Jun 04 2012
Rewind Review – Agni Natchathiram
After Mouna Raagam and Naayagan, Manirathnam was one of the most promising directors on the Tamil cinema landscape. But all his movies so far had dealt with serious drama with the only levity coming from their youthful romances. So Agni Natchathiram came as a complete surprise. At the film’s heart is still drama with two warring half-brothers and the families caught between them. But Manirathnam handles it in light fashion and with Ilaiyaraja and P.C.Sriram by his side, gives us one of the finest, most stylish entertainers we’ve seen.
Ashok(Karthik), who is unemployed and job-hunting, and Gautham(Prabhu), who is in training to become a policeman, are half-brothers who can’t stand each other. While Ashok is pissed off that people don’t see his mom as his dad’s legal wife, Gautham is irritated that his dad has a second wife and splits his time between the two houses. As the brothers’ hatred for each other rises, their dad Vishwanath(Vijayakumar) is appointed as a one-man commission to investigate the chemical factory being run by local bigwig Chidambaram(Umapathy).
Manirathnam beautifully captures the rising intensity in the relationship between the Prabhu and Karthik. From the first wordless meeting when Karthik drops off a drunk Vijayakumar at Prabhu’s house, to the verbal duel when Prabhu arrests Karthik, to the final full-blown fisticuffs, the encounters between the two crackle with tension. The catalysts for the rising tensions between them occur naturally and smoothly and the camera angles, the slo-mo shots and the background score make sure that we feel the tension flowing between the two.
The other characters react to the situation in different ways and illustrate the mellower aspects of the situation. There’s Vijayakumar who’s responsible for the situation and tries to keep both families happy without much success; there’s Jayachitra and her daughter who have accepted the situation and are happy with what they have; and there’s Sumitra who remains stoic but expresses her displeasure very clearly and sharply. Whether its Jayachitra asking for Sumitra’s help to help bail Karthik out or Prabhu helping Karthik’s sister out, the various interactions between these characters are wonderfully written as they experience conflicting emotions towards one another.
With 2 bold heroines, the film’s romances don’t have much depth but make up for that with cuteness and humor. With Prabhu staying dignified in his policeman persona, its upto Amala to infuse their romance with fun and she passes with flying colors sneaking a smoke with her friends, showing up at Prabhu’s house at dawn to confirm his love and asking inappropriate questions. The Karthik-Nirosha track starts off in a fun way as she teases him by proposing to him and continues in the same vein though some sentiments peek in as they realize that they have something in common.
The comedy track with V.K.Ramasamy and Janakaraj is an annoyance and not just because it has such a flimsy link to the main track. Though it has the line(“En Pondatti Oorukku Poiduchu…”) that has attained cult classic status over the years and includes a few madcap moments (V.K.Ramaswamy swaying in front of the projector to block Janakaraj’s family from seeing the adult film on the screen is one), the track as a whole is crass and vulgar with very few laughs. We can be happy that Manirathnam did this only once more (in Idhayathai Thirudaathey) before abandoning the separate comedy track.
Karthik and Prabhu fit their roles perfectly. Karthik brings out the frustration about his position correctly and his roguish nature finds an outlet both in his encounters with Prabhu and his romance with Nirosha. Prabhu is more controlled, again both when going up against Karthik and when romancing Amala, and it suits his character. Amala is at her sweetest and the combination of innocence and forthrightness makes her spontanrous comments totally adorable. Nirosha looks glamorous and is quite uninhibited as she romances Karthik. Vijayakumar, Sumitra and Jayachitra fit their roles perfectly while Umapathy makes a very different villain with his smooth talking.
Manirathnam’s previous films were strong dramas where the music, cinematography and other technical aspects played a strong but supporting role. But Agni Natchathiram’s lighter tone and approach allows the technical aspects to play a more important role and lets the people behind them to show off and call attention to themselves. And Ilaiyaraja and P.C.Sriram rise to occasion with elan to make the sequences pure audio-visual delights.
