Friday, October 18, 2024

Meiyazhagan - Poetry in big screen !!

 '96 is one of my all time favorite Tamil movie and would be in my list of top ten tamil movies. In fact movie got released on 4th october 2018 and my second son was born on 23rd october 2018 and I still remember keeping my mobile on my left hand so that if my wife calls for any labor pain I can just go quickly as the theatre was half a kilometre away from my home. I just loved the movie like everyone did and director took six solid years before coming up with his second flick. No matter what anyone say if I decide to watch a movie I will watch it in big screen and always prefer watching it in first weekend when the occupancy is maximum if not 100% full. So here comes Meiyazhagan and I watched it opening weekend night show and perplexed to see 50% of the audience was Thaikulam and kids - power of Karthik & Arvind swamy; 

I thought movie was very practical and not preachy where people start boasting village life thereby ditching city life. If you want to appreciate something it should not be at the cost of bringing something else down. People migrate to city life for a good reason and we should appreciate and give respect to each one's decision. But living in places like Tanjore, Kumbakonam, Pudhukottai, Trichy, Mayiladuthurai, Thirunelveli, Salem, Namakkal you are sandwiched between city life and village life as these are tier 2 cities. You will get to see the mundane IT culture on one end as well as get to enjoy drive on a scenic paddy field having tender coconut and ice apple on your drive. Karthik gives flying kisses to a snake thereby emphasizing the fact this land belongs to both flora and fauna apart from human beings. In city we immediately call fire service to grab the snake and we want to be selfish by grabbing any piece of land for investment. The parrot scene once again portrays a lovely gesture human beings can actually learn to be if they try to respect birds. Love for bicycle is portrayed so beautiful since bicycle has become a mere tool for weight loss in cities. Bicycle is part and parcel of one's life in villages and people have fond memories about bicycles. 

Delta Kalyanam: Marriages were carried out multiple days in the past not for boasting one's wealth rather ancestors want family reunions to happen often thereby opening avenues for match making, job creation and helping one another. In my caste Marriages have become an occasion to show to the world that I have got a leading cook, leading photographer and lavish decorations all on boarded to show that one is wealthy. If you look at the delta kalyanam the venue is moderate and there is a huge dining with multiple dishes on the plantain leaf. Arvind swamy's old lover regrets not marrying him thereby citing her troubled marriage but no pathos ..she was still smiling and that's the best thing. Arvind swamy's gesture to wear everything for the bride was so lovely because we are always used to see the attendees present to the couple and leave the stage. The groom just enjoys the mutual affection between each other which was once again beautifully portrayed. 

Conversations: This movie is purely conversational one and conversations between Arvind swamy and Karthik was so heart warming and I acknowledge not everyone will like this. If you take life and in 8/10 occasions a dispute can be resolved if you can straight away "Talk" to the other person; This rule is applicable at home, office, non profit organizations etc., but unfortunately ego stops us from doing so since we ask ourselves "Why should I make an effort talking and why not him". Just spitting everything out at times can do wonders if you can handle your ego. I thought the main strength of the movie was due to the conversations back and forth - I completely agree that "Jallikattu" and "Thoothukudi incident" was not necessary and it was just like when you enjoy the biriyani so much and suddenly you see a full size yellakai stuck between two of your teeth thereby spoiling the entire taste of biriyani. Talking about their lost property, how cycle was used to carry sarees and how they had plans to name their child all were so beautiful. I think these dialogues echo where we come from, it talks about our culture and heritage. Do you think having a VJ at an event makes it fun? I was smiling when arvind swamy wants to buy flower and was confused not knowing Karthik's real name. The flower vendor taught compassion and that was like rubbing salt in the wound for the guilt driven Arvind swamy. 

Once Arvind swamy returns to Chennai his facial reactions were brilliant and his family was able to guess so. Director without taking a dig at urban life has questioned each and everyone of us for forgetting our past relations, memories and the rich heritage and culture. In this era I see replica of 'Thiruvizha' everywhere but no one actually comes for an actual Thiruvizha. This movie is an honest assessment of how we lived in the past and how we are living right now. For those of you who believe this movie is boring and very conversational kindly try to answer the following questions.

1) Are you an Extrovert by nature ?

2) Do you have fond memories with your relatives in the past ?

3) Does Life's commitments and way of living made you to interact very less with your relatives ?

If you have answered 'Yes' to the three questions time to realign your life's goals, make room for bonding and thereby make life more meaningful. 

Some movies are beyond Box office and with no pistols, guns, blood and loud BGM this movie was a refreshing tale of two cousins bromancing each other with so much of love and affection in the air. 

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