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Why is discussion forum biased against KB?

Topic started by Prabhu (@ 156.153.255.243) on Wed Oct 8 14:46:50 EDT 2003.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

This isnt meant to be another comparison thread but just an opinion going by the comments in the various threads. Its surprising why KB never gets his due for his innovations and instead becomes targets for several trivial issues. Why are so many lesser directors allowed to get away so easily and their glaring deficiencies neglected?

Manirathinam, for all his asthetic touches to film-making, is many a time found wanting in ideas. Since Nayagan of 1988, there hasnt been much change in his themes. Add a layer of dialogs to some BBC documentary and you get a mani movie!
Mani preys on the helplessness of the viewer to negative social issues like terrorism. Beyond that nothing much!
I wonder how many are familiar with The Wonder Years, a popular serial that ran from 1988-93 in US and 93-98 in India on Star Plus. Just click here for the transcripts of some 100 episodes http://home.t-online.de/home/reynders/wy/wy-trans.htm
Mani's style of dialogs and interactions are very much similar to TWY. Click on any episode to verify. Mani was heavily inspired!!

KB is often blamed for his anti-climactic endings. But then, to expect a "lived-happily-ever-after" ending in his movies is to only insult his intellect. The rest of his mistakes, probably every other director does. When it comes to interactions between the characters of his movies, KB is unmatched. Nobody even comes close.
Interesting situations and interplays, KB is the master of weaving those magical plots.
Though Thalapathi and Mouna Ragam get my vote for alltime greatest film-making, anyday, KB alone satisfies.

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Responses:

• Old responses
  
• From: Vatsa (@ 160.83.32.14) on: Thu Oct 9 16:04:01 EDT 2003
  
  Hi,
  
  I am partly against KB because he makes things overdramatic sometimes. If you watch his movies you will find alot of childish scenes like conveying something by writing in the hand, cap etc., unnecessarily, like in the case of Vaname Ellai, UMT, SB, MUV .. which are very good movies apart from those scenes or gets into his favorite subject of confusing relations and relationship. He is off cinema because he cannot make a movie other than family genre for sometime and those kind of movies will be watched by SunTV or Jaya TV viewers just a week after its release. He has made it big in TV because he can attract someone 30+ men and women. I should accept though he made some good serials and his company produced a couple of good movies and serials (like Vidathu Karuppu).
  
  Mani is the best we have had since Mahendran. These two directors are my favorites. Mahendran outbeats MR though because he is one of the most thought provoking and natural director, who cares for his ideas and MR movies before Thiruda Thiruda had poor and childish dialogues and MR trademark dialogue like "enakku vaapa venum", "enakku anjali venum" and so on. He has come out of it. Another MR mistake is Iruvar with Suhasini dialogues. She made a mess of the whole movie which was also messed by Censor and MR.
  
  But I really miss Mahendran KB, BM, Bhagyaraj (not his latest movies) directors who actually give some good movies .. which will have some originality and intelligence instead of making movies like Saami, Dum and others.
  
  Vatsa
  
  
• From: Ramki (@ 68.69.214.170) on: Thu Oct 9 19:04:45 EDT 2003
  
  Apart from mullum malarum,udhiripookaL and nenjathai kiLLaadhe what are the other good films by Mahendran?
  (His other movies being
  azhagiya kaNNe,pootaadha pootukaL,anbuLLa malare,kannukku mai ezhudhu,jhonny,metty,nandu and oor panjaayathu)
  
  
• From: MADDY (@ 203.94.226.73) on: Thu Oct 9 21:32:46 EDT 2003
  
  see guys......mani is the best bcos he thinks very different from Tamil directors means he doesent have a regionalised thinking..........i think that is a good enuf character to put him on top....... he is also very subtle in his depictions whereas KB doesent know wat is subtleness.....
  
  
• From: Vatsa (@ 160.83.32.14) on: Fri Oct 10 08:31:09 EDT 2003
  
  Ramki,
  
  Mahendran has handled different subjects without any stereotype. The best thing about Mahendran is that he does not have his "stamp" in his movies as you associate with KB where he has all the konashtais in the movie so that we all can know he is the director of the movie or in some cases MR (especially in his earlier movies) which is unnecessary for a movie. Mani is the best we have right now and I would rate him the second best ...next to Mahendran. My idea of a movie is that it need not have a story or a standard theme or a message, it can even be a narration of an event or an incident. If its done without distortion or compromise and cleverly handled then it makes it a good movie than just have some songs for the sake of the songs and some sentimental scenes. Mani has made movies without any of this exaggerated like alaipayuthey, mouna ragam or Kannathil Muthamittal but there were movies like thalapathi, Iruvar and his first two movies which were not exactly the case I mentioned.
  