Ilaiyaraja delivered some of his best soundtracks for Manirathnam and the combination once again produces an amazing soundtrack here. Raja Rajadhi Raja… is one of those songs that could be called a cult classic. The beat-heavy, catchy tune was on everyone’s lips when the audio was released and it has lost none of its charm. The backlighting makes everything soft, the empty Egmore train station provides a wonderful backdrop and the simple dance steps are cool and casual (a thin, clean-shaven, almost-unrecognizable Prabhu Deva is one of the dancers here). Ninnukkori Varnam… is another gem with its soft, hummable tune and strong interludes. Amala looks gorgeous and the disco lighting creates some interesting images as she dances around. But its Rojappoo… that allows her to show off her flexibility as she executes some impressive splits. The indoor swimming pool is bathed in soft light to create a dreamy look for Oru Poongaavanam… and the camera captures every droplet with clarity as Nirosha dives, swims and dances. Thoongaadha Vizhigal… and Vaa Vaa Anbe… are melodious duets picturized in constrasting ways. The former focuses on Prabhu and Amala indoors while the beach looks inviting in the latter as Karthik and Nirosha frolic in the sand and the water.
Aside from the songs, the snippets of background music convey the mood perfectly throughout the movie. The Karthik-Prabhu encounters are the most showy with the beats and the fast music capturing their enmity. But the other pieces that convey romance(Prabhu-Amala’s meeting in the gym), sentiments(when Sumitra is hit by the flying stone), playfulness(when Nirosha taunts Karthik) and action(the climax) elevate the scenes remarkably. The same holds true for P.C.Sriram’s cinematography. Even simple scenes(like Vijayakumar sitting in the rain in Karthik’s house) are transformed into beautiful paintings with his lighting, staging and framing. He uses backlighting in a number of scenes, giving them a dreamy quality and many of his shots(like the shard of glass breaking off in the window) are vivid and enhanced by the slo-mo.
15 responses so far
your review was a very enjoyable trip down memory lane, bb…agni is also a lesson in how to give two heroes equally powerful yet different roles in a dual starrer…it also helped mani that prabhu and karthik were/are great friends…prabhu joked in an interview as to how mani used to get worked up since the two would be chatting casually before shots…i don’t think that showed on screen at all…kudos to them for playing their roles just right…my favorite scene in the movie was “arrest-ku nee kaetta kaaranam…policekaran-a adika muyarchi pannathu…arrest him now!” prabhu oozed style in that scene…also liked the fact that vijaykumar reined in his theatrics for this movie…his claims of being a better husband than a father in the scene with karthik only to be accused in the next scene by prabhu was excellent writing…
btw, when i wrote, “it also helped mani that prabhu and karthik were/are great friends,” i meant that they wouldn’t have had any ego clashes w.r.t. who gets more shots, screen time, songs, etc.
Agni Natchathiram is one of the movies I remember fondly from when I was growing up. As you said Mani should have done away with the comedy track. It was crass and unfunny to say the least. I get irritated when Janakaraj and VK Ramaswamy come on screen while watching this movie even now. It is painful to watch. But all the actors did their job perfectly and without the comedy track Agni Natchathiram is one of the best works of Mani. Prabhu and Karthik (Probably one of the few movies of his without the hangover of Mouna Raagam) did their roles perfectly. I am a fan of Prabhu’s and I am still waiting for your review of Manasukkul Mathappu
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Isn’t it funny that Vijay Kumar ends up having most roles with multiple wife’s on screen? They did the same in the TV serial he acted, “Thangam” I suppose.
This has not and will never age.
For some reason i always asociate this movie with 80’s madras.
So forgot the glimpse of Prabhudeva in Raja Rajaadhi Raajan song?!
Evergreen, Effervescent, Extraordinary Entertainment is the best way to describe Mani’s finest work in masala commercial cinema; surely, not without flaws and the biggest one being his comedy track. But then again, we wouldn’t have gotten that famous and notorious line (whenever a spouse goes out of town!) and the No Thangamani.. Enjoy! bit if it weren’t for the track. A weird sort of blessing in disguise! 
Amala takes the cake for cuteness while Karthik and Nirosha play out the traditionally subtle romance that has been Mani’s specialty ever since; Nirosha’s pregnancy bit tops ‘em all!
Ever wonder how Mani got away with such a sensual/sexual picturization of the “Vaa Vaa Anbe Anbe” song and that too in the 80s? I wonder!
