Pokkiri Raja, T.D.Dasan: Who wins?
Published April 27, 2010 | 
T D DASAN STD VI B
Hey no, it’s not going to be a straight battle. By the time Pokkiri Raja makes his entry, along with his brother Pokkiri Surya, poor T.D.Dasan might have beaten an unceremonious retreat. Hence there’s no question of a fight happening. It’s no doubt going to be a one-sided win.
‘Pokkiri Raja’, a big-budget film with an impressive star-cast is all set to hit screens, most probably on the 30th if this month. Mammootty, one of the superstars of Malayalam Cinema and Prithviraj, the young dashing star who is making his presence in Malayalam as well as Tamil come together in equally important roles. Shriya Saran, the immensely popular actress from Tamil, who has acted in high-profile films like ‘Sivaji’ and ‘Kanthasamy’ and who has also made her presence felt in Hindi films (though she is yet to prove herself a good actress), makes her debut in Malayalam with the film. ‘Pokkiri Raja’ is expected to be an entertainer, with all the ingredients intact. There would be action, drama, sentiments, humour, songs, dances, romance et al. Well, personally speaking I have nothing against entertainers. I have watched and enjoyed all kinds of ‘masala’ entertainers, in all languages. Moreover, the director of ‘Pokkiri Raja’, debutant Vyshakh, is personally known to me too. I have nothing against him and his film and I just hope that youngsters like him get to make their presence felt, for the sake of Malayalam Cinema.
But, thinking of the film ‘T.D.Dasan Standard VI B’, I am rather disheartened and disillusioned. I happened to see the film, directed by yet another debutant Mohan Raghavan’ last week. In fact, I was simply bowled over by the film. Though I am a real movie buff, never willing to let go any kind of movie, I should say that it was the reviews that made me choose to see the film first. The film seemed to me, to say using clichéd phrase, “ a whiff of fresh air”, one that betrays a rare kind of optimism, at a time when the whole world seem to be tending towards pessimistic and rather negative tendencies. The film made reminded me of the simple works of Iranian filmmakers like Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Majid Majidi. I wanted the film to be seen by more and more people, which of course was not going to be. Being someone who has been following the nuances of the box office in Kerala with an analytical mind, I was almost sure that the film won’t do good on that count. A cousin of mine, who is himself a movie buff like me, wanted to go see the film at my home town, but knew that he’d have to return disappointed as the film won’t be shown owing to poor audience response. He was right. A journalist-friend of mine, who incidentally happens to be a close friend of the director of ‘Pokkiri Raja’, tried his luck twice at the same theatre and had to return disappointed. He later caught up with the film at Kozhikode. This happens, always, in Kerala with films that don’t have popular stars in the lead or don’t follow a pattern that syncs with the box office diktats. This happens, always, in Kerala, a state that pretends to be happy when Malayalam Cinema bags awards on the national level (Hey, is that a thing of the past?!) and at the same time refuses to see the very same films at theatres.
Pokkiri Raja
Today, I was happy to see reports in newspapers saying that an eminent director who has in the past given us memorable films has tendered his support to ‘T.D.Dasan Standard VI B’ and its makers. But would that help? I don’t know. I don’t think so. This filmmaker was requesting moviegoers and the media to support such inspiring films. So would they come forward to do this? The moviegoers? Not at all. The media. Pooh! They would instead write tomes praising some trash commercial venture and make it seem like new age Malayalam Cinema. Yes, I was indeed irked by the very same newspaper report that said that Biju Menon and Shwetha Menon were playing the lead roles and that Jagathy Sreekumar, Jagadeesh, Mala Aravindan, Suresh Krishna, Swetha Menon, and Valsala Menon were in the cast. Of course Biju Menon, Shwethe Menon and some others play key roles, but why did the guy forget to mention the boy who played the title role, that of T.D.Dasan. Master Alexander, who makes his debut, has given an impressive performance playing T.D.Dasan while it’s Tina Rose, another debutante child artist who does an equally important role, that too impressively. I guess the guy who wrote the report hadn’t thought on this aspect, let alone go see the movie.
Well, that brings me to another important question. How many of those guys who write profusely about Cinema in Kerala watch and follow films? I was shocked when a ‘film reporter’ (if at all he is one) representing a leading Malayalam daily asked me who Bala (the director who won the national award for the Tamil film ‘Naan Kadavul’) is and which films were directed by him? I have been surprised at the amount of stupidity that our film journos write in the name of reporting and reviewing.
Well, I’d just wish that T.D.Dasan and Pokkiri Raja both emerge winners, which I know is not going to be. Poor Dasan!!
Pingback: ‘Athmakatha’: Instilling faith | karmakerala.com news