Comments on: Fascination with Kerala

By: sitaji

sitaji — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:30:43 +0000

You know Richard, I can’t imagine how great life would be with Tamil, Telugu, Mayalayam and Kannada language films translated into English. I ‘ve pleaded for this on the WWW:

http://bollywoodfoodclub.wordpress.com/2007/12/24/video-of-the-day-munbe-vaa-from-sillunu-oru-kaadhal-2006/

Glad you’re trying to watch “Autograph” which I was able to see with English subtitles. I found that one at a local library.

Thanks for the tip on http://livetamilmovie.blogspot.com/. I’ll check that out soon.

“Veerapandiya Kattabomman” sounds great as does “Uthama Puthiran”.

I think Tamil and Telugu films are movie meth, and I will get so hooked I will kiss my current life goodbye. Just get me a small trailer somewhere, in which I can watch movies, and more movies, and once and a while I’ll eat, and rarely bathe. Just watching, and watching.

By: Richard S.

Richard S. — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:11:05 +0000

Hi, Sitaji. Thank you for all these recommendations. The trip to Kerala is actually a tempting idea, but things are kind of uncertain now so I’ll have to see what my financial and employment situations are a little later on. However, the price looks surprisingly good compared to what I had expected (going to have to see if there’s a catch somewhere).

I haven’t seen “Bombay,” unfortunately. I did happen to stumble upon a copy of “Autograph” over here:

http://thiraivirunthu.com/video/autograph/

I’m watching it on and off right now, and it does look very nice. However, I think I would do better watching this film with the benefit of subtitles.

I have found a couple of sites that offer Tamil films online for free. The main one that I’ve been going to is:

http://livetamilmovie.blogspot.com/

One film that I saw there had subtitles; most don’t. Nonetheless, some of these are such a pleasure to watch – especially with all the dance scenes, etc. – that I can enjoy them fully even without understanding a word that’s being said.

One such movie is “Uthama Puthiran” (1958)… I got some good plot summaries, so I could more or less figure out what was going on (it was the “Man in the Iron Mask”)… And the singing and dancing scenes made it an absolute joy to watch. With Padmini and her sisters and Sivaji Ganesan and even a lively scene with Helen… I’m sure you understand…

There was another one that I watched, without subtitles, that was quite grim: “Veerapandiya Kattabomman” (again with Padmini and Sivaji Ganesan). When you mentioned, above, how some films in southern India didn’t need to have happy endings, I couldn’t help thinking of the ending of this one, when the hero says his last lines with his head inside a noose.

By: sitaji

sitaji — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:57:17 +0000

Richard,
Roaming around the web and remembered you’d posted about Kerala. Excellent reasons for your fascination, especially the Padmini justification! I’ve been meaning to comment on this and while surfing through good golly miss bolly’s page,

http://www.missbolly.com/?p=202#comments

I saw someone recommend a reputable travel group and I clicked here:
http://www.intrepidtravel.com

and found this and wanted to show you:

http://www.intrepidtravel.com./trips/HKS

I have loved what I’ve seen of Kerala from the movies. Watch “Autograph” if you haven’t already

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autograph_%28film%29

and you’ll love Kerala even more. Obviously we know life isn’t as it is in the movies, or isn’t it?

Also about Kerala, I recall reading, I believe in “Bollywood , A History,” by Mihir Bose, that southern Indian cinema had different tastes due to the high literacy rates. As a result, there was a time when movies had different endings made for the south, because the more literate folks weren’t as keen on the happy endings that went over well in Bombay. Interesting.

And speaking of south India, have you ever seen “Bombay?”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombay_(film)

Part of the film is set in seaside village in Tamil Nadu.