A big hello to ‘talkie with rekhs’ readers! I wanted to share with you the ro(lli)cking time I had, interviewing the youngsters who acted in ‘Vaanavil vaazhkai’.
This is the ‘first celluloid baby’ of music director James Vasanthan who touched many a chord in our hearts with his ‘kangal irandaal’ and one of my most favorite songs ‘naan pogiraen melae melae‘.
While subtitling this film I was reminded of the neat, clean entertainers Shri Basu Chatterjee gave us, what was then termed as ‘middle cinema’ which highlighted light hearted events of middle class families without being preachy. This film will be a ‘walk down memory lane’ for more than 75% of the viewers, especially since this deals with college life and music. And I presume the remaining 25% will be in the thick of it already or looking forward to it in a few years.
Why James calls this as musical and I agree he has a valid point is that ‘vaanavil vaazhkai’ follows it to the T. Wikipedia describes a musical movie as “in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters”
Let me introduce the characters to you. First we have the hero Jack, whose story may very well be many a page from James’s college chapter. Jithin who plays Jack was one of the top 15 of ‘Super singer’ season 3 and 1st runner up of ‘Indian voice’ His rendering of ‘please forgive me’ and the Romeo-Juliet kind of climbing up the ladder to the heroine’s balcony lends an endearing touch to the song. He’s a pro with his ‘Music makes me happy’.
Preethi alias Janani plays the heroine. Renowned carnatic singer Sowmya as her mom on screen is good casting indeed. They can pass off as mom-daughter duo in real life too. Janani woos everyone with her eyes. She’s Miss Goody-two-shoes, but charming all the same. Student of MOP Vaishnav, her grandfather was Shri P.V.Sathyam who was a partner in Venus Pictures. That’s her genetic affinity to the celluloid world! James has interwoven a lovely episode of caring for dogs, which many dog lovers will give the ‘thumbs up’ for. Janani is so petrified of dogs, it took a lot of courage on her part and cajoling by her reel-friends to enact this scene. Kudos to her friend Shilvi (Ankita in the film) for putting her at ease!
Shilvi who plays Ankita is a happy-go-lucky character, (also from MOP Vaishnav) to whom stage fright is an alien feeling. She could sing about 50 carols from when she was 3. She had her voice specially trained by none other than Mr Augustine Paul, whom you can catch a glimpse of in this film. Music is Silvi’s ‘be all and end all’ of life. She plays Preethi’s friend, the bubbling, forever fizzy chatterbox. Her explanation along with Maya (Shweta) is sure to bring a smile, drawing the lines between friend, boyfriend and special friend!
Maya from Bengaluru who plays Shweta in real life is a gymnast who represented Tamil Nadu in the national level, stood 6th in All India level. Her dream is to sing for great music directors, take up character roles and do proper justice to them. Maya accepts with a disarming smile that she is an amateur singer when compared to the other 9 in the film. But the rapport they shared helped her win over her ‘presumed handicap’.
Gaana Raja in real life is Gaana Shiva. My gut feeling says Tamil cinema has got another folk song-lyricist and singer in its kitty. Simple, pleasant, friendly with a long list of degrees to his credit, he has music in his genes... you bet! His grandfather sang for the legendary music composer Shri K.V.Mahedevan and his grandmother sang along with veteran playback singer Smt L.R.Easwari. He is a natural. Kollywood, watch out for this young budding talent!
Vinita alias Cassandra has played her part of a snooty rival so well, that till I met her I thought she must be one of those ‘I am God’s gift to mankind’ hoity-toity creatures! Of course I was completely wrong because she is a very down to earth girl, a little shy, with big dreams. Like Shilvi, she too took to the stage at the age of 3. She pulls off her ‘attitude’ stint with aplomb.
Jose (Fayaz in this film) is a confident youngster, waiting to catch the world by storm. I guess it stems out of the fact he went to Hildesheim, Germany on an exchange program in his 10th grade. That opened his eyes, heart and soul to new horizons. His forte is percussions. His dream is to may be compose music one day and to be the best percussionist that India (and the world) can be proud of!
Sai Shankar who plays Arvind is a student from Anna University who quit his job in Sanmarg the 2nd day after he joined, to be part of this film. That was a bold decision to take, supported 101% by his parents. Good to see such supportive parents! He was ranked one among the top 20 in ‘Super singer’ season 4 where he was ‘eurekha’ed upon by James who was the judge. Trained professionally in Carnatic music, his music aspirations forked into Light music when he joined his college band. His dream is to become a famous singer, like his idol, playback singer Shri Hariharan.
Radhika who plays Harini started learning tabla when she was 5, thanks to her mom. Besides her family and friends, her tabla master Mr A.S.Dinesan and drums master Jerry Peter are looking forward to seeing Harini on the silver screen. She owes this moment to her senior Sidhanth Mishra who auditioned for this film and told her about it.
Jonathan plays Pramod in this film, has a ‘different’ Tamil accent, playing an NRI whose love for Tamil knows no limits!
James in a nutshell has given us a ‘shed your worries at home’ and enjoy a walk down memory lane!
Do watch it in the theatres and if you miss it, in legal streaming providers like Herotalkies.com.
Until my next ‘talkie with rekhs’ ciao May March march into April-May with some good films for the summer we can be proud of.
rekhs
13.03.2015
