Saturday, November 17, 2007

Om Shanti Om

Back in office after the long weekend for Deepavali, I felt left out not having watched Om Shanti Om[OSO].. "Terrific! terrible!! okay-dokey.. six-pack ! " blah blah... office was buzzing with OSO talks. Not wanting to be left out from the 'in' crowd and to also to discuss important issues like Six pack abs during office meetings, I decided to punish myself, and watch this philum.


THE STORY


Om Prakash Makhija[Sick Khan] is a junior artiste with dreams of becoming a big star some day. Om is in love with top actress Shanti Priya [Deepika Padukone], who is trapped in a bad affair with a film producer [Arjun Rampal]. Om dies in a tragic fire accident, is reborn (??) as Om Kapoor, becomes a big star and takes revenge on Arjun Rampal for having killed his sweet heart Shanti Priya. Wow! vaat a super story I say!

SCREENPLAY

When you have a story from Karz which itself was remade from some Angrezi film, you obviously can't steal all the scenes from the original. So what do you do? You supplement with the same kind of kaamedy scenes again and again ... and again.. Taking digs at actors, the filmy awards, yesteryear films is fun.But if it is repetitive, it gets boring. These spoofs form 40% of the film and don't contribute to the storyline much.. On second thoughts, there is no story.. So why bother? Like all Tamil-telugu-kannada-mallu people, my blood boils on the very mention of Mehmood-aree vaat jeee kinda so-called kaamedy in Bollywood films. But what to do? You can't help but laugh at that stupid 'Quick Gun Murugan' stuff by Saaruk Kaan and Co.

CAST
Shahrukh is Shahrukh Kkkhan.. with his usual stretching his hands termed as dance, trying to do some kaaamedy stuff... well he does a Shahrukh yet again.But I have to admit one thing. He scores well in the senti-scenes however cliched` they are. Deepika Padukone is beautiful. It has been ages since we saw such a beautiful debut on screen and her acting is pretty decent. Shreyas Talpade is under utilized. Wish this talented guy hadn't been wasted in a dud like OSO. Kirrrrrrrrrrron Kher.. gawd! Will somebody throw the likes of Kiron Kher, Jaya Bacchan into the Arabian sea please? [they stay very close to the sea.. so shouldn't be a problem carrying them]. This lady has been doing the same stuff for many many many years.. Agreed, she plays a melodramatic over-the-top filmy mummy of Shahrukh. But everytime you see her with that bonda-bajji mouth uttering some nonsensical dialogues, you just want to scream "Shut up!!!" Arjun Rampal was good since he had very few scenes and very few dialogues. Cinematographer Manikandan, art director Sabu Cyril, assistant director Joyeeta Chatterjee, Music director Vishal, screenplay writer Mushtaq Sheikh, director Farah Khan and almost everybody and anybody associated behind the camera in the film, make an appearance in some scene or the other.

TECHNICAL, COSTUMES AND MAKE-UP

Yo, Soueeeth Indian peoples! For all the digs these chappati movies take at us, they use Soueeeth Indian technicians to make their dud films look decent. V Manikandan - the cinematographer and Sabu Cyril - the art director.. Honestly I was disappointed with both. Ideally I would have loved a sepia tone or a grainy effect for the first half since it was a 70s look. The film did not take me back to that era. Ditto for art direction. Hoardings of films released in 70s, Ovaltine and other products were the only ones in the backdrop that suggested the old look. None of the others. But I guess it was a collective disaster.

The costume directors have put in hours of work to dress up only the lead actors. The junior artistes of the 70s still look 2007, dressed up in prints of 2007.. Forget them.. Shreyas talpade's make up for 2007 was amateurish, what with that fake paunch, artificial beard etc. I am not going to talk about Kirron Kher's make up and waste my time further. If one goes back to watch films of Sharmila Tagore, Hema malini, Zeenat Amaan in the 1970s, there is a distinct look attached.. big hair-do, side curls, heavy-makeup. Deepika Padukone's look had this big hair-do and costumes by Manish Malhotra.. that's it.. The make up was from 2007. Shahrukh too had just the costumes by Karan Johar to suggest that era. Nothing else.

The only place where special effects[Red Chillies, VFX]stood out was the song where Deepika is seen dancing with Jeetendra & Sunil Dutt. Fire sequences, the main SFX area of the film was badly executed and looked very artificial.

MUSIC

Vishal&Shekar score in 3 out of 6 odd songs in the film. Wonder why the much publicized 'Aankhon mein teri-Ajab si' song by KK was not picturized fully. The best of the lot was 'Main Agar' a beautiful melody sung by Sonu Nigam...nice picturization. Ofcourse there is this 'Deewangi Deewangi' with 30 odd actors including vettis like Aftab Shivdasani and maha vettis like Dino Morea, Arbaaz Khan and others..And ofcourse ofcourse the much publicized terrible Six-pack song called 'Dard-e-disco'. A brilliant example of how a very ordinary song can be termed a hit thanks to high volume publicity on television channels, 24*7 play-outs on the radio..You want to asusual slap the Khan when he removes his shirt to show his six packs..Pukesh big time! The Sunil Dutt-Jeetendra-Deepika song disappoints. It would have been great if it has sounded the 70s. The theme music orchestrated by Pyarelal [of Lakshmikant-Pyarelal fame] grows on you. Sandeep Chowta's background score adds to the reincarnation drama.

