IRUVAR (Tamil, 1997):
Every now and then comes a movie that not only serves its core cinematic purpose of entertaining the viewer but one that becomes a landmark movie event of sorts that goes down in history. A movie that leaves the viewer dumbfounded and completely in awe more and more as the movie progresses only to completely propel and involve them into a realm of cinema and leaving them completely oblivious to the world around them at the time, and folks, Mani Rathnams IRUVAR is one such movie.
Mani Rathnams tale presents the real-life rivalry between Superstar actor MGR and Karununidhi. Rather than just using the characters to draw attention but churn out a completely different story as most film makers do, Rathnam from what I gather from my knowledge so far, stays original to the tale taking into account some necessary cinematic liberties which draw the line between a actual film and a documentary.
The story revolves around Anandam(Mohanlal) who plays a struggling actor. He is befriended by by and upcoming leader, poet and scriptwriter Tamilchelvam(Prakash Raj). As time goes on Anandams popularity increases more and more, and he becomes an important tool for Tamilchelvam and his party to woo the ”aam junta” and maintain their public support which is at frenzying heights. After the death of the influential party leader Annadurai(Nasser), both Anandam and Tamilchelvam find themselves in rivalry for the top spot for Chief Minister. What started out as a beautiful friendship turns into a bitter rivalry as love turns to jealousy.
The story by Rathnam himself is a complex one as it’s a story that serves a dual purpose much like the movie itself. On one level, the movie recreates a bygone era and more than that, brings to screen a “true to life” tale that the Tamil public is well too aware of. Merging the facts with fiction yet still retaining credibility is no easy feat yet Rathnam manages to strike the perfect balance in his tale. The screenplay too is perfect to say the least, and is fluidly written. The movie starts off when both Anandam and Tamilchelvam are in their late teens or early 20’s and progresses right to their old age at a perfect pace.
As a director, from what I’ve seen so far of Rathnam(which is THALAPATHI, ANJALI, NAYAKAN, ROJA, BOMBAY, DIL SE.. and YUVA) this is his finest film to date. On one level the movie works as a straight tale of friendship and jealousy between two friends, on another level it presents the viewer with a slice of Tamil history and on yet another level it projects Superstar Mohanlal in a role of a lifetime as a larger than life “overman” role that is in many ways reflects on his own popularity given the actors 27 year reign in the industry and still standing strong. In many a ways, this is similar to the technique Ram Gopal Varma recently tried in his last magnum opus SARKAR, on one level it attempted(though poorly) to model itself on the life of Bal Thackeray, on another level it attempted to project Amitabh Bachchan in a larger-than-life role and also superbly pass on that the torch is being passed from the father to the son, not only in “reel” life but in “real life”; and lastly it was a tribute to Varmas favourite film THE GODFATHER. Though Varma didn’t quiet succeed to deliver on all three levels, Mani Rathnam does. Though my knowledge of the MGR and Karunanidhi isn’t strong, from what I’ve read and have been told from others, this is a pretty good reflection on the life and times of the two, the entire projection of Mohanlals “overman” character is simply outstanding. His countless speeches in front of the crowds as they roar and cheer have a rather chilling and deeply moving affect on the viewer as one feels that they are a PART of the audience in the movie that is cheering for Anandam. Even as a straight tale spanning the friendship, and consequent bitter rivalry of two people the movie works as a fine piece of cinema. Mani Rathnam is no without a doubt a absolute genius and the best director we have in Indian cinema right now in my humble opinion, and IRUVAR is more than enough proof of the mans genius yet again.
On a sidenote, I have simply loved Rathnams narrative. Rather than have screens come up on-screen “5 years later” or anything of that nature, the director leaves it upto the viewers intelligence to decipher the actors age and at what stage they are at in their lives. No doubt there are enough clues by watching the type of films Anandam is acting in and the style and music of that era, be it the 60’s style black and white costume drama to the Shammi Kapoor type “song in the snow in the 70’s” to the early 80’s disco era-a touch of brilliance.
Mohanlal is an actor I forever find fascinating. The first time I saw him, I had a hard time believing that he was a “superstar” of any kind. I’ve had a backwards trajectory as far as watching his films is concerned, given I started with Ram Gopal Varmas COMPANY as my “first” Mohanlal film and have since then watched more and more of his older works. I guess the biggest compliment I can give to Mohanlal is that the man was born to act-natural to the core in every sense. He slips right into the skin of Anandam with a admirable amount of ease and portrays his part with such care and natural grace that it’s hard to call it anything but a cinematic feat of sorts. The role offers Mohanlal a range of emotions to explore as well as a lifetimes worth of relationships to adhere to as the movies scope allows him to span his character over several decades. As Anandams character gains time and experience on his shoulders, we see Mohanlal the actor too perfectly aging with the character and the man we see at the end of the film is nothing more than a familiar shadow of the person we met at the start of the movie. Right from his delivery, voice modulation, get-up, and body language Mohanlal is just perfect. A landmark performance in every sense.
