Thursday, July 7, 2016

Iraivi - An Earnest Ode to the Goddesses

Riding very high on the back to back successes of the supernatural-con 'Pizza' and the gangster- comedy 'Jigarthanda', Karthik Subbaraj's 'Iravi' was, undoubtedly, one of the hotly anticipated movies of 2016. He has carved a very fine niche for himself as an indie director who goes against the mainstream masala routines that regularly hits the theatres on every Friday and most of them doesn't even see the daylight, literally and figuratively, by Saturday morning! Does Karthik's 'Goddess' satisfy the hunger of her famished devotees for an objectively good film?  

With the exceptions of 'Vaali' and 'Khushi', SJ Suryah has been hurling himself headlong on the slope of steep descent especially after he chose himself to cast in his movies. By the end of 'Iraivi', I was like where-was-this-SJ Suryah-hiding-all this while. My God..Okay..Goddess! Beyond the shadow of modicum of a doubt, SJ Suryah, as the struggling and hard drunkard, is the show-stealer amidst a competitive showcase of fine acting display by all the major characters in this close to 180 minute very long story. Be it the scenes where he speaks with Yazhini or where he reforms into a teetotaler or the mind-blowing climax performance where he calls up Yazhini and says that he doesn't love her but only his drinks and goes on a soliloquy about the may-haves and could-haves, Suryah has given the performance of his lifetime by portraying and really living as a continual alcoholic who has his issues with his movie's producer and how it has deeply affected his relationship with his wife and others. His hysterical spectrum of pain and anger, his calm demeanor when he is reformed and the climax - Take a bow, Suryah, Ji !

As Michael, Vijay Sethupathi has rocked the scenes by being consistently unfaithful to his wife,Ponni, on more than one occasion - going behind her back to Pooja or sentenced to imprisonment for killing the producer in a fit of mad rage or his naivety for trusting Jagan or his reactions when his own daughter calls him 'uncle'. His confrontational scene with Jagan in the pre-climax sequence where he tremendously holds up his boiling anger and slowly walks towards the door but erupts uncontrollably when Jagan makes the slightest of threats to him to treat Ponni well which showed the intensity with which he had seen through the role as Michael. It was very much reminiscent of the famous 'Manmadhan' scene where 'Mottai' Madhan breaks open Seenu's head but here it is in a much more powerful and aggressive way. In Michael's case as well, we see he wants to get reformed after he is in jail and wants to spend quality time with his wife and kid but by certain quirk of fate, he is met with the sad end.

Just as I was thinking that the National Award winner Bobby Simha was being more than under utilized, Karthik Subbaraj gives us a meaty subplot in the second half. I was literally wowed and shell-shocked when he makes a reference to Kanagi during his college lecture. That was one of the most hard hitting dialogues I had encountered and which I am sure would have created a big disturbance in real life had such a highly forward and progressive dialogue been written 15 years ago. I was literally clapping hard for the barrage of tirade about how the women are being toyed, thrown around, oppressed and repressed by the men for centuries together when he was telling his mother for his justification that he intends to marry Ponni because she doesn't deserve a person as bad as Michael. As things get slowly unfurled at the fag of the film, it is revealed how he had schemed against Michael to be with Ponni and give her the life which she deserves but is pulled into the abyss of his own death through his own actions.

Hey..This is Iraivi...and You have spoken mostly about the douchebags in great detail....I can see, or hear, your mind voice magnified to infinity times! Yeah yeah...The last is always always and specially reserved for the best.

Persevering Patience. Exemplary Endurance. Gritty Grit. Dogged Determination. Fighting Fortitude. Resounding Resilience. Tremendous Tenacity but ultimately Total Betrayal. Dreams Shattered. Ambitions Broken and finally, Silent Resignation and Acceptance. Ponni's and Yazhini's life symbolizes the real and true life of millions of women across the world who are subjected to the atrocities of man's whims and fancies to satisfy their gigantic male ego. Anjali as Ponni has pulled the rabbit out of the hat through her stunning performance in her complex character.

Kamalini Mukherjee as Yazhini actually left me in tears at certain portions of the movie especially when Yazhini still loved Arul, trusted and hugged him tightly when he said he has turned a new leaf even on the day of her engagement. That showed her intense true love for him. Likewise, for Ponni, I was giving a resounding clap in the theatres when Vijay Sethupathi asks her whether she had slept with Jagan and the way she resolutely responds to his distrustful and distasteful doubt.

As we are on the topic of response, no one can take anything away from Pooja. She comes in for a very few scenes but leaves an impactful impression on the audience through her immodest, brazen and unflinching portrayal as Malar when she declares that she wanted Michael only for her own carnal pleasures and even had the gall to tell Vijay Sethupathi right in front of his face when he comes to ask her for alliance. Karthik Subbaraj has really created a very strong bold character for the Tamil audience - the likes of which has not been seen for quite some time.

The intelligence of the director is out there in the open when he beautifully used rain as recurring trope for freedom as well as for restriction from the point of view of the different women. Also, the way he showed the clapping monkey toy to tumble down to explain how the subsequent scenes were going to turn out really made me to sit in awe and admire Karthik Subbaraj's Iraivi though the movie was constantly punctuated with alcohol, profanity and blood.

In the end, this TRIDEVI saga really punches you in the face with a heavy message to the society in a very subtle manner.

PS:
Though the review is a bit overdue, I really wanted to pen ,sorry, type down my thoughts to wholeheartedly acknowledge and appreciate the gargantuan intellectual effort by Karthik Subbaraj.  

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