For some reason, the Tamil speaking internet community is not so supportive of the film Kaaviya Thalaivan. I read Mr.Rangan's review ,vikadan review and few other reviews. To me it looked like they all missed the point. They all seem to have the same usual problem. The problem is that we dont see Tamil Cinema as an extension of our culture. But rather we see it as a part of global cinema culture. We want too see the hollywood production values, European sensibilities and South Korean stories in our cinema.This is the reason why we could not accept Enthiran as an awesome film. We wanted to see terminator type uber-sceintific sci-fi, but what Shankar made is a Tamil Film with all kollywood sensibilities.
I am also a victim to this "world-cinema" syndrome. I have failed to appreciate some of our great films just because they were a little louder or there was an unnecessary song. I am trying to move away from it and in recent times i am able to see Tamil film as a Tamil film. I watched Kaaviya Thalaivan with an ever better mind set because i did not get a chance to see its trailer or listen to its songs. Writer Jeyamohan had mentioned about this film long back in his site and i always liked Vasantha Balan's world. So i simply decided to go for the film when i heard it got released. When i cam back from the film i was really really excited to read the reviews because i liked the film so much. But to my disappointment, the online reviews were not as appreciative as i was.
So, i thought back. Why did i like this film? For starters, it is a complex film with a simple and followable narrative. To me, it was very very clear from the first fifteen minutes that the film is about the tangle between two styles of story telling and performing. First is Gomathi's style whose narrative earns for appreciation and recognition. The second is Kali's style whose narrative earns to understand psych of the charachter he is playing. This style means, he has to understand context of the charachter he is playing really really well. I thought it is well captured in the rehearsal performance where both of them play an asura. While Gomathi's performance is very loud as an attempt to reach the audience Kali's performance is more subtle. It tries to convey the psych of the asura through a variety of body language changes. A few people seemed to have criticised Siddarth's performance. But i thought his performance in this scene was clear enough.
In fact, the central and the pivotal scene of the film comes right next to this. That is the scene were Gomathi's asks Swami, why his performance was rejected. He repeatedly tells that he has done everything religiously and rigorously. He gets two replies 1) Kali understands "Dharma" 2) Certain things cannot be taught but they have to be realized. Gomathi doesnt seem to understand this because he cannot realize what is Dharma, What happens for the next two hours is Gomathi's attempts to solve this puzzle. When he finally solves and realizes what is Dharma, it is way too late and hence the ending to the film.
I think, for the film to make better sense, Vasantha Balan wants us to see everything in this context. If we see in that context, tt will make sense, why Swami dies when Kali curses yet he blesses Kali in death bed. It will make sense why Kali gives a twist Arjun's charachter is Karna Moksham. When Karna dies Arjun gets pissed of with the battle and asks Krishna to stop the war. It is outstanding how Bhagawat Gita would have made more sense at the death bed of Karna. I am pretty sure i can see Thiru. Jeyamohan's hand in it. It will also make sense why Kali is a natural swedeshi but Gomathi is just a by stander commenting about swedeshi people. It will make sense why Kali says he understands what Gomathi is going through.
Since it was very clear to me that the movie is about the struggle of Gomathi Nayagam Pillai, it was also very clear that the rest things like theater dramas, love stories, independence struggle all are back drops. Infact, you can pluck these two characters out put in a futuristic sci fi world and that movie would have a very similar story arc.
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