Rama Shama Bhama

aruL migu ALavandhAr pOtRi
thiruyulaga thiruvaLLuvar pOtRi pOtRi
sarvam kamalArpaNam




Reached Bengaluru overcoming a few obstacles. When i told my ex-rommies that the sole purpose of my visit was to watch Aandavar's movie, the reactions were mixed. However, since i made it clear that opinion or feedback in this regard was not solicited, we left it at that and the beer flowed. I, Cinefan (Ajay), and Jaiganes (who was coming with his wife) were supposed to meet at the Garuda mall, Inox theatre at 6PM. The beer stopped flowing just before that, to be resumed after my dharshan. Reached a bit late and after the initial intro went straight into the theatre. I had told myself umpteen number of times to behave, lest i embarass Cinefan , Mr and Mrs. Jaiganes. However, the first sign of trouble came when Aandavar's images came in the titles and i lost my control. Ditto with the intro scene. Sorry guys :(
By now everyone, even those who haven't watched RSB would know that it's not a frame-by-frame remake of the original and also that remakes seldom match the original (with exceptions like kurudhippunal). To keep up with the times, the changes made, in my opinion, meant that the subtely (a.k.a Balu Mahendra), which was the USP of Sathi Leelavathi was sacrificed. The music was not as bad as some have said. In fact, it was much better than the crap which some of the MDs in Tamil have been churning out, especially in re-recording. I also wish some of the scenes were copied as they were in the original. I felt Ramesh did a better job in the original. As for the supporting cast, everyone does a decent job, and Daisy Bopanna outdoes Heera.
Well, what can one say about Padmashree Dr. Kamal Haasan? A LOT, but that's besides the point. Watch it to understand the magnitude of His versatility. I'm tired of the opinions of some self-professed pundits - Kamal Haasan is not as good an actor as Mohanlal, Naseeruddin Shah or Om Puri. These people ought to check themselves in to a drug rehab center. Create an Excel file. Put these names in 3 columns. List the noteworhty performances of these greats of Indian cinema. Cross your heart, who do you think would have touched the widest gamut of roles? What about the number of languages? Dialects and accents? Appearance, makeup, get-ups? How about acting styles - pure method, underplay (this is often held in favor of someone like ML and against KH), stage-style, emotions, expressions. I could go on, but blogger.com would run out of SAN space.
Another myth which ought to bite the dust is that Kamal Haasan dominates and doesn't give others space. Name another actor who would don the role of a hen-pecked husband with someone like Kovai Sarala or Shruthi opposite him. And this is just ONE example.
[Oh, i keep forgetting that this post is about RSB :)..... ]

It would be impossible to match Kovai Sarala's performance in the original but Shruthi does a very good job. Cinefan tells me that her accent is flawless whereas Sir's, though not perfect, doesn't have the Tamil vaadai.

Ramesh has changed the climax a wee bit and it was hilarious no doubt but i felt it could have been shortened just a little bit.
Cribs apart, ample credit is due to Ramesh Arvind.

Audience reaction: Well received, i should say, but there were a few brief moments of lull. The climax, though, takes the movie to its rightful place.

Useless stats: In Magestic, there were 2 gaint cut-outs, garlanded like nobody's business. The banner count was around 20, same with the posters and 3 producer (or theatre) sponsored banners. Monday 1:30 PM show was housefull, and the next show was heading for a full house as well.