Note: This article will cover movies that were available for my viewing between Jan 1, 2002 and Dec 31, 2002. Since I live in the United States and the availability of a movie (either on the big screen or on video) varies anywhere from 1 day to more than a month, the list contains leftovers from 2001 which I managed to see only in 2002. For the same reason, I have left out movies that were released in 2002 but which I saw in 2003 or still have not seen.
Rowdyism Zindabad!
2002 was undoubtedly the Year of the Rowdy, as far as Tamil cinema was concerned as these social menaces ruled the roost
on the silver screen. The biggest of 'em all was Vikram's Gemini. This entertaining but
unexceptional movie became the biggest box-office hit of the last few years owing greatly to the popularity of its O Podu...
number. The movie helped continue Vikram's golden run at the box-office and Kalabhavan Mani's rather unique brand of
villainy was noticed. The other bonafide success of the year was Run with Madhavan turning
rowdy in order to get his girl. The hugely entertaining film was marked by great stunts, comedy and music and identified
Lingusamy(whose previous film Aanandham was also a big hit) as a director to watch out for.
Thamizh was the most realistic of the 'rowdy' movies with Prashanth being an unwilling rowdy and
was marked by sharp and witty dialogs. Bhagavathy had Vijay attempting to do a
Baasha in the second half though it was the lighthearted first half that was more enjoyable. Prakashraj played the baddest
of the rowdies in Dhaya, which was different solely because it did not feature a hero playing a rowdy with a heart
of gold and boosting his image. Ajith's Red was a disaster with its hero-worship being unbearable
while Sree failed to earn our sympathy with his unreasonable acts against the man who asked for
his sister's hand. Alli Arjuna provided Manoj with his most suitable role until now but the
twist at the end of the movie was a case too little too late considering the torturous first half. Shaam finally got a chance to be macho
as he played a rowdy in Bala, which had a fast-paced but familiar story.
A Few Good Men
In direct contrast to the rowdies were these men who tried to do good in society. The most entertaining and successful of the lot was
Ajith's Villan who, inspite of the movie's name, was a Robinhood who stole from the rich to help the
handicapped. Ajith's performance as the mentally and physically handicapped twin brother was well-praised. Vijayakanth underwent
a drastic change of image by acting in Ramanaa. The movie was shorn of all the usual 'masala'
ingredients that accompany Vijayakanth starrers and its protagonist was a college professor who followed his own means to rid the
society of corruption. Vikram played his part to reform society in Samurai while Vijay's
Thamizhan attempted to educate the common man about the law. While a laudable theme,
the movie erased its positive points with a weak romance and a crude comedy track. Maaran gave Satyaraj his first meaty
role in years as the father of a boy who is killed in college and goes after the killer and those who participated in the cover-up. The
first half, based on a real-life incident(Navarasu's brutal killing a few years back) was gripping but then the movie descended into
a regular 'revenge movie' with Satyaraj slipping into the usual larger-than-life role.
Attack of the Clones!
As always, there were a number of remakes as producers hoped to reproduce the success of a hit movie from another language.
The most touching of these was Kasi, which was helmed by Vinayan, who also directed the Malayalam
original. The tale of a blind man whose lover and sister are shamelessly exploited by the trusted rich man of the village touched our
hearts without being too sentimental and was marked by a great performance from Vikram. But Vinayan couldn't evoke the same
feelings with his subsequent En Mana Vaanile, which catalogued the troubled faced by a mute couple.
Thenkaasi Pattanam
was another Malayalam import but of a different sort. Though sentimental in parts, the movie was rescued by its comedy with one particular
sequence, where Vivek and Charlie dress up as a cow, delivering the biggest laughs of the year. Not so successful in garnering
laughs was Sundara Travels, which revolved around a broken-down bus. Unfortunately its comedy
was broken down too. Ezhumalai was identifiable as a Telugu remake with its three heroines and
abundant violence and glamour. But the movie, an all-time hit in Telugu, couldn't achieve even a fraction of its success in Tamil. Kamal
and K.S.Ravikumar once again turned to Hollywood for inspiration for their Panchathanthiram. But
thankfully they borrowed only the setup from Bad Things and then took off in a comic direction. The movie, once again, was
watchable solely for 'Crazy' Mohan's dialogs. Aandipatti Arasampatti was another Hollywood inspired
movie but the director should keep silent since he is liable to get sued by the director of the original film for making mincemeat of a
funny concept. Punnagai Desam, a story of friendship and love and made by Vikraman's assistant, had
several shades of Vikraman's earlier movies, primarily Pudhu Vasantham. Murari was a dubbed Telugu
film and was a curious mix of the social and the devotional.
New Kids on the Block
The year was marked by a number of new faces on the big screen but few, if any, made an impact. The only debutante to garner any
kind of positive comments was Srikanth in Rojakkoottam. The charming hero was impressive in
front of the camera and exuded a confidence that made him look ready to play a long innings. Director Cheran turned actor through
Thankar Bachan's second offering, Solla Marandha Kadhai. Though Cheran earned a good name
the movie was a disappointing follow-up to Azhagi. The same could not be said about
Jeevan, the long-haired, unconventional looking hero in University. Though the movie cast him
suitably as an interoverted, social miscast, his wooden face and lack of expressiveness worked against him. Selfhype led to the
downfall of Simbu, T.Rajendar's son, in Kaadhal Azhivadhillai. Viewers could be forgiven for
thinking of Simbu as a reigning superstar as he was shamelessly hyped in the otherwise generic love story.
