Apart from heroes and heroines, Cinema in general is capable of portraying humanity at large, through a broad panorama of roles such as comedians,villains and greatly valued supporting individuals popularly known as character actors.Tamil movies have proudly celebrated the distinguished performance of exclusive character actors like V. Nagaiah, S. V. Sahasranamam, S. V. Rengarao,T. S. Balaiah,V. K. Ramasamy V. S. Raghavan and Major Sundarajan. These character actors would have taken up villain roles once a way.The number of villain roles would have been more in the case of Balaiah,V.K.R and Major.But Balaiah and V.K.R excelled in comedy roles also.Both these actors shared great screen space with the never tiring comedian Nagesh.
Similarly starting from the pioneering comedian N.S.K, character roles have been confidently vested with most comedians like K. A. Thangavelu,Nagesh,Thengai Srinivasan and of late,Vivek.In this list, we now have a prominently notable character actor and comedian, whose rise on the big screen has been gradual and significantly steady.It is Thambi Ramaiah,the rising character actor of Tamil films.
Thambi Ramaiah would have acted in more than twenty films before his remarkable and award winning performance in Prabu Solomon's highly acclaimed film Mynaa.In fact,Ramaiah had equally shown keen interest, in direction and lyrics composition.He was an assistant for Director P.Vasu for some time and independently directed films like Manu Needhi and Indhiralokathil Na.Azhagappan. Besides acting in P.Vasu's Malabar Police and Thottaal Poo Malarum,his other earlier roles were for the popular films Aaru,Kovai Brothers, Imsai Arasan Irubathumoonraam Pulikesi and Vaathiyaar.But after his stellar performance in Myna,Ramaiah became an indispensable comedian cum character actor. Prabu Solomon again inducted him for a meaty role in Kumki.
Resembling Radha Ravi and delivering roles with a body language similar to that of the dynamic heir of M.R.Radha to a great extent,Thambi Ramaiah has slowly carved a distinct place for himself in Tamil Cinema.Some of the uniquely memorable performances of this vibrant actor have been for films like Parthiban's Thiraikkadhai Vasanam Iyakkam,Vijay's Puli,Jilla and Bhairava,Ajith's Veeram and Vedhaalam, Vikram's Raajapaattai and Thaandavam{in a brief memorable role as Thappaache Mama},Samuthrakani's Saattai and Appa and the most recent Velaikaran and Thaanaa Serndha Koottam of Sivakarthikeyan and Surya respectively,His other outstanding performance was for M.Raja's Thani Oruvan, as the puppet father of Arvindsamy.
In negative roles,as an erring school teacher in Saattai and as the vulnerably mischievous younger brother of Nassar in Veeram,Thambi Ramaiah asserted his position as an actor capable of adequately reflecting villainy and crookedness.As the blind father of Laksnmi Menon falling into the hands of ruthless thugs,he could evoke a deep sense of pathos by his effective role performance in Ajith's Vedhaalam.
There is a quantum of energy and vibration in Ramiah's dialogue delivery that always stands to his credit.In gullible roles he can stamp his mark as an exceptional actor.Beyond his wonderful performance in films like Mynaa,Kumki, Saattai and Kadhai Thiraikkadhai Vasanam Iyakkam,the two roles of this great actor that I would cherish in my memory are from Komban and Thani Oruvan.It has not been a meteoric rise for this vigorous actor, but a stable and steadfast one, that would keep him in the right place at all right times.
=====================
Excellent background musical score, unfailing performance potential of Kamal astutely displayed, delicate touches of aesthetic motherhood caught in the clutches of Alzheimer, suggestive traces of romance cutely pictured and graceful role play of Pooja Kumar and Andrea Jeremiah make Viswaroopam 2 fairly watchable.However, Kamal should ask himself if he has successfully linked his sequel to his earlier Viswa Roopam, which was better in several respects.There is of course a Hollywood grandeur in cinematography.But the missing links are many leaving the audience in the throes of irritating confusion regarding even the place of events and the characters involved.The character of Anand Mahadevan looks like an unwanted addition to a 145 minutes film just for the sake of increasing the length of the movie.The Brahmin dialects and the Arabic utterances make Visaroopam 2 travel on unspecified tracks.Action sequences do not create any stunning effect.Lack of clarity, thy name is Viswaroopam 2
Most film makers leave indelible impressions of a couple of their films as Dharani left his Ghilli and Dhool,R.V.Udhayakumar his Kizhakku Vaasal and Chinna Gounder,{and Ejamaan} Hari his Saamy and Singam 1,K.V Anand his Kana Kandein and Ko and Atlee his Raja Rani Theri and Mersel. All these films cited were memorable films on account of their unique story value and vigorous course of narration.Many of the Veteran directors of the last century like A.Bhim singh, P.Madhavan, Krishnan Panju, A.P.Nagarajan, K.Balachander, A.C.Thiulok chandar, K.S.Gopalakrishnan and Sridhar,left a lot of their films remembered.They were all makers of films that could linger in the memories of the audience for certain specific reasons.
