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| By
Behindwoods News Bureau. |
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verdict is out; Ajith is at his best in Kreedom. He looks
young, fresh energetic and performs from his heart which may
steal many a hearts. All the hard work shows on screen and
the mood is upbeat in Ajith’s camp. Like the proverbial
phoenix rising from the ashes, Ajith has risen from a furrow
that fate, destiny or plain bad luck and choice of films got
his career into. |
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This
is an appreciation not only of Ajith but also a sincere acknowledgement
of the unwavering support of all his fans, the people who
never doubted the ability of their favorite star. The reviews
are positive; everyone who saw the movie has liked it; there
is everything that goes towards the making of the film into
a hit. But fortunes at the box office are fickle, so let us
not make any premature celebrations that Kreedom is a huge
hit. Those celebrations can be held later. For the moment
the fact that everyone can revel in is that one of the most
promising youth of Tamil cinema has proved all his critics
wrong. Varalaaru was a big hit, but Kreedom is even more special
because it is the remake of a movie that was and is still
Varalaaru (read part of history).
This is something about the original Kireedam that was released
in 1989 in Malayalam that will give you an idea of what Ajith
and the rest of the Kreedom team have pulled off. |
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When
Kireedam was released 18 years back, it was almost instantly proclaimed
as a classic film and deservingly so. Mohanlal in the lead role
had just given the finest performance that Indian cinema had seen
in years and the brilliance just could not be overlooked, it shone
so bright. It was at a time when the National Film awards were being
announced and unfortunately Kireedam had been released at a date
too late to be considered for the awards that year and incidentally
Bharath award that year went to Mammooty for his performance in
Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha. But Kireedam could just not be allowed
to pass by unrecognized and it was one of the very few occasions
in the history of Indian cinema that a President’s special
medal was given away to an actor. It was nothing less than the national.
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Why
then, you could ask, was the movie not remade for nearly 18
years? It is not that no one thought about remaking it. It
was just that many people considered it and went back realizing
the level of mastery that the actor in the lead role had to
possess to carry off the role. Also it might not be wrong
to say that the movie has been remade many times in bits and
pieces. Anyone who has seen the original can notice many scenes
of Kireedam being replicated in many movies. This is a fact
that has been acknowledged by Chiyan Vikram who once in an
interview to a Malayalam channel said that a Kireedam remake
would be dream come true for him. What more, the Kireedam
level of perfection has not been bettered by Mohanlal himself.
It remains to date (in spite of two other national awards)
his best performance. |
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is this dream of many people that Ajith with director Vijay and Rajkiran
has accomplished and that too in a manner that will not make the minds
behind the original version feel let down. Yes, there are changes
in the script to suit the changed times and the Tamil audience and
the duet that was not there in the original, but the soul has been
retained and the entire team of Kreedom must be congratulated for
not swaying to too many commercial compulsions. They have stuck to
their guns and the results can be seen. |
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What
Kireedam did to Mohanlal? It placed him on par with the best
in the country. He was no longer just another actor, he was
an actor of caliber, of repute, of stature. It started his
growth from being just a star to a superstar who can be depended
upon to carry out tough roles. It was after Kireedam that
Mohanlal really began to get some wonderful roles, both commercial
and offbeat ones and now Ajith has opened those doors for
himself. There was never any doubt that he can act well, but
how well, no one knew. He has delivered good performances
in Vaali and more recently Varalaaru, but Kreedom because
of the sheer precedent that had to be emulated, should be
the best of them all. That is why no one has minced any words
in proclaiming Kreedom as Ajith’s best ever performance.
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Now,
Ajith has to tread carefully to keep the standards that he has set
for himself in Kreedom because he can be sure of one thing. We are
not going to settle for anything less. Kreedom may just be Ajith’s
crown.
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