Week 3, Monday evening, a show that was houseful. Deservedly so. I let the recency bias settle in, and am convinced this might be Top 5 this year. This one came out of syllabus.
The audience clapped at the end of the show. I did too. I loved this film.
Let’s take guard
This is how we open: a couple of high school kids are on their way to the ground to play cricket for their town’s star cricket team. The team’s captain has invited them to be a part and this fellow, Anbu, is over the moon. Once there, the other team’s player identify him as the “colony” professor’s son. I was slightly put off at this point because personally, films around this theme are not for me.
But something about “colony” took me back to a prose from my 8th or 9th grade english text book. In there, one person asks a boy on his way from school ,”Thambi, which street do you live in.” This was my first introduction to Caste and the ways in which people around try to figure out yours. Why do that was a question I had at the time.
It’s a question I still have to this day. But let’s circle back to this in a bit because so does the movie. It doesn’t dwell on this track throughout.
Swing for the fences
Now, if I say IPL, the only thing that’s going to come to anyone’s mind is MSD. Atleast in the recent years. One of the reasons for that grandeur and aura being augmented is the Chepauk DJ who’s been blasting massy theme songs every time the big man walks into take guard. I’ve always related this to entrance themes that play for fighters and wrestlers as part of the experience.
But, it’s also a customary incident that happens along the rural belts for domestic tournament when a star players makes his way to the field.
We have our own Gethu (on the opposite team), being greeted to Captain Vijaykanth’s songs every time he’s out there. This, is how you carry out a tribute tastefully by the way.
We have our two main characters teeing off with this!
Trash Talks and Fan Warfare
A house that’s painted in yellow out of love for CSK. Best friends of said star players who wouldn’t let anyone one up their friends. And ofcourse, self esteem that escalates to ego when it’s a comment on your game.
The love for the game at times makes you do stuff that’s batshit crazy. I find it relatable for having done all these.
And this is how conflict breeds. Anbu claiming he could get Gethu out in a single over. And Gethu writing him off calling him a “chinna payyan”. If there’s one thing I know, tipping points for egos takes only a small nudge.
We get our face off between the team staple Gethu and Anbu. Quite a few years after their first ever encounter. We got the Pollard-MS face-off between the two. The thing about this scene was, you knew it’s coming. And yet it delivered. Kudos to the writers and the performers for pulling it off.
Oh before I forget, there were two more points to note about Gethu. One, the first ball is always defended in the name of God. And the last ball of the innings, he always gets out. Now he does this as the opponents celebrating his wicket that they were so desperate to get all innings gives him one of kind of a high! Enna manushan ya!
Who’s who of Measuring Dicks!
Anbu is the first and only bowler to have ever troubled Gethu with his batting. This, is not a problem at all. But it becomes one when they both realize that Anbu is in love with Gethu’s daughter. This revelation scene was comically done with yet another song playing in the background which I don’t wanna spoil xD.
Yet. They both get to face off again. And this time, Gethu takes him to the cleaners. But Anbu one-ups Gethu in a cleverly written scene and gets to become the player of the match.
Can you hear the music?
In wrestling or fights, the loser is usually on the floor left to the see the lights. In hear, Gethu was forced to listen to Anbu’s music blaring on the speakers and now, things get physical!
Damm guys, I’ve just reached the interval sequence. I have not even touched upon the love tracks and the women subplot.
Both of those were translated extremely well on screen. In particular, I could feel the pain of a new love fading and the cries of an old ones absence. Anything more I write will directly spoil the experience. So I’ll wrap with just a few more bits.
Why’d I like the film?
“Maadhiri.” That’s the problem. (I’ll leave it at that). It’s where we circle back to what I’d told earlier.
The clarity that Durga had when it came to Anbu (a lost breed of relationships, or rather a rare breed I’d say)
All the references to cricket and the characterization.
I can keep going with more stuff like this, but, like Kaali Venkat says in this film, – Pudichuruku, adhan karanom.
