Readers Write In #729: Vaazhai
By Aadesh Ramaswamy
I would like to start this piece, by stating the pressure that Vaazhai exerted on me and hence the pressure I exerted on it…
When BR’s review came, the line “The buildup to the climax is simply extraordinary. This is one of the best passages of cinema I have seen in recent times”, it created a level of anxiety in me… Courtesy of Krishnan, whose short film was the guest of the last “Amateur Artist” section, a discussion arose between us regarding the anxiety that we feel while writing a script… So couple that with this line by BR, my anxiety was at an all time high, especially because I was making my own short film… And naturally, my expectation for Vaazhai also rose, despite my best resistance to the increase (I didn’t even read BR’s review fully, just the opening line)…
But now that I have seen Vaazhai today, I realised that the expectation I had for Vaazhai increased unknowingly because I had just seen Kottukkaali today… Kottukkaali in the morning and Vaazhai in the afternoon (both packed screenings btw so that was nice)… I would say I didn’t enjoy Vaazhai to the extent that I enjoyed Kottukkaali… And that might be because I subconsciously expected a film similar to Kottukkaali…
As a result, I didn’t like the extremely music heavy climatic portions, which were overpowered by the images… I did feel they extended their stay a bit much, like the Jallianwala Bagh massacre scene in Sardar Udham (though many say that that was the intention)… But other than that,… What a film…
This is probably the kind of films we should be getting from our mainstream films on a regular basis. Instead, what happens is that, the rare arrival of such brilliant films seems to be “celebrated” as a Barbenheimer clash…
The most fascinating thing for me was the tonal shifts. We know they will happen, but even then, when they eventually happen, Mari takes it in a way that’s…. interesting…
A particular sequence involves the loss of a cow because the lead character, Sivanaindhan, goes to a shop with his favourite teacher, Poongodi (played by a brilliant and soft-hearted Nikhila Vimal, who seems to be the character that gives solace despite our worst crimes). We know when he goes with her that the cow is gonna get lost, because his mother had warned her about not losing it…
But even then, when he goes away with the teacher, Mari keeps a song and creates this beautiful sequence filled with the beauty of innocence of childhood and the very innocent love that Sivanaindha has for Poongodi… The way he looks at her with innocence, with the shyness apt for the age is the beating heart of the film…
Just like how Siva and his friend Sekhar are Rajni and Kamal fans respectively, and often call each other their respective characters name. Siva is Baasha Bhai and Sekhar is Guna. When Siva makes a plan to skip “kaaisemmal”, he pricks his leg with a thorn… When he asks Sekhar to do the same, Sekhar says, as a Kamal fan, his acting will be enough to convince his mother about his pain…
The payoff for this scene involves a punchline about Kamal films flopping while Rajni films do great nos. at the box office…
This very real-ness is the factor that mainly helps make the first half so impactful… When we see that a kid like Sivanaindhan is made to do “kaaisemmal” in a banana plantation (taking the banana loads), we tear up because it isn’t fair… Even his mother knows this. But she isn’t doing this to earn some extra money. She says “He needs to be able to survive in a world where I’m not there”. And when we hear it, we have goosebumps because of the way its said and the intention. But when this same decision of sending to work results in a calamity (on the exact day the mother tells the reason for sending him to work), even the strong-willed mother isn’t able to handle it anymore… The writing touch is beautiful. A mother who wishes to teach survival inadvertently causes the death of her child…
Till the interval, there is a constant humour and serious tonal shift which works quite well in helping us understand Sivan’s life… But as the film progresses to the climax, the tone suddenly becomes too emotionally heavy, which feels jarring. Also as mentioned, the score oversells the scenes so much that after a point, the impact created by the image gets lost…
Also, I did feel a certain aimlessness in the film i.e. I did not know exactly what the film was aiming to do…
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, is quite “structureless” (for a QT film at least), but the opening scene tells us that it is going to be about Rick and Cliff. But Vaazhai begins with the life of Sivanaindhan and goes on (somewhat aimlessly) but held together by the humour between him and his friend Sekhar or the problems that the workers in the banana plantation face. But as it goes on to the climax, it begins to tumble somewhat… It is to Maari’s credit as a director that we are still invested in what happens…
Another interesting thing, is the way he uses a very pop culturally famous song (Panjumittai Selai Katti) as a backdrop for a montage of scenes involving Sivanaindhan doing a dance rehearsal for a school function with Poongodi, scenes which are intercut with the romance between Sivanaindhan’s sister Vembu and Kani (played by Kalaiyarasan)….
Similar to this sequence is a sequence in the beginning of the film where a rock song (“Oru Oorula Raja”) is played against the backdrop of the images of workers in the banana plantation being exploited in the name of work.. I didn’t know how to react to this….
A rock song (AFAIK, not fully sure if its rock)? As a background for images of suffering? To my knowledge, rock is something associated with a positive emotion like happiness, celebration etc and to see it being played against sadness surprised me… I would like if someone could point out, as to how that marriage of sound and image worked…
What did Vaazhai tell to me? I do not know.. But it was a life that told me that, where there is suffering, happiness can definitely be found.
Just like the momentary happiness that I get while watching the sufferings of Sivanaindhan and being sad when his sufferings came to an end…
