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**softy54534** · 09-27-2006, 08:00 AM

More on Barathiraja.

Groucho,
Agreed with you ..But BR himself told that If NT wouldn't agree to do this role ,he would have droped the movie itself ,since he made the story with NT in mind ,and the title 'Muthal Mariyathai' is not just for the story ,it is BR's muthal mariyathai to NT.

And it was one helluva collaboration. As Groucho mentions Ilayaraja and Vairamuthu are in fantastic form elevating the movie to an all time high. The flute piece when Ranjani's body is recovered and the stone liftin theme

still ring in my ears. Vairamuthu richly deserved his national award for 'poongAtru thirumbumA'. And he had some more to spare with the simple and beautiful 'vetti vEr vAsam/vidalai puLLai nEsam'. The Vairamuthu-Ilayaraja split is one of the most unfortunate for TFM

The loser,IMO, was IR.

IMO, Bagyaraj's ThAvaNi Kanavugal tried to milk the respect that NT's presence commanded. Amongst his later films, Muthal MariyAdhai and ThEvar Magan are the only movies that brought out Sivaji's genius. Muthal MariyAthai is a departure from Sivaji's dialogue intensive style, with BR relying playing heavily (sometimes a tad too heavily) to his strengths.

I remember ManObala (who was BR's asst) mentioning once that SivAji jibing BR: "unakku thAn dialogue-E pudikkAdhE. en dialogue-ai thookki kuLathula pOduve, poovule pOduve

"
The restraint in words serves to make the dialogues (when they are spoken) even more powerful. Though it is is tough to quote just one instance in the film to highlight this, I'll quote the panchAyat scene where the townsfolk are questioning SivAji about his alleged affair.

We arrive late in the panchAyat scene (the previous scene was SivAji, about to enter the house when he hears his wife lamenting loud inside). Everyone starts off a sentence and silenced by SivAji's glance (an undecipherable yet forbidding mix). The scene ends with SivAji announcing out loud that their accusation is correct.

At the end of that the visuals move back (in cuts) from a close shot to a relatively wide shot. At each stage we see the crowd thinning out. And in the last one SivAji is all alone.

It is only in the next scene where he tells Radha : " 'kkALi pOkkaththu pOi sAvadiyile thoongra payAluvalellAm kELvi kEttupputtAingya". It doesn't even sound like he is explaining himself (though he is). His anger, pride (even though he is feeling penitent now) is brought out so beautifully because the dialogue comes one scene late.

09-27-2006, 08:00 AM	#4
softy54534 Join Date Apr 2007 Posts 5,457 Senior Member	More on Barathiraja. Groucho, Agreed with you ..But BR himself told that If NT wouldn't agree to do this role ,he would have droped the movie itself ,since he made the story with NT in mind ,and the title 'Muthal Mariyathai' is not just for the story ,it is BR's muthal mariyathai to NT. And it was one helluva collaboration. As Groucho mentions Ilayaraja and Vairamuthu are in fantastic form elevating the movie to an all time high. The flute piece when Ranjani's body is recovered and the stone liftin theme still ring in my ears. Vairamuthu richly deserved his national award for 'poongAtru thirumbumA'. And he had some more to spare with the simple and beautiful 'vetti vEr vAsam/vidalai puLLai nEsam'. The Vairamuthu-Ilayaraja split is one of the most unfortunate for TFM The loser,IMO, was IR. IMO, Bagyaraj's ThAvaNi Kanavugal tried to milk the respect that NT's presence commanded. Amongst his later films, Muthal MariyAdhai and ThEvar Magan are the only movies that brought out Sivaji's genius. Muthal MariyAthai is a departure from Sivaji's dialogue intensive style, with BR relying playing heavily (sometimes a tad too heavily) to his strengths. I remember ManObala (who was BR's asst) mentioning once that SivAji jibing BR: "unakku thAn dialogue-E pudikkAdhE. en dialogue-ai thookki kuLathula pOduve, poovule pOduve " The restraint in words serves to make the dialogues (when they are spoken) even more powerful. Though it is is tough to quote just one instance in the film to highlight this, I'll quote the panchAyat scene where the townsfolk are questioning SivAji about his alleged affair. We arrive late in the panchAyat scene (the previous scene was SivAji, about to enter the house when he hears his wife lamenting loud inside). Everyone starts off a sentence and silenced by SivAji's glance (an undecipherable yet forbidding mix). The scene ends with SivAji announcing out loud that their accusation is correct. At the end of that the visuals move back (in cuts) from a close shot to a relatively wide shot. At each stage we see the crowd thinning out. And in the last one SivAji is all alone. It is only in the next scene where he tells Radha : " 'kkALi pOkkaththu pOi sAvadiyile thoongra payAluvalellAm kELvi kEttupputtAingya". It doesn't even sound like he is explaining himself (though he is). His anger, pride (even though he is feeling penitent now) is brought out so beautifully because the dialogue comes one scene late.
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