Peeping Into Period Films - Part II : Indian Cinema

Click To Peep Into The Period Films Of Hollywood - Part I


Ever since the Englishmen left India, the latter remains heavily influenced by the West, perhaps what discoverers claim as the "colonial hangover". As far as the personal lifestyle of the Indians are concerned, one would prefer to call it a "Cultural turnover", however, the people have been going through the same in several other departments. Be it County Cricket or the theatrical rivulet, it's been governed by the West, not voiced by it. Several films across India have shown the character that goes to reveal the Indian history in a worthwhile make. Directors from North to South, Makers from Sathyajit Ray to Mani Rathnam, have all been a part of this genre. As discussed in part I, period films have been of two types - 1) To register their version of a yesteryear era with their current know-how, 2) To have a mere fondness in making/viewing those films. Filmmakers believe that making period films is a critical job. Sometimes, artists will have to go through extensive research to get a feel of the characters from epics. Portrayal of the same on screen is a tough task for both the actors and directors. The common myth amongst the critics was that, whenever screenwriters lacked subjects, they would go for period films. Despite the logic in the argument, the key is that those period films fetch them more success than the others.

Indian films produced across, consisted of the Northern cinematic culture along with the provinces of Kerala karnataka, Andhra and Tamil Nadu.Because of this existing diversity, films bludgeoned throughout the nation with utmost variety.

The North started with The Apu Trilogy - A series of three films directed by Satyajit Ray, which dealt with the early part of the twentieth century. This low-budget period film, was a milestone in Indian cinema.

Hindi films held its own slots in both the market as well as the substance. After a few initial Guru Dutt's starrers, Asif's Mughal-e-Azam and Mother India, require a certain mention in this forum. Shyam Benegal also made his part, importantly, it was Ankur and The Making Of The Mahathma, that led the Indian cinema. The Gandhian philosophy driven film Do Aankhen Barah Hath, was greatly exalted at the Golden Globe and the Berlin's.

South Indian Period films also came well on par with that of the Northern contribution. Sivaji Ganesan's enthralling roles as the protaganist in the films such as Kappalottiya Thamizhan and Veerapandiya Kattabomman held the hamlet of historical significance. Thaneer Thaneer, directed byK.Balachader, is an important mention. Meanwhile, the Malaylaam and Telugu films grounded up well. Lights of Raitu Bidda,Mayabazaar and Annamaya paved a better design of Indian Cinema.

Quite recently, films like Hey Ram, Jodha Akbar, Devdas, Periyar, Shri Ragavendhrar, Lagaan, Iruvar, Sri Ramadasu, Umrao Jaan and Mangal Pandey, have lifted the morale of the directors to push into making Period Films. Most recently, films like Subramaniapuram, Before The Rains and Pazhassi Raja have shown up well at the box office. Few films under production such as Marudhanayagam, will have to be well-aided by the financiers for its due completion.

Peeping Into Period Films - Part I : Hollywood

Click here To Peep Into The Period Films Of Indian Cinema - Part I



Period Films have been primarily of a couple of types. Most importantly, the essence deals with shooting of films of different times, in different times. The ideology of most filmmakers for making such films can again be of two reasons - 1) To register their version of a yesteryear era with their current know-how, 2) To have a mere fondness in making/viewing those films. The typical list goes from The Heavenly Creatures(1994) that held a 50's backdrop to the Mel Gibson's Apocalypto. Producing Hollywood period films is always considered a very expensive task. However, the possible reason claimed by critics was the necessity to prepare grandeur sets. The common myth amongst the critics was that, whenever screenwriters lacked subjects, they would go for period films. Despite the logic in the argument, the key is that those period films fetch them more success than the others. Filmmakers believe that making period films is a critical job. Sometimes, artists will have to go through extensive research to get a feel of the characters from epics. Portrayal of the same on screen is a tough task for both the actors and directors.


As described earlier, it is either epically structured or just that the film has its own findings in the respective era.




Rising from the 300 Spartans, the world monitored the deluge of period films in and around the Hollywood circle. Then, The Last Of Mohicans did the trick to highlight the significance of what a period film could do. The Mortal Storm saw the Nazi-Hollywood era, starring the most self-effacing star and the MGM contract star Jimmy Stewart. The Romeo- Juliet in this list looks highly ineluctable. Alexandre Dumas' novel was filmed in 1949 as The Black Magic and then came the series of countryside films including The Blood Beast Terror. Musical busters like Cabaret and Chicago also showed their part in working with the 'times'
.

