4 Aug, 2008, 0000 hrs IST,H. Shaji, Economic Times Bureau
Rajnikanth knows no cuts. Not until Barber Balan arrived to tell him a few things about cuts, hirsute and more. Balan, the character, in the Malayalam runaway hit Kadha Parayumbol, strode into Rajni salon to inspire the Tamil superstar to remake it multi-lingually. As Kuselan and its Telugu version Kathanayakudu hit the screens on Friday, people who have made it big in their spheres remembered their friends. Little wonder that Rajni apologised to his fans in Karnataka, from where he originally comes, for his comments on the Hogenakkal dam project.
Friends have made amends. That is exactly the backdrop of Kadha Parayumbol which is ironically, and loosely, based on the life story of Rajni himself though the protagonist of the Malayalam original is not the star but his friend. Described as a wrenching tribute to childhood friendship, the film welled up the eyes of viewers everywhere simultaneously swelling the coffers of its producers.Rajnikanth, who happens to be the classmate of scriptwriter and lead actor Sreenivasan at the now defunct Film Chamber Institute, was so beguiled by the movie that he instantly decided to do it in Tamil and Telugu. The movie is said to have rekindled in the Superstar the early, struggling phase of his career. Next in turn is Shah Rukh Khan who stars in and produces the Hindi version under his Red Chillies Entertainment, Billoo Barber. Directed by Priyadarshan Billo unlike Kuselan sticks to the original script sans any alterations but for two additions in the form of item numbers by Kareena Kapoor and Deepika Padukone.
Revolving around a poor, village barber, Kadha Parayumbol illustrates his struggles to negotiate with the changing world around him. The quiet bleak world of the barber is unsettled by the sudden entry of a film unit. The rumours which started spreading in the hamlet that the hero of the film, a superstar, is purportedly the classmate of the barber, dramatically alters his life. Hereafter the movie follows the dilemmas and inner tensions of the barber who finds his world turned upside down by the fast-paced events. The role of barber is enacted by Sreenivasan, while the superstar is embodied by a real life super star, Mammootty. Meena is the wife of the barber, mother of his three kids.
She reappears in the same role in the Tamil-Telugu remake.
Despair and ridicule marks the day-to-day existence of the barber. Unable to find finance for upgrading equipment for his traditional livelihood, the ‘hero’ finds it taxing to meet the daily demands of his school going kids. The arrival of the film unit and the consequent developments only adds to his woes. He faces pressure from family and public to prove his “alleged” friendship with the star, which he is hesitant to. Lack of confidence to approach the star and failure in such desperate attempts makes his living more miserable.
In a star-driven industry, Kadha Parayumbol marked a fresh departure - it places the barber at the core of the film and brings the superstar in a ‘guest’ role. Kuselan turns it the other way round. By evoking the virtues of rock-solid friendship the movie succeeds in creating a feel-good aura. The film does the tight rope walk between sheer sentimentalism and a right mix of emotional packaging with some aplomb. The simple straightforward narrative soon attained a cult status creating ripples across languages and became the darling of the multiplexes soon - it had longs spells in Bangalore and Mumbai.
The high point of the movie is the climax scene, where the superstar recounts and reveals the intimate bond between the protagonist and him. Mammootty, who has a small, but meaty appearance in the scheme of things, brings in the grace and warmth found wanting for the redemption of the mundane life of the protagonist. The lengthy speech at the climax could have slipped easily into the melodramatic terrain and could have been booed down generously. On the contrary, Mammootty, the seasoned performer he is, bewitched the audience with his subtle exuding of emotions thus hitting the bull’s eye.
“While shooting that scene, at many places, Mammootty could not hold his tears back long enough to continue his soliloquy. He would pause in between to get a grip on himself, and then continue his speech. Because he could not say his lines, there were long pauses in between but the camera went on rolling. When he recovered, he continued the scene. In fact, we cut all those portions because in reality, what we saw was very dramatic and emotional,” says Sreenivasan.
Sreenivasan is a veteran of sorts in the art of creating popular films placing the middle class in the core of the narrative. He has successfully perfected the art of puncturing the ego balloons of Malayalis through the effective not often chosen vehicle of self-effacement.
The behind the screen hero is of course Sreenivasan who co-produced the film with friend and actor Mukesh which turned out to be the launching pad for his brother-in-law M Mohanan, the debutant director. Apart from donning the central character, he penned the screenplay as well. Irfan Khan in Hindi, Pasupathy in Tamil, and Jagapathi Babu in Telugu will enact the Barber while Meena etches the role of Barber’s wife in both Telugu and Tamil. Now Ramesh Arvind is all set to generate the Kannada version of the original.
While Sreenivasan and co-actor Mukesh were the producers of the film in Malayalam, veteran K Balachander, considered the Guru of Rajnikanth, is has produced Kuselan, with P Vasu, the director of earlier Rajni hits like Chandramukhi.
Kadha Parayumbol, however, will be beyond recognition in the Tamil and Telugu avatars as none other than the demi-God Rajnikanth is the hero and naturally the centre space is accorded to him, not the character of Barber! Moreover, Kuselan boasts the presence of the glamour goddess Nayanthara.
Perhaps, Kadha Parayumbol will be best remembered for not just the number of remakes it triggered but for the tales of camaraderie it inspired across languages as well. Its moderate treatment of the sentimental storyline and the tantalising climax emanated the kind of connection viewers could make with the fates of the main players.
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