Huge fan of Amala, aren’t you, BB?
i saw it a couple of years ago and found it boring in a slightly embarassing kind of way… like the attempts at hipness was like watching my parents try to be trendy. i don’t know, maybe it is a generational thing. nirosha was really pretty though…i just recently found out she was radhika’s sister and was shocked at the lack of resemblance.
I loved this review, takes me back to my school days. The songs of this movie was ahead of its time, it was so refreshing and very well picturised. This movie is Main’s trademark, simple storyline told with great drama and subtle emotions. However reading this review makes me wonder has the great man lost his magic.., His last two attempts ‘raavanan’ and ‘guru’ was nothing but one among the crowd effort, not outstanding. It sadness me reading this review. I wish to see another magnum opus from the once genius of Tamil cinema. But nevertheless thank you balaji sir for this super choice walk down memory lane review.
Suresh, I share your thoughts on Mani’s magic and the lack thereof in some of his recent efforts. To me, his last truly great effort was Kannathil Muthamittaal, a movie where he had his heart in the right place and did not give short shrift to emotions…his forthcoming “Kadal” promises to be a little more intimate than his recent failed attempts to go bi-lingual and the resultant loss of the personal, native touch…
No line on the headache inducing climax lighting?
Mani used ideas directly from Godfather novel the climax bed changing was one.
-KP
Boy, was that a good review or what! I guess the surprise element was obviously the best part. Still remember that I had a count of how many times I watched this movie and compete with others (more than 10, for sure!). I would spout all the dialogues and aggressively defend the lighting techniques used and the storyline (lol, I did not even know what lighting was at that time!). I was pretty young kid but still managed to coerce my parents to take me twice and would go with every friend and their parents. We did not have a VCR at that time and would rent one once a month. This movie was perennially on the list much to my parent’s irritation.
On a related note, Mani ratam created a trend where the technicians were equally recognized just as much as the artists and the director himself. I am not sure we can attribute that to too many other directors (GVM comes to mind). This was my first introduction to Ilayaraaja (heard his songs before but the first time the name registered) and to PC Sreeram. In fact, I used to go hunt for movies that had cinematography by him. Very inspirational that made me take up photography very seriously (although I never could afford it until I started working). Amazing, that he has never shot outside India and his movies look so spectacualr (Uyire Uyire from Bombay comes to mind instantly) in terms of locales.
As for the comedy, it was a mixed bag for me. As Sandhya rightly pointed out, some of the dialogues (as notorious as they might be) stood the test of time
but the situations themselves were very crass.
truly masterclass by mani ratnam, have the dvdrip copy at home, watched it at least 15 to 20 times last 3 years. honestly enjoyed the comedy by v.k.r & janakaraj thanks to their timing of their dialogue delivery. No thangamani enjoy, muppadha varshama ennathaya kilichi iraka, were some of the finny dialogues by janakaraj. the best scenes for me were vijayakumars outburst before he gets accident & karthik’s sister says thanks to prabu.
Ram, I read the news recently about kadhal. Typcial secretive tactics from mani, hope he finds his magic touch with this one.
ram, that’s definitely my fav scene too. the bg score when Prabhu steps out of the jeep is fantastic and the entire sequence till Karthik is taken in the van is so stylish.
Giri, yes without the comedy track, this movie just can’t be beat for sheer entertainment.
LOL @ your observation about Vijayakumar
Gudu Gudu pandi, Mani was one of the few directors who captured the roles of urban youth perfectly. And he really showed it this film.
Sandya, I didn’t forget. Didn’t read this line -”a thin, clean-shaven, almost-unrecognizable Prabhu Deva is one of the dancers here”?
Nikitha, is it that obvious?
killer, you watched it for the first time? For many of these older movies, nostalgia plays a big part in liking them. But in AN’s case, I just find that it hasn’t aged at all.
Suresh, yeah the cinematography, lighting and picturization really elevated the song sequences in this. They haven’t aged either. I can still watch ‘Raja Rajadhi Raja’ any time…
KP, I remember the climax lighting was criticized at that time. But I thought it was innovative and added something different to the otherwise routine action.
Harish, thanks! and yes, this movie really brought the technicians to the forefront. I remember doing exactly what u said – noticing things like lighting and looking for movies where P.C.Sriram was the cinematographer.
Reza, yes, that scene where Prabhu saves Karthik’s sister was very well done.
yes, for the first time.