The mass of tamil movie releases over an year stick to accepted staid formulas. They revolve around the superstardom scale(In terms of marketability, Rajni, Kamal, Vikram make up the top tier followed by Ajith, Vijay at the next level with the emerging heroes following closely behind(Bharath, Arya, Dhanush). The bottom of the barrel is represented by ageing has-beens including Sarath Kumar, Karthik and Vijaykanth who show an utter lack of sensibility in choosing scripts and desperate attempts to fit into their own preconceptions of a tamil hero with complete disregard for movie audience tribulations).
Then there are the movies that presumably break new ground in conception but fail in execution. Usually, these are attempts by new directors looking to break the stranglehold of the superstars on tamil cinema but coming up woefully short.
Some movies in a year truly make it a pleasure to watch tamil cinema. Two of them include Pattiyal and Veyyil. They were released in 2006 and were generally well received, pattiyal receiving a much better response among the two. Both of them are bathed in violence with almost no let up in blood and gore. They have extremely well defined roles for heroes and very poorly defined roles for heroines(with some notable exceptions). While Veyyil is a first time venture for the director under Shankar's production, Pattiyal is directed by Vishnuvardhan whose Arindhum Ariyamalum presented a whimsical look at a rowdy's family.
Pattiyal is about the life of hit men who do contract jobs in chennai underworld. The movie is lighted very starkly in keeping with the subject. Theirs is a life strictly governed by money and loyalty to each other. There are influences from Ram Gopal Verma's Satya. Arya plays the brute leader of the two whose cold, nonchalant view on life hides an understanding of the capricious nature of their lives. Bharath plays the follower who kills because he has to and doesnt like to take any more lives than what is agreed on the contract. He is also deaf and dumb but brings a photographic memory and a heightened reflex to the table. The constant bickering they engage with each other shows the bonding between them with Arya generally winning most of the arguments. VMC Hanifa plays a particularly crucial role as the contractor who provides them with targets and pays them. Given the history of his acting career in tamil movies, the casting itself provides a clue as to the direction the story will take. Mohan Natarajan plays a local dada who comes into conflict with Arya Bharath duo when they start killing people close to him. The heroines are there as counterpoise to the heroes but their roles are weak and do not hold up that well. Padmapriya overplays her role of chasing Arya even when he keeps pushing her away. Pooja is there for eye candy while providing the romantic interest for Bharath. The relationships are a study in contrast with Arya-Padmapriya representing the loud and bickering part and Bharath-Pooja representing the quiet and traditional tamil movie romance part.
The movie provides a flashback of why the heroes became contract killers. Unlike most other movies, the flashback is tight without a whole lot of unnecessary detours. Some of the beautiful sequences include
(i) The scene where Bharath and Arya threaten a famous actor with dire consequences of ditching a producer. Bharath is a fan of the actor and asks for his autograph after they have delivered the threat. It is done very well with Arya casually supporting his friend's request(if it can be called one when an aruval is pointed at your neck).
(ii) The scene where VMC Hanifa provides them with a gun and impresses on them the importance of using it in place of their trusted aruval. Their practice sessions are truly a study in brilliant film making. Once again, the director clearly delineates Arya's character from Bharath's and it is to the credit of the actors they bring it out very well. The reason given for the switch('I dont want you guys to get hurt from carrying an aruval on your back') shows the way the director treats VMC Hanifa's character. Here is someone who is a full time government employee who performs the contract arrangements as a path to getting the luxuries in life without being constrained by the government salary. It is for him, a get rich quick scheme. For Arya and Bharath, contract killing is the only thing they know and they have very little idea of what they will do if and when they get out of the business.
(iii) The final scene. Absolutely wonderful end that made me appreciate the movie even more. It is always the middlemen who do better in any criminal transaction and this movie only reinforces the point.
Some scenes that could have been better:
(i) The romantic track between Bharath and Pooja. It proceeds along traditional tamil movie lines but there is no adequate explanation as to why she falls for him. There is some screen time devoted to his attraction for her.
(ii) Mohan Natarajan's son character. While I can see the reasoning behind the character(it provides a way for the director to separate out the 2 characters during the climax and show their weakness when they are alone), the movie itself might have been leaner and far better without that character. It does serve a very good purpose in the relationship between Arya and Padmapriya but given the movie's incessant focus on blood and gore, that character might not have affected the movie that much.
Arya and Bharath have done extremely well and have to be commended for displaying to tamil movie fans that tons of makeup is not a necessity anymore in tamil movies for heroes. The heroines in this movie too go around in pretty much the same manner.
In the end, I think this movie makes the least compromises to the tamil movie formula(songs are there though) while retaining an obsessive focus on realism throughout the movie.
Veyyil is equally violent but the storyline and treatment is different. It is the story of siblings, played by Pasupathi and Bharath, who take completely different paths in life.