With unintentional anachronism, these films held their way to mark the early 90's with a few other films. Since half a decade, it rained in the Agathas, the Elizabeths and the Alexanders and the Vendettas. The most frightfully romantic characterizing Juilet Holme's true story set the tone in Heavenly Creatures. The french adaptation classic from Walt Disney gave us The Three Musketeers, that deals with another Dumas novel.





Lately, since the millennium took off, The Gladiator gawked the theaters with utmost expectation, since by then, the period films convinced the viewers that they had more than whatever they appeared to convey. Recently, it happened with The Wind That Shakes The Barle, The Duchess and John Adams, which held varying times in its script. Most recently, Kate Winslet, as Hanna Schmitz received the Academy award for the period film The Reader. Not just the Hollywood, but other Brazilian films like The Year My Parents Went On Vacation and Russian genres such as His Wife's Diary, plighted the streams of Period Dramas to remote stations of film-making.

London Dreams - A Summary Of Thoughts

London Dreams - A Complete "LOOK INTO" It!

Real Rock Show On Screens - Here it Comes!

LONDON DREAMS - Best List Of Theatres and Show Times
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London Dreams Movie - Music Streams On AV

Preview:
As every part of the Indian film industry looks to head towards a higher grade of cinema, Bollywood continues to aspire with utter magniloquence to the Hollywood, in terms of either the script, or the locations, or both. The multifaceted Vipul Shah, of the Namaste London fame(also Aankhen), strikes Bollywood after two years, with the same London, but this time, with three people - Salman Khan, Asin Thottumkal and Ajay Devgan.





The story revolves around three musicians, who strive to register their place at the Wembley Stadium, a London stage. Initially, the most aspiring of the three, Ajay Devgan, joins an amateur troop in London. Later, he calls forth a music patron, Asin from down south, and is finally joint by his childhood friend, Salman Khan who leads his life as a contented Band performer in a village in India. They work with a huge bent and reach the final stage of London, at the closing of the movie. While music being their key goal, Ajay looks to envy his childhood friend Salman Khan, for his popular acclamation from the audience and Asin's endearment towards him, for obvious reasons. Finally, retaliation, realization and romantic unification talks about the rest of the movie.

The movie is certainly going to be a musical treat, with the audio being scored by Shankar Ehsan Loy. OmPuri, the veteran class-act, seems to have played an inspiring role in the film. The Ajay-Salman pair, after a successful Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, reunites, perhaps after ten years, for London Dreams, the most expected Block-Buster of this season. Salman Khan, after having a mixed emotions on the box-office results of "Wanted" and "Main Aur Mrs.Khanna", looks positive in propagating his most awaited film. Asin Thottumkal, literally sailing on cloud nine after the Ghajini break, looks confident and jazzy in her lovely attire in the promos. Vipul, with all due respect for the actress, believes, for some reason, in the lucky resin of Bollywood. Ajay Devgan, as ever, appears promising with his somber stares all over the place. Vipul Shah, expecting a neat comeback after a little while, has done well so far, with his audio scores by the trio, though originally, it was meant to be tuned by the Oscar winner A.R.Rahman.
The expectations stay upheld with scintillating music by the Shankar-Ehsan-Loy unit, as this Studio 18 distributed opus arrives LIVE worldwide, this week - Oct 30th '09. By all means, Vipul Shah seeks space to excel in his romanticism of this triangular tale, with Salman, Ajay and Asin.

Don't forget to catch the 'Reviews' this Friday, as hot as its promos!

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Controversy Queen Nayanthara Confirms Love For King Prabhu Deva

Click To View The Stories!(Click On Image To Read More)Prabhu Deva-Nayanthara spotted watching Wanted, wife swears to kill her

Save My Husband From Nayanthara, Prabhu Deva's Wife Screams!

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Salman says "NO" to Nayanthara :

Salmank Khan, after the success of "Wanted", is all set for "Wanted-II", but he says that Actress Nayanthara(recommended by the director, Prabhudeva) is "Not Wanted" for the sequel..... Read More..

