Aadukalam

Director:

Writer:

Stars:

It is 1:00 AM, 17th of November, 2012. Shekar just watched ‘Aadukalam‘ and is excited to discuss with someone about it. He wants to call Karthick, but it is late into the night. Shekar hesitates for a minute. But excitement prevails.

Karthick[Picking up the phone]: Hi Shekar….

Shekar: Hey Karthick. Slept off??

Karthick: Of course… I am not like Harish…. you know that right???

Shekar: Ya….. Sorry to bug you late into the night. I just wanted to let you know that I watched ‘Aadukalam‘. Awesome movie man… thanks for recommending that.

Karthick: I am game for a discussion. Let me conference Harish. He will definitely be awake.

[Harish joins the call.]

Harish: So Shekar…. you finally watched ‘Aadukalam‘?? Dhanush was good man. He just suited the role. By the way… Karuppu means black right??

Karthick: Yeah Harish. One subtle thing to appreciate is that although Dhanush is fluent in Tamil, the slang used in the movie is characteristic of Madurai, where the story is set. Dhanush had to spend almost an year perfecting the accent. It is not easy to get that accent. He has done it very well.

Shekar: In fact, almost all the other leading characters had their dialogues dubbed by others, including Jayabalan. And not to mention Tapsee, who couldn’t speak Tamil when the shooting began.

Dhanush and Jayabalan

Harish: The graphics team did a neat job with the rooster sequences. Remember, we do not have budgets like Hollywood films. Barring a few places, the rooster fight shots looked almost real.

Karthick: And I think a great deal of that credit goes to the editing department. If you notice carefully, most of the rooster fight shots have extremely tight cuts. Even increasing the length of those shots by a second would have added to their efforts.

Shekar: For that matter, editing was tight in many places. For instance, I felt that most of the scenes where Jayabalan was in, the dialogues did not sync very well the lip movements. No wonder, the poet Jayabalan’s voice was dubbed. Interestingly, it was Radha Ravi.

Karthick: In fact, there are quite a few scenes where the visuals cut into the next scene as the dialogues from the previous shots are still playing. This gap sometimes runs to the tune of multiple seconds. In fact, this can be noticed almost throughout the movie. It gives a fast paced feel throughout the movie. No wonder, the editor won a national award.

Shekar: God… and combine that with all those jerky camera movements [not just hand held shakes] and you have a very racy film..even if it is just a couple of people running.

Harish: It was interesting to note the filmography and bibliography towards the end. Vetrimaaran has credited many films including ‘Amores Perros‘, ‘Virumaandi‘ and ‘Cache‘. I can see that the rustic style was to an extent influenced by ‘Paruthi Veeran‘. I wonder how the other films are related.

Karthick: As a film maker, you are influenced by many films. Sometimes you are conscious, but many times you are not. You are unconsciously influenced by many films. And that is what Vetrimaaran wants to acknowledge. Looks like he is Alejando Gonzalez‘s fan. He has credited three of his movies.

Shekar: It was inspired by the novel ‘Roots’. Apparently Vetri Maaran was also influenced by the dog fights in ‘Amores Perros‘. Anyways, it was good to see the director acknowledging all his influences.

Karthick: I was reminded about ‘Anjathey‘. The similarity being the turn of events in the first half and one person’s jealousy completely tearing people’s lives apart. While it was Kirubakaran there, it is Pettaikaran here.

Harish: There is one thing I hated about the movie. It was the love story between the village ruffian and the Anglo Indian Irene. Although the situations are enjoyable, I just found it a little improbable.

Shekar: Hmm.. yeah. Me too.

Karthick: Hey… the climax fight between Karuppu and Dorai was awesome. It was like two roosters fighting. And it kind of sums up the movie as well. Life is a playground [Aadukalam]!!! It does not matter whether you are a rooster or a human.

Shekar: And speaking about the climax, I thought this was going to be another ‘Paruthi Veeran‘. It was good to see an alternate ending where Karuppu vows to remain loyal to Pettaikaran.

Harish: Overall…. a very well made film. I like the trend I see in Tamil movies these days. All these first timers and second timers are making a big impact.

Karthick: Ok, guys. I need to doze off now…. have to wake up early tomorrow. Got lots of things to do at office.

Shekar: Yeah sure. Carry on Karthick. I am signing out. Bye guys.

Harish: Bye folks.

Karthick: Bye!!

Trivia:

Aadukalam won six awards at the 58th national film awards ceremony. This included best director, best screenplay and best actor.