Wide Angle with Natarajan Ramji : A feast for the movie trivia geeks

 

Mr. Natarajan Ramji is known as the "Location Guru" of Indian cinema who has travelled to over 140 countries and helped shoot movies in 80 of them. This interview is what I would call a hidden gem. It gives an overview of the whole location scouting process for movies and also gives a lot of trivia about really popular movies, the locations they were shot in and how the location was decided upon.

If you are a movie geek, you must watch this interview. He spoke about the key details that help in deciding the location.

1. Keeping himself updated in his area of expertise and learning about the world everyday.
2. The foreign exchange rate at the time of shoot which helps to reduce the cost of the movie. For eg: an opera location in France which would cost Rs.40 crores was completed in 1/10th the cost by shifting the location to Macedonia for the movie Mersal.
3. The ability to find multi-national extras required for the movie.
4. Weather. For eg: He speaks about how during the 90s and early 2000s there was a trend that started to shoot songs in Switzerland in Tamil cinema. However, it was not suitable during the winter months but the producers wanted to keep shooting throughout the year. That's when he discovered the beauty of New Zealand which has completely contrasting weather. This helped in keeping the shooting on through out the year.

Here are some of the trivia from this interview to draw your interest.

1. RRR's Natu Natu song location : Ukraine

2. Enthiran - Kilimanjaro  : Brazil

3. Dilwale - Gerua : Iceland

4. I - Pookkalae Sattru Oyivedu

5. Kaapan song : Indonesia and Russia

3. 

HIT 2 : A distant cousin to Goodachari and Evaru

 

Last night I started watching HIT The 2nd case with very high expectations on Amazon Prime. The premise was quite promising and I was pulled into the movie in the first 20 minutes. As the movie progressed, I felt there were a lot of loose ends that I couldn't convincingly comprehend myself from what was shown on screen.

At a high level, it is a good watch. However, having seen much better movies from Adivi Sesh (such as Goodachari and Evaru), this was weak in comparison in terms of how the mystery unfolds.

For the benefit of the makers and other movie enthusiasts here are the questions I had and how I comprehended some of these basis the movie. Let me know in the comments if you have differing opinions to these. I would be happy to consume a varying perspective. 

Resolved questions

Unconvincing but still I resolved these questions with some logic shown in the movie.

Q1. Why was KD pro live-in before marriage?

Ans: His parents were apparently a couple that fought a lot and now were on some world tour to reconcile. This was his reason to not get married without having lived in with the person maybe. 

Q2. Why was KD shown as someone with a very nonchalant behaviour initially during the first few scenes and suddenly his complete behaviour changes after this lady's murder case ?

Ans: Perhaps this was the most gruesome case he had seen so far and hence his confidence was lower than usual at solving this case. Also, he was not able to build a hypothesis as quickly as he was able to do in other cases given the nature of crime and hence it was natural that his behaviour and attitude changed to a more serious one.

Q3. Why was it necessary for KD to be angry with Varsha?

Ans: From the story's point of view, not sure why they had to show that KD was not trusting of Varsha. The only reason for that seems to be the need for her to put a tracker on KD's vehicle and save the day during the climax scene at the clinic. 

Q4. Why did Raghav commit suicide?

Ans: You could argue that he was depressed at being jailed, but it seems more of a convenience for the plot so that there can be escalation in the conflict between KD and his boss, the DGP. This makes the DGP spiteful and he fires KD and removes the protection for Arya leading to the kidnap of Arya and then the climax.

Q5. In the climax it is shown that Kumar used a teeth set to make the bite mark. Why didn't forensic think of that hypothesis? There shouldn't have been any saliva given that it was a teeth set. Also there was no other proof of an assault, so why would the killer just have bit the victim? 

Ans: The bite mark was more important than the heroine for this plot to be honest. The bite mark was the reason for Raghav's entry into the story, the conflict of KD and his boss and the eventual kidnap of Aarya.

However, it seems odd that the forensic team missed the hypothesis that it could have been a teeth set. 

Open questions

Q. Why does KD live in such a palatial house? What is his background?

Q. Why was there some callback to HIT 1 Vishwa and Vikram? What was the significance to this story?

Q. If KD got fired, why was the security immediately removed for Aarya? She still had threat and it is the job of the police to safeguard her.

Q. How did KD know how to whistle in the climax to call Max? In the beginning it was clearly show that he didnt have that skill.