The movie opens with scenes of gory killings with voice over from Pasupathi. The story is then told in a flashback, starting from the time the siblings were kids. Both are normal kids growing up in a village doing what kids do. Their father toils away at his butcher shop and expects his sons to repay it through good results at school. He catches the elder son, played by Pasupathi, cutting school and indulging in his passion for MGR movies at the local theatre. He beats him black and blue and as a means of punishment, leaves him naked in the hot sun, oblivious to his son's pleadings. The shame(Not many tamil movies show repeated cries of 'ammanakundi'(literally translated as naked butt)) and pain makes the eldest son run away from home, after stealing his mom's jewellery and money. He loses it to theft and is taken by a kind theatre owner who provides him with a job of cleaning the theatre. He rises to film operator in the theatre and stays there. Back in his village, his younger son becomes a successful ad agency owner with his parents proudly looking on. The eldest son falls in love with the shop owner's daughter opposite to the theatre. The shop owner doesnt like the arrangement and in the melee that follows, the shop owner's daughter takes her life to prevent her lover from being killed by the mob. The eldest son recovers from the tragedy and starts drinking heavily. At the same time, the theater owner decides to shut down the theatre in order to cut his losses. With no place to go, the eldest son returns to his village and finds his dad still angry at him and his mother unable to recognize him. His younger brother sticks up for him and gets him into the house. The family has two younger sisters who consider the eldest son as an interloper who abdicated his responsibilities and treat him as such. As time progresses, the eldest son feels guilty about being useless while his kid brother takes away the credit and responsibilities. When the eldest son resolves to leave the village to get away from pain, he sees his younger brother being pursued by henchmen of his business rival. He protects and admits his younger brother to his hospital and resolves to take revenge on the business competitors. At this moment, the movie catches upto the starting scene. The finale is fitting for a movie of this brilliance.
Points I liked about the movie:
(i) The realism of the story. The director(Vasanthabalan) has chosen his story and tries as much as possible to stick to realistic portrayal of it. He has succeeded very well. The story takes place with a rural background. So there is the customary nod to village rituals that have become the staple of this genre of movies(the village festival, the animal sacrifice, the wise cracking kids). But, the director hasnt gone out of his way to point out the rural atmosphere as Bharathiraja usually did in his movies. This is more Cheran-style film making where the rural background is purely incidental to the main story.
(ii) It is not usual in tamil movies I get to see the games I played when I was a kid. So, there was the top(a.k.a pambaram) restored to its rightful place, inside the circle(a.k.a akkar) instead of the heroine's stomach. Then there is gilli, goli, kavutta pull(slingshot), kabaddi. I only wish aaviyam had been included but you can only expect so much. Plus there was the mindless hobby of getting magnetic residue from sand and using a magnet to form patterns on a paper.
(iii) Pasupathy(and actor playing his younger self). What wonderful acting. Whether it is jollufying the shop owner's daughter or desperately hoping for his father to accept him after the long separation or expecting equal treatment from his mother or some concern from his sisters, he has done it with minimum melodrama and maximum effect.
(iv) Shriya Reddy. She plays the eldest son's admirer when they were young.She stands by him after he comes back to the village and he comes to her for support. I havent seen her acting before but in this role she is equal to Pasupathy. She doesnt have that much screen time but whatever she gets, she utilises it very well.
(v) Narrative. The title of the movie is veyyil and I, at least could make sense why it was named that way. It is veyyil that makes the eldest son take the harsh decision to face life in a far away place separated from his family. It is veyyil which accompanies him as he faces losses in every sphere of life, whether it is employment, love or family relations. Conversely, the time he feels useful, at the end, is when he faces a continuous rain.
(vi) Parental abuse. Very few tamil movies take dads to task for physical abuse of their kids. It is a special dad who treats his kids the way they ought to be treated, with care and without physical abuse. Usually, tamil movies take the compromise path where the son accepts his dad will be that way while trying to live life his own way. Here, the movie takes the same route except at the end. Plus the uncomfortable sequences where the eldest son begs for relief from punishment from his dad is sure to bring reminiscences for people with sadistic dads.
(vii) Sibling rivalry. The movie is about the travails of the eldest sibling when everything in his life goes awry. However, the undercurrent of sibling rivalry is always there. In terms of acting, Pasupathy seems to have realised that and his approach towards his younger brother throughout the movie reflects that. His reactions show the longing of someone who knows he has lost out on his family ties while his brother has soaked in them. Bharath however, is gloriously oblivious of that and comes across as very energetic and bold with no trace of jealousy at having to share his mother's affections with the long lost brother. The director might have addressed it when he describes the younger sibling as a mischievous brat even as a kid.
(vii) The smaller characters. Whether it is the theatre owner or the eldest son's short lived love interest or the older mentor to the eldest son in the theatre, each of them have been defined very clearly and they respond very well to the characterisation.
Points about the movie I didnt like:
(i) Bhaavna. She plays the love interest for Bharath. As in Chiththiram pesuthadi, she is better off playing empty headed bimbo in chocolate romances and not in a serious movie like this. Thankfully, her role is purely designed as comic relief in an otherwise serious movie and so, it doesnt drag the movie down.
(ii) Very conventional villainy. Maybe the brilliance of the movie makes me expect it but the villainy was of the most conventional type. He has a big moustache and generally is grumpy all the time with none of the business acumen that Bharath's character seems to possess.
(iii) Mother and sisters character. They occupy very less screen time which is agreeably surprising for a emotion heavy family centric movie like this. But, whatever screen time there is, it is taken by the stereotyped rural mother who is present in countless tamil movies with similar background(think Saritha in Vedham Puthithu,Manorama, gandhimathi in countless movies).
All said and done,. Veyyil represents a brilliant effort by a first time director to present a great story as realistically as possible. For that alone, he deserves eternal gratitude from tamil movie fans. Here is to hoping the hyped up movies with wafer thin and brain dead storylines starring constellations of tamil movie stars past their prime comes to an end and that Veyyil represents a new generation of tamil movies.