In this line,variety film maker Lingusamy who also owns his production unit called Thirupathi Brothers,holds a prestigious position as a maker of great films like Aanandam, Run, Sandakozhi and Payya.In fact,like A.R.Murugadoss,Lingusamy is a felicitous film maker holding a distinct trait of consistency,in impressive film making.
What makes the lingering shows of Lingusamy different from those of others,is his flair for diversity in creativity and its exposition.His themes have travelled from the corridors of family to romance,rivalry and racy action grandeur.His very first film Aanandam was admired as an extraordinary family drama, with each member of the family making an impressive image of themselves.This includes even the guy who attempts to steal from the family and is transformed into an inseparable emotional segment of the family that had treated him with compassion and love.
I love the film to the extent of watching it every time when it is shown on its authorized television channel.What a lovely mother Sri Vidya was,calling her sons 'Periyavane''Sinnavane. How innocently vulnerable Delhi Ganesh was, as the male head of the family. Mammootty and Murali vied with each other in showing love, responsibility and dedication to family values in a fantastic fraternal bond. Devayani and Ramba wonderfully played their roles as daughters in law, with a realistic perception of their characters.The scenes were so beautifully interwoven that any sensitive member of the audience would have naturally longed to be a part of the family on the big screen showing absolute spirit of unity and readiness to give in for one another.
Lingusamy's'Run' was a totally different film imbibing the essence of love with an uncontrolled speed in the run of the characters in tune with the title.Besides romance and gripping action components, the film exquisitely portrayed the triangular emotional intricacies among the the hero,his sister and brother in law{delightfully portrayed by R. Madhavan,Anu Hasan and the ever classic actor late Raghuvaran}.The fact that the hero and his brother in law were not in talking terms and that the sister surprisingly found them both talking to each other one day,were finest moments in family relationships. Madhavan's heart throbs for the well deserving Meera Jasmine were cutely pictured. Vivek's independent comedy track was en eternal treat.It is no wonder that Run ran for weeks, with packed theatre halls.
Sandakozhi was a special film in the sense it brought Chidambaram and Madhurai routine together on a single spread sheet, with clean touches of bravery,family spirit,group behavior communal traits and delicate touches of romance, speaking through the sparkling eyes of Meera Jasmine and the seemingly innocent Vishal.The banter of friendship,the unique hospitality of Nagai/ Tanjore district reflected at Chidambaram,coupled with the crude thuggery of Lal,soon got transferred to the proud martial glory and trusting group behaviour of Madurai, not missing the cultural moorings of a large family routine.All these things made the film an all time memory treasure.Above all,hero Vishal made a telling impact in the role of a feisty fighter cock, as the title goes.
The climax of the film showing the family patriarch Raj Kiran throwing an open challenge to the infamous rowdy to defeat and kill his son Vishal, if the rowdy really had the guts of a male, brought legitimacy to the title of the film, besides adding pride to the soil of Madurai, reputed for its sons of bravery and might.This is a kind of film which can be watched any number of times.
Apart from these three films, Lingusami lingers in audience imagination as the great maker of films like Payya, Vettai and Anjaan. While Payya is remembered as one of the rarest films with its record breaking musical richness,thanks to the sweetest musical score of Yuvan Shankar Raja,Vettai and Anjaan are known for the spirit of valour capable of converting even a coward into a bravo. Karthik Sivakumar of Payya,Arya/Madhavan of Vettai and Suriya of Anjaan,were symbols of masculine magnificence.They would undo their enemy's advances, with on the spot defiance and retaliating fighting mode.What brings together most movies of Lingusamy is the charismatic macho resilience, resuscitating the vigour of all his heroes, in managing tough situations,with tougher give backs.
The most striking potential of Lingusamy's creativity is his natural understanding of different situations and multi cultural family backgrounds.His narration of events is always blended with abundant positive energy that would make even the most frustrated mindset to revive lost hopes and build afresh,the falling spirit of individuals as well as institutions, such as family or business.
It is true that like many other film makers,Lingusamy has also seen failures of his creative ventures like Ji,and Bheema which created a lot of expectations before their release dates, but came out as terrible dampeners.Surpassing these failures,he has also produced notable films like Kumki,Goli Soda,Manja Pai and Rajini Murugan. Lingusamy is as resilient as his heroes are and is capable of registering winning streaks after many a fall. Ligusamy's lingering shows are made up of vitalizing ingredients, that would make the audience cling to his narration with unfailing involvement and joy of film watching.
================0===================