Q. Why was Raghav's encounter planned? What was the minister's role?

Q. What was the need to show Raghav's workplace (steel factory) during his capture?

Q. How did Kumar know of Raghav and how/why did he plant the shoes in Raghav's house?

Q. How did the journalist air such a news of the encounter at such short notice and such short time?

Q. Why did KD not investigate Kumar's background and profession? Why did he simply believe that Kumar was unemployed and just spending his dad's money?

RRR : It's all about extremes

 

The movie RRR (Rise Roar Revolt) just works. Here is why I believe it worked and continues to work for so many people across the world (yes, I believe it is pan-world and not just pan-India). It is a movie about extremes - some of which you get to see in super-hero movies of the west. The Indian movie offers a lot more extremes due to the rich culture and history of India and S.S. Rajamouli's grand story-telling.

Here are some of the extremes you get to see in this extremely entertaining movie -- 

- Extreme patriotism for the country and the community : This is the obvious thread that connects Ram and Bheem - both are on a mission owing to the patriotism for their country and tribe.

- Extreme friendship : The lengths to which Ram goes to save Bheem from the death sentence and vice-versa what Bheem does to free Ram from the prison and the death sentence are what you can only see in movies which is why your heart melts seeing this extreme friendship, almost yearning for a similar friendship in your own life.

- Extreme dedication : The dedication Ram has for the job he has taken up - to put a gun in the hands of every freedom fighter and the Bheem has for his mission to bring back Malli to the Gond tribe. 

- Extreme selflessness: Without being extremely selfless, Ram, Bheem and their respective friends and buddies would not be able to do what they did in the story. Be it Ram's villagers training for years to fight back the British or Bheem's tribe capturing wild animals to help with Malli's rescue mission.

- Extreme arrogance: If not for the extreme arrogance of Governor Scott Buxton, the story wouldn't have had the same impact on the audience in rousing the emotions of anger.

- Extreme mental strength and focus: Ram and Bheem's extreme mental strength and focus on the goal was aptly portrayed when they were getting tortured by the British in the prison and beaten up with the whip.

- Extreme karma: There was some sort of poetic justice in the way Governor Scott Buxton's death was portrayed. Wrapped in a barbed wired fence and dripping blood -- the same which she devilishly subjected Bheem to when he was captured by the British - her wish for Bheem reversed onto her during her death.

Well, on the whole, RRR was as a roller-coaster of an experience emotionally which is why I believe it has enthralled audiences across the world and become the success that it is today.

Thank you S.S.Rajamouli for penning the story and Ram Charan and Jnr NTR for bringing Ram and Bheem to life. 

Piku : Just too real

 

Piku is one of my all time favorite movies. It's a comfort film that I keep going back to when I feel a little down. There is a kind of comfort in the music and story of Piku. Here are some of the reasons why I recommend everyone watches Piku at least once.

- Piku is a very relatable movie for single women living with ageing parents and grand-parents.

- There is a Baba in all our houses who is slowly getting old and grumpier and needier by the day. They ask for attention indirectly and blame you if you do not pay attention to their health condition every hour.

- As a successful woman finding a partner who respects you and understands all the responsibilities you shoulder is very hard.

- You become the parent to your parent after a point in time and get just as irritated when they do not listen to you as they did when you were an adamant kid years ago.

- There is something about long road trips or long journeys that brings people together and for a while they stop bickering with each other.

Piku is streaming on multiple OTT platforms including Amazon Prime and Netflix. Go and watch it and let me know what you liked about this movie.

Major : All heart ❤

 

Last week I had the opportunity to watch 'Major ' which is a biopic on Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan. It was a heart-melting movie. There are five things that one can takeaway or experience during the course of watching this movie.

- Life of Major Sandeep and a deep dive into his personality

- Beyond the ultimate sacrifice that a soldier is prepared for while serving the country , there are so many little things they sacrifice each day This was beautifully brought out in the movie.

- The roller coaster of emotions that goes through the family of an army man who has set out into the field. The uncertainity of not knowing whether they will get to see their son alive after the battle was one of the side tracks you get to witness in addition to the actual terror attack on the Taj Hotel.

- Performance by Adivi Sesh and the way he immersed himself into Major Sandeep's personality was a delight to watch.

- The disservice that media did to the nation during the attack by unintentionally and indirectly aiding the attackers.

The movie is currently streaming on Netflix in Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. Go ahead and watch this movie and let me know what your takeaways were from this movie.