Pa. Ranjith-directed “Thangalaan” is a clear example of how an impressive cast cannot salvage a film with a superficial and overplayed storyline. The film received praise only from the leftist mouthpiece The News Minute (TNM), even as noted reviewers like “Blue Sattai” Maaran and Baradwaj Rangan slammed it for its lacklustre storytelling, overbearing ideological messaging, and desperate reliance on the success of the KGF movie series.

Despite the success of Ranjith’s earlier works, such as “Madras” and “Sarpatta Parambarai,” which garnered acclaim for their engagement with Dravidian politics, “Thangalaan” was panned for its artificial elements, prolonged pacing, and overemphasis on the oppressor-oppressed narrative.

Unlike the KGF series, this film focuses less on the storyline and more on Pa Ranjith’s political and ideological views, leaving viewers disappointed and disengaged.

KGF Theme Repeated

Since the release of “KGF – Chapter 1” in 2018, which captivated audiences with its portrayal of the Kolar Gold Fields and the oppression faced by the downtrodden, the film set a high standard for gripping narratives for epic heroism and filmmaking.

Even though KGF was a “masala film” with a simple storyline, the characters, screenplay, editing, and music made it a grand visual treat. The two chapters of KGF became one of the most celebrated pan-Indian films. The film was also sans political and ideological virtue-signalling, which made it appeal to audiences across various sections of society.

This success of KGF seems to have irked Pa. Ranjith, whose desperation to peddle his stagnant narratives with the oppressor-oppressed trope set is visible in Thangalaan. Unfortunately for him, despite the star power of versatile actor Chiyaan Vikram, the film—promoted as a period action-adventure—is nothing short of torture. The film’s artificial elements and prolonged pacing left fans disappointed and bored, resulting in a lacklustre reception that failed to engage audiences as hoped.

Thangalaan Plot

During the British rule, Thangalaan, a formidable tribal leader, becomes embroiled in a conflict with a mysterious sorceress after aiding a British general in a search for gold in his village. Thangalaan and his tribe ally with Lord Clement, a British officer, to unearth gold hidden within their community. However, their pursuit incites the fury of Aarathi, a feared and enigmatic sorceress.

As misfortunes befall the villagers, local legends warn that “seeking gold here invites death.” Thangalaan resolves to confront Aarathi and end the chaos. Despite eerie tales of monsters haunting the region, the British officer remains resolute in his quest for gold. Thangalaan, believing Aarathi is the root of the disturbances, commits himself to stopping her.

The film draws inspiration from the actual historical events surrounding the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), which were exploited and plundered by the British two centuries ago, leading to the oppression of the local population.

As the movie unfolds, you can’t help but notice the parallels to Director Bala’s “Paradesi”—from the costumes, hairdos and dialogue to the shared feelings of dread. Just like in a Bala film, innocent, trusting characters are drawn into a horror-filled situation. However, the only distinction is Ranjith striped away Bala’s signature raw horror. While it may seem unfair to compare this subpar film of an average filmmaker to Bala’s masterful storytelling, it is essential to point out the magnitude of the difference.

Strong cast in a weak plot

As usual, Vikram delivers a commendable performance alongside Malavika Mohanan, Parvathy Thiruvothu, and Pasupathy, who all contribute to the narrative. Despite a strong cast, the movie falls short on thematic depth and feels artificial. It lacks emotional impact, suggesting a disconnect between its ambitious ideas and audience engagement. Characterization is underdeveloped, especially regarding Thangalaan’s connection to the folk tale, which weakens the emotional core.

Furthermore, the shifting focus between adventure, folklore, and magical realism diluted the narrative. They resulted in a less cohesive story and diminished emotional resonance. The philosophical themes of material greed and true wealth don’t resonate fully due to the mix of diverse elements, such as Malavika’s mysticism, which may clash with the film’s political aspirations. The film also struggles with pacing and length, feeling like different short stories stretched into a feature film. A 2.5-hour film feels like 2.5 decades of torment.

Pa Ranjith’s Worn-Out Rhetoric

Ranjith introduces his overused, unidimensional ideology, stretching it like an endless rubber band of oppression, suppression, exploitation, and suffering. Instead of empathizing with the sufferings onscreen, the audience suffers a little too much while watching the film.

Everyone knows Pa. Ranjith’s ideologies, which he frequently shares on social media, often igniting controversy. Yet, in his films aimed at a wider audience, his desperation to drive home his ideological and political viewpoints goes overboard the storyboard.

The ambiguity of typical characters like the Brahmin supervisor and the British supremacist creates a lack of clarity in the film’s conflict, seemingly used to critique the Brahmin caste. The usual Dravidianist stereotyping of Brahmins as vile and cunning, de-Hindufying village deities, references to the Varna system, Vishnu, Buddha, Saint Ramanuja, Christianity and Islamist tyrant Tipu Sultan, all of which seem ungrounded, leaves us puzzled about their relevance to the story. Pa. Ranjith can’t sleep without repeatedly punching the same bag.

When Telugu cinema elevated the level of VFX, Kollywood films like Thangalaan refused to catch up. The visual effects in Thangalaan are pathetic, to say the least. Pa. Ranjith fans might call it marvellous, but we can’t blame them for accepting whatever is thrown their way, as they’re clouded by bias.

Critics

Serious film critics—from Baradwaj Rangan to Blue Sattai’ Maaran—have called out the shoddy, nonsensical filmmaking in their Thangalaan reviews.

“Instead of making a film about the bloody history of KGF, Ranjith, in an attempt to portray himself as some genius, has conveyed his caste and religious stance as usual indirectly by applying lead and rolling,” Maran candidly remarked.

