Nanban is well

Pre-Nanban release:
"Shankar is a great creator. Why does he wants to do a remake when people like Jeyam Raja are there for that particular purpose already?"
"Vijay? Casted as the scientist played by Aamir? Don't joke man. It is bullshit! Surya will be the opt guy for such intellectual characters"
"When is the last time you watched a Vijay movie without making fun of him?"

Post-Nanban release:
"Shankar proves once again that he has ability to deliver a successful message sandwiched inside a boxoffice hit"
"Vijay at his best eventhough there is not a single punch dialogue or a single action sequence"
"Just like any other Vijay movie, we ended up laughing continuously for the entire time. But he is not the source this time"

Casting:
When it comes to casting Shankar has always been a forerunner on Tamil cinema. Examples like Nambiyar on Gentleman, Radhika in Jeans shows his thirdeye to cast the actors. In Nanban, a movie-goer will not think odd to see Vijay as the intellectual. And that is the victory gained for Shankar's casting and directorial genius.

Script:
Screenplay of 3 idiots is used exactly as it is. Changes in dialogues gives the regional flavour to the film. Shankar and Madhan karky does their best here.

Cinematography:
My favorite cinematographer Manoj Paramahansa has lifted the lens for Nanban. In Eeram and VTV, he had the scope to exercise his innovations. But he did a great job for a entertainer like Nanban. Visuals never felt awkward in a single roll, unlike the experience of usual remake movies.

Art:
This is one of those departments which hasn't had a great show in original 3-idiots. Being a Shankar movie, Nanban has the gigantic sets in songs. Sets erected for Asku laska and Ileana songs shows the exemplary ground work done by the art department.

Music and Audiography:
Harris Jayaraj has exceeded his expectations in all the song numbers. Hear 'En friend ah pola' song with full bass and you will know how close competitor it is to the 'Mustafa' song. His background score is weaved close to the story-flow. Oscar winner Resul Pookutty has shown his adept at the audiography. Techniques like echo and amplification are used for particular scenes where the hero intends to tell a message to the audience.

Acting:
Acting department is under the radar of some directorial genius like Shankar. He shows how to get the best out of actors like Satyaraj and Vijay. Even Jiiva does proves his skills.

Direction:
Not to mention too much about Shankar, he has carved a great flick. Successful placement of Ileana song just before the emotional climax shows his mettle to give a masala mix to any story. Asku-laska song will be a visual treat to Shankar audience where he rectifies the limitations posed by 3 idiots script on his grandiose visualisations.

Everyone in the age group of 20 - 35 would have seen 3 idiots. It is one of those rare movies with a wide audience reach. I have watched 3 idiots four times and when I watched Nanban, I neither felt bored nor I thought of Nanban as a waste remake. Even to set a benchmark in remakes, we need Shankar.
He neither made Vijay to fly nor to fight. But he made him to act. There lies the greatest success of Shankar. 

Verdict:
Nanban - A successful remake. A remake of Shankar's success.

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Ko–Drawing parallels!

‘Ko’ has been portrayed by the media as the summer blockbuster of 2011. I’m not here to talk about the film cast or direction, but I chose to talk about the script. KV and Suba has come up with a racy script which is weaved with journalism and politics, both entwining and complementing each other. Now, let us consider the parallels we can draw from the film characters.

As far as the portrayal of the protagonist (Ashwin) is concerned, we can draw parallels with the famous Vandhiyadevan of ‘Ponniyin Selvan’. In both the stories, the protagonist lifts an ordinary person to the country’s  most prestigious ruling chair. Role of Ashwin is similar to the role of Indian Express editor played in the rise and fall of Dhirubhai Ambani.

Similarly, the character of the antagonist (Vasanthan Perumal) can be seen as a tuned version of Camerlengo of ‘Angels & Demons’. Both the characters choose anti-social methods to seed hope in the minds of people. When caught red-handed, they talk about the ‘Greater-good’ and confront their deeds as a noble one.

In fact, in both ‘Angels & Demons’ and in ‘Ko’, the protagonist decides to acquit the guilt of the antagonist for the ‘Greater-good’!

Story of young generation coming to politics can lead comparisons with ‘Ayudha Ezhuthu’ etc. Even, we can go on saying that KV’s last film ‘Ayan’ is inspired from the Di Caprio blockbusters – ‘Blood Diamond’ and ‘Catch me if you can’!

Character of Saro (Pia Bajpai) has been an exception from the above described comparisons. This character is sure enough to win well-deserved accolades to the scriptwriters (KV and Suba).

In spite of all these comparisons, the director stands out successful with this script. Even though we can draw infinite parallels with other sources, this script well-supported with the dialogues, cinematography and music  make the film to bask in the light of blockbuster success. One should appreciate the confidence, KV has shown on this script. The metamorphosis of KV from a photo-journalist –> cinematographer-> scriptwriter-> director has attained its completion.

Above discussed way of scripting a Tamil cinema may not be the right way to make a film. But it will change the mind set of the hoi polloi such that s/he will give more importance to the script rather than the star-cast.

As the climax of this film projects, a right-goal will always win morality over the right-way. In this perspective, we can say that KV Anand has achieved a great feat with this movie. Kudos to him!

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