Tag Archives: Mani Ratnam

Hindi Film 101 (Reprint): Rahman-Ratnam and the Importance of the Composer-Director Relationship in Honor of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam

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This is a post I wrote a year and a half ago for the last Rahman/Ratnam movie, but I thought I should repost it today in honor of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam.  It’s important to know why it is so especially exciting when a new Ratnam-Rahman movie comes out, and why that director-composer relationship is so special. (also, usually in this posts I try to use images instead of songs, but because of the topic, this will be an all songs post.  I encourage you to actually watch all the videos too)

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Happy Birthday Nagarjuna! Geethanjali, Your Mani Ratnam Film

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Mani Ratnam strikes again!  Another great romance with a complicated heroine and interesting supportive hero. Oh, and I am going to assume for this entire review that you at least know the big thing that is revealed 10 minutes into the film, so if you are obsessive about SPOILERS and don’t even want to know that, DON’T READ ANY MORE!!!  But if you are fine with the 10 minute in reveal, but want to be protected from what happens in the remaining 113 minutes, keep going until the usual SPOILER marker.

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Southern Trailers! Mani Ratnam Completes His Crime Trilogy, and Nani and Nagarjuna Unite

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I almost never cover southern trailers, because I am never sure what is a big deal and what is a small deal and what I should say about things.  But in this case, I KNOW these two are big deals and I know what I want to say about them, so I am just going for it.

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My Top Ten Ugly Crying Indian Films

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I suddenly got one of my random Kannathil Muthamittal urges last night, and it made me think that I haven’t done a ten ugly crying films post yet.  Of course, ugly crying is a deeply personal thing, so these are my ten, but they won’t necessarily be yours.  Feel free to share your particular triggers in the comments!  Oh, and they are almost all Hindi, but that’s just a coincidence, don’t feel limited by that.

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Friday Classics: Yuva, for the Start of Election Season

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Happy day before the Women’s March to the Polls!  Which is a kick off and a reminder that it is all our responsibilities not just to vote, but also to run for office if possible.  So, the perfect week to talk about Yuva!  (yes yes, I know Aaytha Ezhuthu is better, I can’t find it, and I’ve already seen Yuva)

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Tuesday Tamil: Kadal, Mani Ratnam Loses His Way

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This is a strange review, because it’s a beautiful movie with a lot of strong elements that somehow fails to come together.  But then on the other hand, the only version I was able to find was for some reason missing 8 or 20 minutes (depending on which source I see), so it’s possible it would have come together if I had seen the full version.  But I still kind of doubt it somehow.  It’s just an odd odd plot, a strange combination of Agneepath and Thalapathi and “Joote Bole” from Bobby expanded to full film length.  And also Christian philosophy which is never quite defined.

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Hindi Film 101 One-Off: The Importance of Ratnam-Rahman and the Director-Composer Relationship

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Happy Tuesday!  I did a quick two-parter on Nepotism (really more the history of Hindi film as a family business) last week, now I want to do another quick one inspired by Kaatru Veliyidai on why it is so especially exciting when a new Ratnam-Rahman movie comes out, and why that director-composer relationship is so special. (also, usually in this posts I try to use images instead of songs, but because of the topic, this will be an all songs post.  I encourage you to actually watch all the videos too)

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Kaatru Veliyidai SPOILERS Review: Jail Isn’t the Only Prison You Need to Break Out Of

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Good morning!  I posted my no-spoilers review late last night after I got home, but now I have had a good night’s sleep and  is time for my SPOILERS review.  Which gives the full plot and really really digs into all the meanings of it.  And there is a lot to dig into in this film!

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Kaatru Veliyidai: A Deconstruction of the Military/Romantic Hero and the Idealized Heroine

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Well, that was a Ratnam movie all right!  In that, while watching it, I thought “this is kind of okay, sort of interesting, very pretty”.  And then I’ve spent two hours thinking about it and I haven’t even gotten close to unpacking all the themes and metaphors and so on and it just gets deeper and deeper the further I go.

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Happy Birthday Prabhudeva! 44 Reasons I Love You

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Woo-hoo!  Prabhudeva’s birthday!  44 reasons to love him, and an excuse to post A LOT of Prabhudeva songs!  And maybe a few facts scattered in.  But not many. (I know you may not have time to watch all the videos I put in this posts, but some of these are truly not to be missed, so the ones in bold you MUST WATCH!!!)

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OK Kanmani: Seriously, How Will this Work in a Different Language?

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I watched this movie months and months ago when it first arrived on American Netflix, but that was before I was blogging seriously so I didn’t pay very close attention.  I wanted to watch it again, now that the remake will be releasing soon (January 13th), and think about how this film could possibly be remade.

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Geethanjali: Not a Story about Death, or a Story about Life, but a Story about Love

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Mani Ratnam strikes again!  Another great romance with a complicated heroine and interesting supportive hero. Oh, and I am going to assume for this entire review that you at least know the big thing that is revealed 10 minutes into the film, so if you are obsessive about SPOILERS and don’t even want to know that, DON’T READ ANY MORE!!!  But if you are fine with the 10 minute in reveal, but want to be protected from what happens in the remaining 113 minutes, keep going until the usual SPOILER marker.

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Alai Payuthey: Slightly Different from Saathiya, Resulting in a Slightly different Meaning

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I finally watched Alai Payuthey!  After putting it off for years and years and years and years and years.  Because I love Saathiya, and I didn’t want to risk having it spoiled.  But turns out, they are two distinctly different movies!  Although still similar to Saathiya, so this is going to be kind of a combined review.  I talked about some of these differences a little already when I reported on the OK Jaanu/OK Kanmani remake thing.

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Nayakan: Finally! A Kamal Haasan Movie I like!

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As you may have picked up from my Aval Shanmughi and Ambe Sivam posts, I have a hard time with Kamal Haasan.  Yes, he is a brilliant actor.  Yes, he has movie star charisma.  But it just seems like his characters have to be so perfect and so wonderful, that no one else is allowed to do anything.  But this Kamal Haasan movie, this one I liked!

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Anjali: Maybe I am Getting Immune, but Ratnam Didn’t Make Me Cry This Time!

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First, a warning: this is the last day of regular reviews before we enter Salman week!  Brace yourselves!  Anyway, I wanted to go out with a bang, so I finally sat down and watched Anjali, all set to sob and sob like I did for Kannathil Muthamittal, and it was a good movie, don’t get me wrong, but it just didn’t send me in the same way.  Maybe because I’m not the intended audience?

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Iruvar: Okay, Is It My Fault That I Didn’t Understand This Movie? Or Is It Because I Needed To Know 60 Years of DMK History?

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I was watching this movie so closely!  So closely!  I know the drill with Ratnam films, he just drops in these little bits and then moves on so you can’t look away for a second.  And yet, I was still completely lost.  But I don’t think it’s my fault!  Or at least, not my fault because I wasn’t watching closely enough, but because I didn’t have the expected background.

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A Peck on the Cheek/Kannathil Muthamittal: Maybe the Reason I Keep Watching Ratnam Movies is Because He is SO GOOD?

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I’m working through my list, and I just watched my second Ratnam movie of the week.  It’s not even on purpose!  I’m just looking at the films that are easily available/generally recommended.  This one in particular apparently went to a bunch of international film festivals?  The end result being, it is easily available from my library, and on a bunch of streaming websites.  I mean, it’s also a really really good movie, but the reason I picked it to watch next was based purely on convenience.

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