenced on 18 April 2014 at Chennai.[21] During the shoot of an action sequence in a one crore worth set at Saligramam, Vishal injured his middle finger in his right hand for which 14 stitches were administered. Thus the shoot was temporarily halted.[22] The item number featuring Vishal and Andrea Jeremiah was shot by early May in the backdrop of the Koyambedu Market in Chennai.[23] Later, the unit proceeded to Coimbatore for filming major portions of the film.[24][25] At that time, it was known that Hari planned to wrap the film's shoot in 40 working days.[26] A fight sequence was shot in a popular mall multiplex there and scenes involving Vishal and Shruti Hassan were also shot in the mall in Coimbatore.[27] The filming continued at Karaikudi in early July where scenes featuring the principal cast were shot.[28][29] The shooting continued in hot weather making things difficult while Vishal suffered injuries for the second time in the film's shoot. He suffered a fracture during the shoot of an action sequence after trying to avoid falling on his face while he slipped from an asbestos sheet.[30][31][32]
In the first week of August 2014, the film's climax was shot at Bihar in a 10 day schedule and by then, 95% of the film's shoot was complete.[33] The climax was said to have few risky stunts which were shot first in the final schedule. Both Vishal and Shruti Hassan carried out the risky stunts and fights by themselves.[34] Some scenes for the climax were also shot in Golconda Fort in Hyderabad in special and enormous sets erected for the climax and a song was also shot there.[35] On its completion, one romantic song was shot at Switzerland and the remaining fast-paced song was shot in Chennai.[36][37] Vishal and Shruti Haasan completed a hard folk song sequence, which was shot in AVM facilities and choreographed by Baba Baskar. One more song sequence was also shot in Poland.[38] On 29 September 2014, Shruti confirmed that the shooting of the film was completed.[39]
Movie Kathi (Vijay)
Production: Lyca Productions
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Samantha, Satish, Totta Roy, Vijay
Direction: AR Murugadoss
Screenplay: AR Murugadoss
Story: AR Murugadoss
Music: Anirudh Ravichander
Background score: Anirudh Ravichander
After tasting massive Diwali success in 2012, Vijay and A.R.Murugadoss are back with their second outing together, Kaththi. The film features Vijay in two contrasting but physically 'identical' dual roles, Kathiresan and Jeevanantham. While Kathir is a crook who is on the run and one with 24 previous visits to the jail, Jeevanantham is a sober, educated activist who strives for the betterment of his impoverished village where water is a big concern. Their paths cross very early in the movie and the film is set in motion.
Vijay has used this opportunity to play diverse roles in the same movie and proves his experience as a performer and as an entertainer. While Kathir is high on theatrics and is the Vijay that we have enjoyed on screen in many mass entertainers, Jeeva is fresh and non-Vijay in every aspect. Kathir is bound to be a fan favorite while the audiences are likely to empathize with Jeeva and his motives. In that aspect, Kaththi is a strong movie for the actor Vijay.
Coming to director A.R.Murugadoss, he has touched upon many issues close to his heart such as rampant corruption, farmer suicides, the plight of senior citizens, water scarcity, the workings of the sensational news-hungry media and also goes on to vilify the corporates and their aggressive expansion plans without considering their CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives. The one scene late in the second half, when Vijay delivers an intense monologue on the above mentioned issues, is a definite highlight in the overall scheme of things. But it does try to get a little manipulative as the director has played to the gallery to win the audience's sympathy towards farmers and make us root for his protagonist.
One feels Murugadoss could have gone a step forward and tightened the screenplay. The placement of all the songs leaves a lot to be desired, specially the much talked about 'Selfie Pulla'. 'Aathi' is delightfully shot whereas 'Pakkam Vandu', though a different exercise doesn't make an impact. But the dancer Vijay sparkles effortlessly in all these songs. Kaththi doesn't engage consistently as some sizzling moments are interspersed with moments of restlessness. The length of the movie is another drawback. The Thuppakki hangover continues in Kaththi to an extent. If Thuppakki was an ode to the Army, Kaththi is dedicated to the farmers of the land.
Anirudh as usual adds lot of strength through his BGM score. If you hear the theatre roar for some of the strong scenes, the major part of the credit should go to him. The other youngster on board, DoP George C Williams makes a smooth transition to the big commercial space with some solid work on the visuals, the lighting patterns and the angles.
Among the other performers, Neil Nitin Mukesh is a new addition to the list of suave, stylish villains. His voice and the dubbing elevate his overall performance. Samantha is sadly what you may call the 'typical commercial cinema heroine' who appears in the songs, few romantic scenes and stands in the background while the hero takes charge.
All the actors who play the pivotal senior citizens are convincing. Sathish as Vijay's buddy makes a mark as well. Speaking of Anal Arasu's stunt choreography, it should be a delight for Vijay's fans and the star's celebrated screen presence and agility come to the fore in these extended treats.
To sum up, Kaththi is a grand production which rides on Vijay's dual roles, the social interest angle and some impactful scenes which are part of the mix.
Verdict: Murugadoss delivers a strong commercial movie with a nice social angle, in true Vijay style !
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