Saturday, 11 July 2015

PAPANASAM- Kamal Haasan delivers a noteworthy performance after a while in recent times......

Well  recently Kamal Haasan's  family film 'PAPANASAM'  released in theaters & has got great reviews from public & critics alike. This was a direct scene by scene remake of the Malyalam film 'Drishyam'  which was a big success in itself. This same film was remade into Telegu & Kanada.

This brings me to the question as to whether a successful film in one language needs to be remade to various other languages. I would say that if the content of a film  is strong then it makes sense to remake a  movie into various other languages. That way people who don't understand a particular language can watch a particular movie in their native language which stars their favorite hero or heroine in it.

That's why 'PAPANASAM' scored big time as it had Kamal Haasan deliver a noteworthy performance finally after 'Unaipol Oruvan'( again a remake of  a Hindi movie 'A Wednesday'). Personally having watched so many movies of Kamal Haasan  & knowing what Kamal Haasan the actor is capable of , his recent slew of films have been far from impressive. The list of movies include 'Manmadhan Anbu', 'Vishwaroopam' & 'Uthama Villan' .  And this blog post is just an analytical take on that.

Tamil movie buffs  would have heard a lot about 'Drishyam' but because of their  lack of being able to understand Malayalam , they waited for 'PAPANASAM'.  And to be fair, this movie is also very good with Kamal Haasan delivering a powerful performance. He has changed his mannerisms & language delivery style to suit the role of the self-made cable operator in this film.



It was a pleasant surprise to see Kamal throw the magnanimous & gigantic self-ego of his aside & stick to the original film's plot. As the sense the viewer in me  gets when I see films like 'Vishwaroopam' & 'Uthama Villan' is that he wants to prove to the world that he can act & act very well. That's why he has included the Kathak dancer parts in 'Vishwaroopam' & the 6th century theater artist in 'Uthama Villan' , where actually I personally found the other portions of these films more entertaining & engrossing.

Take for instance the film I mentioned earlier about 'Unaipol Oruvan', where he reprises the role potrayed by Nasserudin Shah in the original film, ' A Wednesday'.  Kamal was outstanding in this simple role. He lived the character completely. He brought his own version to this character which was a treat to watch.  His eyes & dialogue delivery speaks for itself. Here is a glimpse  of his acting in that film which was indeed praiseworthy.




  Or take for example,  Gautham Vasudev Menon's  cop drama 'Vetiyadu Villayadu'  in which Kamal delivered a power packed performance which on the outside is a tale of a cop who avenges the death of his wife's killers. The poignancy & poise with which he portrays  DCP Raghavan in the film took the film to new heights. Be it in emotional scenes or action scenes, we got to see what Kamal Haasan is truly capable of.  His entry scene in the film will be remembered for a long time just because of the acting of Kamal in it. For people who have'nt seen it as yet & for people who want to relive this power packed  scene one more time , enjoy:


So as a avid movie buff , I just hope Kamal Haasan or 'Ullaganayagan' as he is fondly called can stay true to the story of a film, can play his age & not try something drastically different from what other actors are doing off late  & I am sure we as movie buffs can get to see many more more terrific performances from this institution in acting.

The last dice is yet to be thrown as far as Kamal is concerned. He has a long way to go & I am sure with the big success of 'PAPANASAM'  it will inspire the actor in Kamal which was sleeping for a while because of various reasons & he can deliver more power packed performances which we as movie goers will savor in times to come!!

PS:  When I downloaded this movie & played in the TV at home, my father who generally doesn't watch Tamil movies decided to see this on the insistence of my sister - in-law.  We had confused him by saying that this movie is a Malyalam  movie.
So twenty minutes into the movie he comes to know it's a Tamil movie!! It was really hilarious moment indeed. Well knowing about his patience levels with Tamil movies he left the sofa after half an hour. But it's such experiences which makes watching movies even more fun!!

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