Prakash Raj is an actor whom I have always been fascinated with ever since my foray into Tamil cinema. The first time I saw the actor was in Raj Kumar Santoshis KHAKEE as a slimy policeman, and since then he’s been a fantastic supporting actor in Tamil and Telugu films with a fairly versatile range from a positive role of a supporting brother or father to a wily villain. Though his choice of films may not always be the best, I have always found Raj to be endearing and in a way, elevating the movie for me with his presence. Given this-IRUVAR offers the actor a breakthrough character in a authorbacked role which is parallel to that of Mohanlals and the actor does not disappoint one bit. He too slips into his character to utmost perfection and delivers a astounding account of himself. His delivery, body language and get-up all are fantastic, and the manner in which Raj portrays the slow and uneasy jealousy building up inside him is just perfect. He holds the screen with a magnetic and electric presence and what I consider a huge compliment, is that he manages to hold his own against a titan like Mohanlal in the scenes they share together.
I must add, the chemistry shared between Lal and Raj here is just surreal. Both bounce off each other just superbly. Witness the scene towards the end just before Mohanlals death at the wedding where Lal goes and sits down with Raj, before leaving they share a laugh and Lal adds “be careful, we shouldn’t be seen laughing together before the elections”.
Ashwariya Rai made her screen debut with this movie and she is superb. I guess the one thing that somewhat bugged me about the movie, was Ashwariyas double role in the movie. It felt a little out of place initially, and though Rathnam merged it well with the story later on quiet well, I just wished a little more care had been taken with this angle of the tale which dare I say I found slightly forced at times. In saying that Ashwariyas performance is fantastic! Her earlier sequences as Kalpana are a knockout, and even as Pushpa she is downright convincing. Given this is my second Ashwariya Rai film in 2 days, I must add I have found her performances in Tamil films so far, more natural and effective than most of her Hindi performances I’ve seen to date bar a few.
Taboo is excellent as always. The girls eyes speaks volumes, and just her mere presence on-screen brings so much to a film as does her silence.
Both Revathi and Gautami too are great in their respective roles, and I found the relationships all four women share with Lal and Raj extremely interesting and poignantly crafted for the most.
Everything I said above about Raj and my liking for him in various roles in a supporting mould holds true for Nasser-another actor I have a great personal weakness for and he too is fantastic here in his part.
Technically the movie is yet again a landmark. Santosh Sivans cinematography is Award Worthy and the manner in which he has captured an entire era on celluloid is deifnetly not an easy feat. The manner in which he captivates the viewer with the different years of cinema (from the years of Shivaji Ganesan and MGR) on-screen, speaks volumes for his talent, but more than that, Sivans camerawork holds a special place with me for the manner in which he has managed to capture the crowds in this movie. As Mohanlal speaks at various moments in the movie, the crowds/public/junta are all shown giving their consent by cheering for him, and Sivan alongwith Rathnam captures this to perfection given this is the very core element of capturing and presenting a lrager-than-life “overman” figure to the viewer.
A.R Rehmans music…well what can I say? A.R Rehman is as he is for the most-simply brilliant. The various songs in the movie are perfectly placed, and their picturisations are apt. Rehman has expertly captures the spirit of the songs from that era, and in that sense this ranks as one of Rehmans most intelligent albums to date as the album fits hand-in-glove with the movie itself rather than being a individualistic score of sorts.
All up IRUVAR is hands down a classic, and has found a place on my list of Top 10 Indian Films of Alltime. A film of this magnitude I feel unfair giving a rating too on my first watch, but if a gun was put to my head….
9.7/10.0(classic in every sense of the word defining the very essence of cinema)
Yours Truly
A.Shah
I must say, this makes me all the more excited about GURU as this is yet again a movie that looks like it is going to work on more than one level, firstly as a tale based on the life of Dhirubhai Ambani, secondly as a trajectory of the Bachchan legacy and lastly as a simple tale of one mans rise to power, BOLO GURU!
1 comments:
Wonder if you have been able to watch this classic again.
I do it often to see the hidden layers unfold beautifully every time I see it.
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