Anniyan: the "outsider"
Anniyan the new Shankar movie continues the saga where Indian, The Gentleman and Mudhalvan left off. Like all the rest, the latest heartthrob of Mollywood- Vikram sans moush, plays the pivotal role of a guy with a split-personality disorder. The comedy track with Vivek is wonderful but unfortunately gets overshadowed by some morbid violence.
The protagonist is real upset because the latrines in the train are filthy. I remember those long train trips from Delhi to Chennai in sweltering summer. Yes, the 3-tier compartments would run out of water, the mother with a partially toilet-trained kid will help the child "ease" herself/himself at the entrance to the toilet rather than inside. And in my maiden trip, I learnt about the train superintendend who used to have his "quarters" in S3! It was as simple as lodging a complain with him and the toilet getting cleaned in the very next station- nothing to kill people for. But then Shankar is Shankar- no half measures. He truly believes in the "weeding out of the bad elements" philosophy. Just as in Swades, the emphasis is on individual responsibility that manifests as collective responsibility. Of course, the mores are primordially middle-class/bourgeoisie and the director dares NOT point a finger at them openly and say they are responsibile to clean up their act. Rather a somnolent, jobless drunk is made the target of the director's wrath of feeling frustrated, not being able to change a thing.
Conclusion: Values and sincerity need to be made into butts of jokes as they are ridiculous to be put in practice. Putting up with inefficiency and laziness, and a nonchalance towards crime, makes a model citizen of the world's largest democracy- India! Of course, the wise director has justified a grand budget and delivers lush and vibrant frames with Holland and its tulip fields (a grand feast for the eyes as Silsila was pre-digital era) along with getting the oft storeotyped "brahmins" into using all that hidden knowledge towards betterment of society thru multiple personalities that include a non-brahmin avatar and a converted-christian avatar. Thus he ensures a happy balance of audience- the brahmins, the non-brahmins (still Hindu) and the converts (on the rise in Tamil Nadu). The randaka-randaka song ensures a renaissance of the folkart forms of TamilNadu which have languished for lack of patronage. I did wonder about the environmental implications of washing the paints off after the song picturisation or if they left them as is. Hmm, reading some obscure regional newspaper column may get me that answer!
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