Yesterday i decided to watch a Tamil movie at night. I searched einthusan site for a movie, year by year starting from 2013. I filtered two movies, Vathikuchi, Udhayam NH4, and still went on searching until i found 'Urumi'. Very happy i picked it. I know its too late to write a review about (after two years) but it is worth spreading the news.
Honestly i had no clue what the movie was about. All that made me watch the movie was a name - Genelia D'Souza. :) but the movie just swept me off my feet and took me by surprise. It brought two of my favorite subjects together, History and Tamil. (yes, i watched the Tamil version).
Initially every five minutes into the movie, i told my wife who was sitting across the room doing something else, 'Look who is in the movie!'. That's another thing that will interest you if you don't know the complete cast. The story is set in the period when Vasco da Gama comes to India (three times) and how he tries to take over our land and how Kelu Nayanaar the brave hero fought back. Now, i am not sure if this movie's storyline is historically accurate but one thing was sure. As a character in movie says, the world forgot and eventually did not know who kelu nayanaar was and it went on praising Vasco da gama. I also didnt have any idea about Kelu until i saw this movie.
Another sure thing that i knew was Vasco did not find India on his own. It was found in his diary that when he was in Africa, he saw a docked ship three times bigger than his own, He took an African interpreter to meet the owner of that ship, a Gujarati, who used to bring pine wood and teak from India along with spices and take back diamonds to Cochin. Vasco followed him to reach the shores of India, a fact very few in independent India know about.
Other than that, I don't know if we should believe Vasco was just a sailor or an evil invader like the movie portrays. Santhosh Sivan says 'History is written by the leaders who won and therefore mostly twisted'. As far as i found in Google, Vasco died because of malaria not by Kelu, but hey, its a movie, if Hitler can be killed in a theater (see Inglorious Bastards), Vasco can be killed by Kelu. Another historical fact i found was Estavo da gama, son of Vasco never came to India unlike shown in the movie.
Coming back to this movie, the shots, the cinematography and the music were too good. The way they show the ships, elephants and the waterfalls will definitely wow you. Prithiviraj was very handsome and soldier-like in every scene. He literally lived as the character. Prabhu Deva was funny at times. Genelia made brave effort and came out of her sweet-and-silly girl image. I am not saying she was perfect but she tried her best.
But, you know what was the best thing i loved about the movie? Oh no, not Genelia. It is the Tamil they speak. (as said before, i watched the Tamil version). Loved the dialogues at many places. It was rhyming and the synonyms/idioms/phrases were too good. I even listened to every song without skipping and there was something i liked in them too. It is sad some reviewers say they did not understand the dialogues and they had to read the story after watching the movie. (sigh). I get it if people don't understand Tamil in Aayirathil oruvan. But this one was not that hard which kept me wondering, why don't our guys make historical movies like before?
There are many unsung heroes in our history. What's a better way than a movie, to make these guys popular again? People came to know Bodhidharma because of Yezhaam arivu. Aayirathil oruvan showed that the Tamil we spoke was totally different and the kings were not like how MGR and Sivaji portrayed in earlier movies. (Most of our kings were black, with long hairs and wore less jewels)
Our kings' bravery and patriotism have blockbuster story lines if combined with some imagination. I mean, we have kings who killed thousand elephants in war and have been sung songs for that (Bharani). I will give two examples that i read and liked. 1) One of the early cholas started his life with just five brave friends and eventually established chola kingdom. Their five people army was called Ivar Padai. Once, when the enemies were teasing some village girls, he just sends his sword on his horse which terrifies the enemies and they leave. 2) In a battle, when cholas were losing and retreating, one of the elderly chola king who lost his legs at young age, enters the field. He could not bear cholas retreating. He asks for an elephant. The commander-in-chief replies the elephants were all dead. He asks for a horse and finds there are no horse alive either. Then he asks for two brave soldiers. Commander-in-chief replies 'we may have lost all the elephants and horses but we still have soldiers and they never lose their courage'. The elderly chola makes a line having two soldiers who would carry him into battle field. If the first two dies, the next two in line should carry the king. He enters with two long swords in his hands, carried by two brave soldiers. He swings the swords and enemies fall on both sides dead. Seeing his bravery, the soldiers fight vigorously and they finally win.
Now, they may be bit melodramatic but wouldn't that be awesome to see in a movie?
Instead of remaking movies like thillu mullu and billa again, why not take movies like Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Maruthu Pandiyar and Raja Raja Cholan with technologies available today. I wish somebody gets the idea.