  Vatsa
  
  
• From: C~P (@ 61.1.200.100) on: Fri Oct 10 12:34:00 EDT 2003
  
  In my opinion KB is a genius....MR is also in the picture but no where near KB
  
  KB relied on his story,screenplay and dialogues which were great addons to his directing abilities...he can carry an entire movie on his own shoulders...this i feel ONLY KB posesses in the TF industry...his endings mayb crappy according to some but they were very different..what the audience think never happens in his movies(during the entire movie)...that's a great aid in sustaining the people's interest and that's the reason he doesn't need much support from the others...people don't find it boring if something different happens
  
  as an extension to the above, he was one person who never relied on THE heroes....he did not require a Sivji or an MGR to make it big....he could do it with Nagesh or Major SundaraRajan or Gemini or for that matter anybody...this clearly shows his strength
  
  equally great were his abilities to get the best out of people....he is perhaps the only person in TF industry to have UTILISED Nagesh....he did not see Nagesh as a comedian alone but as a character artist which nobody else did....rather they did not have the capacity to make people accept out of the ordinary things....like it is normal in the industry for comedians to do comedy roles alone....unless u have a genius to back you up, it becomes difficult to reach out to people....this KB did very succesfully....he was able to make people accept his cast no matter how absurd it may seem to others
  
  and ofcourse his finds....Rajinikanth,Kamal,Chiranjeevi,Nagesh,Vivek and an entire array of female introductions....almost all of them were able to make it big....perhaps an ability to identify talent...who wud have thot that a 'pichaikara' looking RK wud rule the cine industry?
  
  and then ofcourse as many people have said his portrayal of women....there have been both extremes but what one tends to remember is a Sindhu (Sindhu Bhairavi) or a Kavitha(Aval Oru Thodargathai) or a Nandhini(Manathil Uruthi Vendum) and not an Arangetram Pramila...he was the only director who was capable of handling such subjects...that is something unique and doing it in a male dominant society and succeeding is something awesome
  
  but despite all these there were minuses....he does get cranky at sometimes....like introducing himself in a totally stupid role or something like that...that is an extreme measure to try and be different that never worked out with him! :-) .... and yeah there were films like "Poi Kaala Kuthirai" which had me surprised as to how KB had done such a film....all these are tiny in front of his huge talent...he may not have shown a sunrise to show that it is morning, but those were areas he dint concentrate much on....he wud have rather shown it with a Suprabatham or something....as said that is the effect of stage dramas....thats how he tends to think because thats what can be done on stage...one can however never deny that he had the wit to convey stuff humorously and in a different manner (like updating the News on a BlackBoard in BamaVijayam or showing a Tulasi plant withering and dying out, in the same movie)
  
  MR...well i dont say he is hopeless....for i like his movies too...MR knows how to make stuff attractive by using technical aspects effectively and basing his story on the 'most happening' things....MR requires a useful hero,great music,great picturisation...that is something Balachander did not need....he could do anything with anybody....and offlate MR is obsessed with terrorism which i dont understand why! ... and yeah ppl may say KB was obsessed with the 'rendu pondatti' stuff, but that wasnt always THE base for his subject...mayb that was just a sentiment! ;-)
  
  watv said, IMHO the versatility of KB is still unmatched
  
  
• From: sabesan (@ 12.29.89.6) on: Fri Oct 10 13:19:17 EDT 2003
  
  C~P - agreed with the points - but i assume you are talking about KB who was 10 (or 15) years back right ? Not the one who took Anjali, Parthallae paravaasaam movies right ?
  
  Was the song "Aaadi Adaangum vaazhkaiaadaaaa" - the first for Nagesh and KB in the movies ? IF yes, they had big guts to start on such a "sogamaaana" song, and then go on to capture TF....
  
  Mani was very good in MounaRagaam.... also, i don't think Mani is obsessed with terrorism only "offlate"..... remember his first movie (tamil) - Pagal Nilavu - that had Satyaraj playing the role of a Dadhaa.... then the famous Nayagaan.... these were not "terrorism" directly - but were kind of "supporting" their acts....
  
  
• From: Aswathama (@ 68.58.124.250) on: Fri Oct 10 16:08:39 EDT 2003
  
  Nayagan was heavy inspiration of God Father trilogy. MR continued stealing scenes from God father to make up his movies.
  
  
• From: V (@ 24.59.96.237) on: Fri Oct 10 18:02:54 EDT 2003
  
  Aswathama
  
  what about the claim that Nayakan is a true story of varadaraja mudaliar the south indian don who ruled Bombay
  
  
• From: tigger (@ 68.78.137.90) on: Fri Oct 10 22:25:49 EDT 2003
  
  come on Aswathama. Nayagan was a classic. The fact that it resembled Godfather somewhat shouldn't detract from its greatness.
  
  Maddy, recognition outside ones domain/turf is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for greatness. I am sorry, but this kind of thinking is pretty pathetic.
  
  
• From: C~P (@ 202.9.148.181) on: Sat Oct 11 00:00:58 EDT 2003
  
  sabesan,
  yup...not talking about the KB of the recent times....he wud definitely not take a chance in TF after PP
  however...'Kalki', one of his recent films was good i feel....i enjoyed the film very much and i dinno y it did not enjoy that much success....Kalki had the KB stamp
  
  and abt that Nagesh song....am not well versed with those stuff since it is very very old.....i have a faint idea which tell me that Nagesh dies in that movie...Neer Kumazhi? ... i really don remember
  
  if u say MR has been doing indircet terrorism subjects, then dont u think he has left a large area unexplored....that is what i like about KB, his versatility
  
  

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