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Latest - Prabhu Deva - Nayanthara "Wanted"

Recently Important:



Now "Wanted becomes "Most- Wanted" for Bollywood. The director Prabhudeva is now, all set to make the sequel of "WANTED", titled as "MOST WANTED", starring Salman Khan and yes, it's Nayanthara doing the lead this time and for the first time, in Bollywood. After the stupendous success of Wanted, Boney Kapoor, the producer has now decided to go for the second stage. A few sources also comply that the controversial pair is about to get wedded, early next year - The Times Of India


Important:
The couple watched the newly released and the Prabhu Deva directed Salman starrer " Wanted". It was confirmed that the leading actress was busily shooting for a telugu film in Kolkata, while she had to make it to first show to watch the film along with her boy friend. However, despite the busy schedule with Jr. NTR for the Telugu flick, she was forced to stay back for a party after the show, by the director. The party was to celebrate the success of the film - "Wanted" and the clique consisted of eminent people like Bony Kapoor. After the get-together, the director dropped his girl at the airport considering the urgency of shooting in Kolkata. Sources also confirm that the veteran dancer and the director Prabhu Deva plans to take Nayanthara to Bollywood.




However, to note that the "Pokiri " remake(from Telugu and Tamil) - "Wanted", is supposed to have done a great bit of collection at the box-office and importantly, the experts say that the flick is expected to turn up revenues similar to that of Ghajini. It is important to identify that the director of both the films rise from Kollywood and both these remakes have done good to Bollywood.

5 Basic Elements Of A Movie Review - A Critic Review

Well, there has always been misconceptions in and around man. One said once - When there is a conception at one end, there is obvious misconception at the other. Besides the dialectical articles provided as information by the so called "modern-journalism" and the shamelessly blatant marketing attempts made without knowledge, the reviews have been importantly of two types - Rave Or Ridiculous! A review is certainly NOT - a movie on text!

Clearly. the dictionary reads the meaning of "review" as - Ethical/Genuine evaluation of a publication/art-form under cultural constraints. As the word suggests, a review is simply a re-view of what has been "viewed"! Isn't it? It is ought to contain some basic elements in itself and here they are :


Disclaimer - To own a disclaimer is to say this is a completely fair review and an even-handed assessment about the "viewed" or the seen art form, esp. a film. This is applicable even if the writer is the commercial head of a popular magazine or is the most experienced journalist of the most circulated magazine, since he will have to give due respect to the artists who have been a part of the film.


Introduction - This is just to indicate the reader about the film under consideration and to detail him about the same. This can be in the form of a text, picture or a video,depending on the mode of writing or the idea of elucidating.


Plot - The knot in short is recommended to be a part of the review. This can be for several reasons such as - May be the writer has indirectly given the artists a good clue that he has seen and understood the film by all means. If at all, the plot mentioned in the review appears wavering for some reasons, the artist can comprehensively question the writer. Perhaps, it is similar to writing the given conditions of a problem by a mathematician, before actually trying to solve it. One more myth exists that the movie might lose its zeal or flavor when the story is revealed(esp. suspense films). But, as a consequence of revealing the story, it only gets better for film-makers to prove themselves that despite the initial telling of the crux, the film will have to bring in audience, for obviously as stated before, a review is not a film on text.
Note: Haven't we had a lot of thriller films of Hitchcock that revealed the story much earlier, yet intrigued the audience to watch the film on screen due its the obvious factors present in the film. Several novels have also been dealt in Hollywood(and others), yet, it does not mean that films taken with an adapted screenplay are stupid and of no use.


Thought - This is the space where the exact review is done, rather this is called the "body" of the review. Here, the actual content that tare the movie apart will have to be presented and discussed fairly. Without prejudices and partisanship, one should thoroughly examine it, along with the supposing arguments.


A Word Of Cheer - This is an optional tag, however, in order to encourage the artists/film-maker and enable them to make better films, as a critically "claimed" writer(critic), one can include this element.
Note: It must NOT contain - Comparisons, Personal Indications and Suggestions that will tend to mend the written screenplay(considered unethical artistically).

Just like resume writing, "review writing" also requires a lot of syntax and qualities and it is preferred that only experts or students of film - journalism can handle it with care. It is indeed a professional write-up and certainly not rantings or ramblings of favoritism and unethical criticism. May the works get serious hereafter, and may the best writers do their best to the film industry.

Aadhavan Movie Critic Review - A Comical Action Thriller

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A Kind Note To The Readers

Proceed to read, only if you have seen the film 'Aadhavan", not otherwise, because the writer "strongly" believes that a review should not be read before the movie is seen. In simple and clear words, a "review" does not represent the movie on text , it is just the autopsy of the "seen" film or the fair discussion of visuals on text(inclusive of both good or bad). Click below to look at reviews of the same film from others.