Anyways, please watch Urumi. I am going to watch Ashoka and Pazhasi Raja next. :)
Honestly i had no clue what the movie was about. All that made me watch the movie was a name - Genelia D'Souza. :) but the movie just swept me off my feet and took me by surprise. It brought two of my favorite subjects together, History and Tamil. (yes, i watched the Tamil version).
Initially every five minutes into the movie, i told my wife who was sitting across the room doing something else, 'Look who is in the movie!'. That's another thing that will interest you if you don't know the complete cast. The story is set in the period when Vasco da Gama comes to India (three times) and how he tries to take over our land and how Kelu Nayanaar the brave hero fought back. Now, i am not sure if this movie's storyline is historically accurate but one thing was sure. As a character in movie says, the world forgot and eventually did not know who kelu nayanaar was and it went on praising Vasco da gama. I also didnt have any idea about Kelu until i saw this movie.
Another sure thing that i knew was Vasco did not find India on his own. It was found in his diary that when he was in Africa, he saw a docked ship three times bigger than his own, He took an African interpreter to meet the owner of that ship, a Gujarati, who used to bring pine wood and teak from India along with spices and take back diamonds to Cochin. Vasco followed him to reach the shores of India, a fact very few in independent India know about.
Other than that, I don't know if we should believe Vasco was just a sailor or an evil invader like the movie portrays. Santhosh Sivan says 'History is written by the leaders who won and therefore mostly twisted'. As far as i found in Google, Vasco died because of malaria not by Kelu, but hey, its a movie, if Hitler can be killed in a theater (see Inglorious Bastards), Vasco can be killed by Kelu. Another historical fact i found was Estavo da gama, son of Vasco never came to India unlike shown in the movie.
Coming back to this movie, the shots, the cinematography and the music were too good. The way they show the ships, elephants and the waterfalls will definitely wow you. Prithiviraj was very handsome and soldier-like in every scene. He literally lived as the character. Prabhu Deva was funny at times. Genelia made brave effort and came out of her sweet-and-silly girl image. I am not saying she was perfect but she tried her best.
But, you know what was the best thing i loved about the movie? Oh no, not Genelia. It is the Tamil they speak. (as said before, i watched the Tamil version). Loved the dialogues at many places. It was rhyming and the synonyms/idioms/phrases were too good. I even listened to every song without skipping and there was something i liked in them too. It is sad some reviewers say they did not understand the dialogues and they had to read the story after watching the movie. (sigh). I get it if people don't understand Tamil in Aayirathil oruvan. But this one was not that hard which kept me wondering, why don't our guys make historical movies like before?
There are many unsung heroes in our history. What's a better way than a movie, to make these guys popular again? People came to know Bodhidharma because of Yezhaam arivu. Aayirathil oruvan showed that the Tamil we spoke was totally different and the kings were not like how MGR and Sivaji portrayed in earlier movies. (Most of our kings were black, with long hairs and wore less jewels)
Our kings' bravery and patriotism have blockbuster story lines if combined with some imagination. I mean, we have kings who killed thousand elephants in war and have been sung songs for that (Bharani). I will give two examples that i read and liked. 1) One of the early cholas started his life with just five brave friends and eventually established chola kingdom. Their five people army was called Ivar Padai. Once, when the enemies were teasing some village girls, he just sends his sword on his horse which terrifies the enemies and they leave. 2) In a battle, when cholas were losing and retreating, one of the elderly chola king who lost his legs at young age, enters the field. He could not bear cholas retreating. He asks for an elephant. The commander-in-chief replies the elephants were all dead. He asks for a horse and finds there are no horse alive either. Then he asks for two brave soldiers. Commander-in-chief replies 'we may have lost all the elephants and horses but we still have soldiers and they never lose their courage'. The elderly chola makes a line having two soldiers who would carry him into battle field. If the first two dies, the next two in line should carry the king. He enters with two long swords in his hands, carried by two brave soldiers. He swings the swords and enemies fall on both sides dead. Seeing his bravery, the soldiers fight vigorously and they finally win.
Now, they may be bit melodramatic but wouldn't that be awesome to see in a movie?
Instead of remaking movies like thillu mullu and billa again, why not take movies like Veerapandiya Kattabomman, Maruthu Pandiyar and Raja Raja Cholan with technologies available today. I wish somebody gets the idea.
Anyways, please watch Urumi. I am going to watch Ashoka and Pazhasi Raja next. :)
