Uttama Villain

Just came home from watching this, and I need  to blog about it. Well, obviously it's because I really loved the movie!

Lets get on with the plot before I get sleepy. As usual, my blog is full of spoilers, so...yea. Manoranjan (Kamal), is married with a son, while having an affair with a doctor that is treating his chronic headaches (Andrea, Dr Arpana). He is a famous actor (ironically in the movie as well), and struggles to maintain the work-life balance. As the plot unfolds, we learn that he has Grade IV Astrocytoma and that he had a child with his previous lover (Yamini, who left him). Later on we also learn that Mano & Yamini's separation was somewhat architectured by the people around him for the benefit of his career and mainly its because, his acting career is what he is truly in love with. His marriage was forced onto him by a very possessive woman together with an overly supportive father-in-law. She threatened to kill herself by slitting her wrists if he doesn't marry her.

What he decides to do with his remaining time is to make one last movie that people will remember him for. While the news of his brain tumor was somewhat a cliche, what came afterwards compensated greatly for it. The acting by everyone, except Andrea was really really good. Kamal's manager (who usually annoys me in other movies as a comedian), did really well, and his best scene was during the revelation of the fact that the letter Yamini left for Mano wasn't delivered to him and vice versa. I don't really have to mention about Kamal's acting as I think most people who know him will know that he does his job well. The children, played their parts really well, along with the man Yamini eventually married. He did not come on too hard as a person of vengeance but a person who merely wants to carry out his late wife's will.

I am really impressed with the direction techniques these days. They were able to handle the dual story-lines (I'll get into Kamal's Uttaman character later) well, and for each storyline, the scenes were perfected timed, well sequenced and neat. There were humor here and there, but within the realms of dark humor. The final movie Kamal decided to act in, as his final will was the second storyline that was running parallel with the main plot. It was a metaphorical representation of "in another life", of which I love so much, but I think this is where it lost many of it's viewers. However, this movie has my full support for not always catering for what the general population prefers or what we call, crowd pleasing. 

The palace-sy setting for the character of Uttaman, carried a plot that was very deep.  It portrays a timid man, who from his point of view, escapes death by luck multiple times. However, from the society's point of view and the royals, he is an immortal. Due to some political conflict, he is summoned to the palace to provide the spell for immortality (if there is one) to the King. Many tests were imposed on him to test his immortality, and he survives it every time, with the help and influence of the princess the king was supposed to marry. The tiger was the symbol of death, and riding it in my opinion was a metaphorical representation of how we should live. "Courage is the spell for immortality" as said in the movie explains it all. Along with that, there were multiple references to "acting". When imposed with the problem of the King, he was told to act his way out of it, and in the main plot, at one point, he will also say that he will survive this, by acting his way through. Don't we all do that in life?

I applaud this movie, for its braveness in multiple areas. For those of you who might not understand, this movie is different because most Tamil movies are tied to their culture and practices and they refuse to accept the harsh realities of life. Kissing is viewed as such a private matter that most movies wouldn't dare  show it on screen. In this movie however, they have confidently stepped across the boundary and remained there unafraid and confident. The first challenge was of course the kiss scene (which was just a peck on the lip anyway). The second was about the fact that his son was having a girlfriend at a young age, and not at any moment was that issue brought up in the movie, and it was almost viewed as a norm. Third - the affair. On top of that, she was the doctor treating both her lover and her lover's wife. She felt embarrassed, swallowed the hard truth but went for love anyway. Lastly - the death of Manoranjan (Kamal). That is almost a mortal sin in Tamil movies - to kill the main actor. Although Kamal has died in his previous Leukemia movie (I forgot the title, it was when he was really young), generally Tamil movies don't have the guts to make a significant character kill. Kamal went under anesthesia for the brain surgery, and never came back.

It was rather a lengthy movie, but I was glued to my seat. I was more surprised to see my family members negative reaction after the movie. Anyway, I really enjoy it, and if you enjoy Tamil movies too, you should check it out. See ya!