Baradwaj Rangan wrote, “We see these things happening, but these things don’t cross the eyes and enter the heart. This is an emotionally distant film, and we feel nothing when people die, are oppressed, or end up betrayed. Everything is generic, at the surface level.”

TNM, on the other hand, published an “unpaid” review that glorifies the film as a masterpiece, with the author simping for Pa. Ranjith.

Ranjith proved worthy of a filmmaker in ‘Madras,’ a political film that traverses the landscape of Dravidian politics. Although his other film, ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’, peddled Dravidian propaganda, it is a good film with a lucid and gripping storyline.

But to exalt an unworthy film with 5/5 stars despite so many shortcomings shows how hollow these leftists are. They expose the extent to which they go to bolster their ilk. The leftist cabal has created a halo around Pa. Ranjith, and even critiquing his film on its merits is considered taboo.

Satheesh is a political writer. 

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The post ‘Blue Sattai’ Maaran To Baradwaj Rangan Call Out Epic Failure Of Pa. Ranjith’s Thangalaan But TNM’s “Unpaid” Review Rates It 5/5, Here’s A Brutally Honest Review Of The Ludicrous Film appeared first on The Commune.

Mandous, which began as a “Severe Cyclonic Storm”, weakened as it approached the coast of Tamil Nadu near Chennai. It had weakened into a deep depression and lay 70 km North-West of Mamallapuram and 50 km West of Chennai.

Cyclone Mandous made landfall off the coast of Mamallapuram on Friday (9 December 2022), causing heavy rain and strong winds in several parts of Chennai. But it wasn’t as severe as Vardah or Thane cyclones.

The Tamil Nadu government officials have stated that there was no “large-scale damage” in the state.

However, the DMK IT Wing, a section of Tamil journalists and other Dravidian Stockists have attempted to portray cyclone Mandous as disastrous as the 2015 Chennai flood, and it was only due to the efforts of DMK Chief Minister MK Stalin that Tamil Nadu was spared.

TRB Rajaa, son of DMK MP TR Baalu and head of the party’s IT Wing collected all the congratulatory tweets in praise of MK Stalin and said “Mandous will be remembered as the first cyclone to pass through Chennai and leave no trace!!! People from all walks of life had nothing but positive things to say about the Hon’ble DMK CM MK Stalin.’

Similarly, DMK IT wing deputy secretary Isai gathered other congratulatory tweets (missed by TRB Rajaa) praising CM MK Stalin and said, “Metropolitan like Chennai always have a kind of fear and allergy when it comes to rain. Tamil Nadu people feared rain because of the unruly growing structure and complacency of incompetent rulers( referred to ADMK). However, MK Stalin has changed that thinking! The rain is sweet”

Other journalists and Dravidian Stockists congratulated Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, saying they had never seen Chennai without waterlogging like this before during a cyclone.

Roads are completely clear of rain water from Velachery to Valluvarkottam. Great Work @chennaicorp

— Mugilan Chandrakumar (@Mugilan__C) December 10, 2022

However, the data from Indian Meteorological Department shows that cyclone Mandous is one of the weakest cyclones Chennai has witnessed in recent years. The IMD bulletin issued on December 10, 2022, said “It is very likely to move nearly northwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts around Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) as a cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 65-75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph during next 2 hours. Thereafter, it would move west-northwestwards and gradually weaken into a Deep Depression by early morning and into a Depression by noon of 10th December.”

According to IMD data the sustained wind speeds of recent cyclones to cross the Tamil Nadu coast are Vardah (130 km/hr), Thane (140 km/hr) and Nilam (85 km/hr). The average wind speed during Mandous landfall was 65-70 km/hr.

According to the cyclone tracker image, cyclone Mandous had the highest windspeed of 100 kmph when it was about 300 kilometers away from Chennai, and it gradually decreased to 55 kmph as it approached Chennai.

The cyclone tracker image of Vardah (2016) shows that Vardah had the highest windspeed of 155 kmph when it was about 300 kilometers away from Chennai, and when it reached Chennai it had a windspeed of 135 kmph, causing widespread devastations.

As per the data, cyclone Mandous is the weakest cyclone to have crossed Chennai in recent years. However, the Dravidian stocks and Tamil media journalists have been on an overdrive to project as if the DMK government under MK Stalin had done a terrific job in containing the damages caused by cyclone when the damage itself was minimal compared to the other devastating cyclones.

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Generally suicide is either attributed to extreme depression or poverty. We hear news of farmer suicides quite often. We also see rise in rich and popular people too taking the extreme step. The suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput sent shockwaves across the country. While farmer suicides have reason of not being able to cope with the economic losses, why do those with all the wealth take their own lives? Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev provides us some answers.

Sadhguru says that the most important thing to realize is that one is alive and nothing else. Suppose tomorrow one loses half the money and feels depressed and the mind says “I want to die”, try closing the mouth, and block the nose with the fingers for as long as one can hold the breath. The body will say “to hell with your money, I want to live!”

Body and life within wants to live and it is only in our minds that we are held up with such things that we should let go.

So, every time we have suicidal thoughts we should know that the body and the life inside want to live. It is important to realize that the most important thing in life is ‘now’, the present. All the fancy thoughts, the emotions that we go through, the money we earn, the people we meet, are all integral part of life and not life itself. Life means that which is throbbing within oneself, right now. Only because life is ON everything else seems to be meaningful, Sadhguru says.

Sadhguru says that in Yoga helps in handling depression at the level of the body, mind and the energies. If the necessary balance and vibrancy is brought about in the physical, mental and energy state, to be blissful becomes natural.

Yogic process like Pranayama helps an individual with balance both mentally and energy wise. People can use such Indian traditional tools to avoid taking extreme step as a reaction to what is temporary in one’s life.Yoga helps in not just attaining one-ness with the outside world but also helps us stay balanced within.

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