Five Star featured five new faces but the story of five friends who remained friends even after
college was slick and fresh. Jjunction banked on vulgarity, crudeness and skimpily dressed
heroines to make up for an illogical love triangle while the antics of the four leads and the sad past of the heroine never meshed
in Gummaalam. Rajesh was another new face in Album
but the movie failed to hold our interest with its uneventful storyline.
It was a mixed bag with the new actresses also. Model-turned-actress Trisha made her debut in Mounam Pesiyadhe(though her intended first film was Priyadarshan's Lesaa Lesaa which has not been released yet). The cute actress has a lot of films with most of the young actors already. Sneha's first film Virumbukiren finally made it to the screens this year but the actress' strong performance made it hard to believe that it was her first movie. But Rinke Khanna was a disaster in Majunu, a movie that included romance and terrorism but rather amateurishly. Vijay continued his tradition of having North Indian heroines with Sandhya in Youth and like his other heroines, she too seemed to be a one-movie wonder.
While their faces were not new to us, a few actors were promoted to hero status but in all three cases, the promotion seemed rather unsuitable. The most tolerable among the lot was Lawrence, the dance master turned actor. He turned leading man in Arputham, an exaggerated rags-to-riches tale interpersed with a love triangle. Eternal punching bag Ponnambalam's dreams to be a hero were satisfied with Ammaiyappa, where he played a tribal falling in love with a rich girl. The movie understandably was his last movie as hero too. Another dance master, Raju Sundaram, played a patriotic cricketer in I Love You Daa, a movie that redefined the term 'amateurish filmmaking'.
Three's a crowd
With rowdyism in the forefront, purely romantic stories took a backseat in Tamil cinema this year and the few love stories turned out
to be love triangles. Cinematographer-turned-director Thankar Bachan's Azhagi was sensitive and
lyrical in its portrayal of a young boy's first love and his meeting with her later in life under different circumstances. Nandita Das gave
a wonderful performance while Parthiban was suitably subdued. Vikraman had a rare failure with Unnai
Ninaithu, which seemed worse than it actually was due to its painfully unfunny comedy. Priyanka Trivedi was the only bright spot inspite of
the presence of Ajith and Jyotika in Raja. The climax was the only different aspect of
Junior Senior which had the distinction of making even Mammootty seem like a bad actor. Inspite of his obvious acting deficiencies, Kunal was a common factor in three such love triangles. Manoj played his first truly likeable role in Varushamellaam Vasantham that featured a realistic ending to cap off the bland love triangle. Enge Enadhu
Kavithai had Kunal trying to sacrifice his love for his friend while Pesaadha Kannum Pesume had him
stuck between his lover Monal and Priya after one of his pranks backfired.
Oh God
While some movies made us scream "Oh God" involuntarily, there were a few movies that actually dealt with the devotional.
Sri Bannari Amman, which marked action queen Vijayashanthi's transition into Amman roles,
and Padai Veettu Amman resorted to convoluted storylines and cheesy graphics to portray the goddess' powers. Rajnikanth's
Baba, arriving three years after the star's last outing, dealt with an atheist's conversion after receiving
seven boons from God. The movie conveyed Rajnikanth's belief in God and gave loud but vague hints about his political aspirations but
failed to satisfy both his fans and the devout.
Director's Cut
Manirathnam's Kannathil Muthamittaal was on a 9 year old girl's search for her biological parents
and portrayed it brilliantly against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan conflict. His trademarks of a cute romance, breathtaking photography,
and brilliantly picturised song sequences were all there but all of them blended in remarkably with the story making it one of his best movies
to date. Bharatiraja's Kadal Pookkal had well-defined characters and an unpredictable storyline with
strong emotions and won him a National award for its screenplay. Yei! Nee Romba Azhagaa Irukke
continued the seesawing nature of Vasanth's offerings as the movie, with its focus on love failures, started off strongly before slowing
down and then ending with a cliched climax that was everything the movie appeared to be against. Arun Pandiyan had his first stint
behind the camera in Devan, also starring in the title role of a killer. Vijayakanth had a no-frills role in
that, playing a policeman on the killer's trail, who then turns around and helps him after learning of his past.
Laugh it off
Laughs were at a premium this year as there were few comedies. Kamalhassan's Pammal K Sambandham
was a marriage-hater who fell in love with Simran and inspite of some needless sentiments, provided lots of laughs.
Charlie Chaplin had no connection to the master comedian of the silent era but through its storyline of
mistaken identities and spiralling lies was entertaining. Azhagaana Naatkal was familiar with the
Sundar C brand of comedy but was a little better than his last few outings in that arena. One Two Three had
a right formula for success with its teaming of the three brothers Prabhu Deva, Raju Sundaram and Nagendra Prasad and its theme of a blind
man, a deaf man and a mute falling in love with the same woman but the execution took all the fun right out of it.
Vivaramaana Aalu again provided Satyaraj with a character with negative shades as he tried to replicate
Ennammaa Kannu's success but the comedy wasn't successful.
As always, its time to cross our fingers and hope that the next year will bring more good movies to our theaters..
. © 2002 Balaji Balasubramaniam