PLOT : Aadhavan deals with a hired killer Suriya, the adopted son of Shinde and brother Anand Babu, ties a good bit of commitment with Rahul Dev, where, Suriya gets fixed to kill a magistrate (Late Malayalam Actor Murali). Despite several successful experiences of targeted gun-firing, Suriya misses his shot in this occasion and the magistrate survives. The protagonist, Suriya, hooks up to another murder plan, where he tries to disguise as Vadivelu's closest relatives and gets into the magistrate's house. Vadivelu, who has been a domestic servant of the magistrate's house, and a witness of the minutely fights between the grandmother and the granddaughter of the house(Nayanthara - Yesteryear Star Saroja Devi), gets blackmailed by Suriya, who seeks his support to give an entry to the house. Expectantly, he starts to cement every brick of the building, and gets well informed about the members of the family. While a few several futile attempts(actually, later understood to be deliberate) to kill the magistrate, he appears suspicious to Nayanthara in an occasion, where he reveals to her that he is the son of the magistrate, who ran away from the house, years back. However, having been informed about the lost son from the Grandma(Saroja Devi), he muddles up Vadivelu by saying that this would be the best answer to a girl(Nayanthara), who almost caught him red-handed. Nayanthara muses in romance with Suriya, while Suriya looks completely focused in his intentions. Later, it gets revealed in the conventional K.S.R flashback that the lost son was indeed Suriya, and that he actually wanted to save his father's(magistrate) life, by staying close to him. Meanwhile, the usual traitors at the end pay him off, and he fights back, ultimately to save his father, this time almost losing himself in the process.

THOUGHT : The humor laid throughout the film, came well-gelled with the content, perhaps similar to the ones of "Chandramukhi" and unlike the ones of "Winner". Simply, perhaps a "well-read" critic would say - The Towers Of Screenplay were Suriya and Vadivelu. No doubt, Saroja Devi played her part so well and it is hoped that no man reckons to question her importance in the film, nor would one talk about the very essence of "she" doing the role - Perhaps it's simple to say - "She was casted and that's it!" Suriya, might not have showed his greatest bit of acting, yet holds lovely shades in his character. Vadivelu does his part so well, for one cannot even go into examining the necessity of humor in the film. Nayanthara, underplays it beautifully well and hope none claims about her mere existence in the film. Music scored by Harris Jayaraj goes so beautifully kindling and again, hope no "exclaimed-critic" talks about the very purpose/placement of songs - If so, he should be new to Tamil Cinema. All characters inclusive of Fefsi Vijayan, Riyaz Khan, AnandhBabu(Yes, reminiscent of the Cheran - Pandian duo) get well-steered in the "Ravikumarean" way in his "typpppp...ical" screenplay, the usual way of narrating using flash-back, the Ramesh Khanna factor, his interest in songs and RR, and touch of a sentiment as ever that show people as humans on screen. Stunt sequences at the beginning(Sardarji chase) and at the climax - requires a certain mention! Not to forget the young and aspiring producer of the film, the son of Mr. Stallin, Udayanidhi Stallin for having financed a fine movie, from fine people. May the producer scale newer heights and pave way to powerful lights.

Tamil Cinema Love Women All-Time , Not The Press

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Dinamalar, A Tamil Daily, Derides Yesteryear Artists












The divinity that MSV - Kannadasan combo produced could even beat this MGR - Saroja Devi combo on screen. These masters at work,along with the most proficient singers, liberated great bit of entertainment and class and loved women, as well!


The Raja magic, the Kamal 100th and the Evergreen K.J. Yesudas created all essence to describe the yesteryear star - Actress Madhavi. Could any music patron give me a simpler, yet an exquisite 'Kalyani'. Even the 'Raja' database might find this to be a tough query. When the Universal hero - Dr. Padmashree Kamalahassan gets involved, there is obvious womanhood in it.


The Rahman - Unnikrishnan duo have a lot of songs sung together under their belt, but this should be personally favorite. Obviously, the listener gets confused for its a bit of mishra khamaj, or senchurutti or may be a bit of sahana in the beginning. Yet, the love for women looks so undying.


The latest flick, Ilayathalapathi Vijay's Vettaikaran, also has a song in it, composed and written by Vijay Antony, that describes the angelic facets of a woman.


Yet, do you look how the media(press) has submitted news symbolizing condemned femininity of several established artists.