AHAA!

The best part of the film were the end credits. The production boys, assistant directors, camera crew, choreographers - everyone walked the red carpet. One got to see a whole lot of people who work behind the scenes before it hits the screen.

Deepika Padukone's dubbing is flawless. The Shankars, Selvaraghavans and the other biggies from Kollywood should learn this one thing from bollywood as to how to dub a heroine's voice without the keech keech. I waited till the last frame to know the name* behind the voice coz last I heard Mona Ghosh had dubbed for Padukone. But sadly, the end credits did not mention any name. Bulb struck later! Farah Khan has been telling the world that Deepika dubbed for herself because had she mentioned that Deepika had been dubbed by another voice, it would have meant negative publicity. "Areeey, heroinee Soueeeth Indian hai.. she can't speak Hindi" is what the media and trade pundit would have concluded even before the release. Smart move Farah! Will do some CID work and update the name* on this blog by next week

Kajol - On the 'Deewangi Deewangi' song, you love that moment when Saaruk and Kajol come together on screen.

FINAL VERDICT

I love masala films - Hindi, Tamizh, Telugu, Bhojpuri... Give me a well-filmed all-in-all action-comedy-romance packed paisaa vasool film every weekend and I'd love it. But OSO disappoints not because it a rehash of Karz.. not because of the yucky sick-pack abs... but because of the bad execution of a no-story film.

For die-hard tamizh film fans like me, OSO is forced humour... Laugh because everyone laughs types. It is fun in parts... but that's it.. there is nothing more to it.

TAIL PIECE

Now that the film is termed a hit, even actors like Ameesha Patel, Diya Mirza, Dino Morea and 500 others who haven't done a film, forget a hit film in 10 years can now claim that they have had a hit thanks to their 5 second role in OSO!

OSO = No Show!


Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Tare studio par....

With Shahrukh Khan appearing on all television channels 24 * 7 including Animal planet, Discovery, POGO, Cartoon network etc, dailies including Mylapore, Adyar, Madhavaram times, Aamir Khan at our studios was indeed a refreshing change.He celebrated Children's Day with us what with the entire office turning up in full attendance today at 9 am to have a glimpse of the star!

Aamir's directorial debut Tare zameen par [TZP] releases in December and the promos look very interesting. Have a look here and here . Can't wait for the release of this film. In the mean time, enjoy the 'Bum bum bole' rap from TZP by our 'Oscar' nayagan.

Aamir khan rap.mp3

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Happy Children's day - Orey oru SMS



We had a lot of VIP visitors at out studio last week from The Vatsalya foundation- Sanaa, Bhuvaneshwari, Syed and many others. A few of them, expert dancers busy with their practice sessions with Shahid Kapur for a performance next week, a few budding actors having acted in films like Shikhar, Lage Raho Munnabhai etc - One enthu DJ cum choreographer, and a lot of them who made their debut as voice-over artistes with us.

Listen to the radio spots that the one take artistes' lent their voice for. Their mother tongue is not tamizh but they still managed to do a commendable job.




Ek garam chai reli...




Ennoda favourite p...




Chak de reliance.m...


Update on 14th November

Tamizh bhuvaneshwa...


Reliance SMS Promo...


Happy Children's Day!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Hindi Chandramukhi

Almost all of you know the story. So no wasting bandwidth posting story, screenplay etc. I can already see my favourite race in the world saying.. "endaa... chandramugeee Manichitirutta taazhanda kaaapi aanu.." yov! 1000 varushama idayee solladeengaappa.

First half of Bhool Bhulaiyaa is semma drag... some slapstick comedy thrown here and there, which I love :) Too many characters - maama, chaacha, athimber, maushi, maushan, cousin, munshiji, seth-ji, astrologer-ji, LKG, UKG etc... So don't waste your time figuring out how they are all related to each other.

CAST

Vidya Balan and Shiney Ahuja play Jyothika and Prebhu who come to the Bhoot Mahal. Shiney is the descendant of Hindi Vettaiyaa Raja. Paresh Rawal, Manoj Joshi, Rasika Joshi play the other characters in the film. Akshay Kumar is Superstar psychiatrist who comes from the US to solve the mystery behind the Hindi Ra-ra, hindi salangai sattham etc. Ameesha patel + 1 kilo makeup - acting plays his love interest. In fact, there is no love, only interest.. Rajpal Yadav is the Bollywood Vadivelu. Asrani who has been doing the same kind of kaamedy for the last 120 years continues to do so.

I can already see Vineeth all set to make a fortune with rumours of this film being remade in Assamese, konkani, manipuri, bhojpuri, swahili and some 500+ languages. I am sure even in those remakes he will play the dancer and earn his 2 minutes of f(r)ame.

WHAT WORKS

Like Superstar's charisma that made Chandramukhi a huge hit, it is Akshay's star power that pulls the film through. He is introduced just before the interval block, just as you start wondering if it is worth staying back to watch the film. Shiney Ahuja's throat must have gone for a six after this film with his constant screaming. Vidya Balan is a lot better than Jyo. Atleast she does a little bit of dancing and super in the climax scene. Paresh, Asrani, Rajpal, Rasika + 100 other comedy artistes are full paisa vasool for front benchers and slapstick kaamedy lovers like me.

Sabu Cyril's set work is good. Thiru's cinematography is decent in parts, especially the scenes shot in twilight - Priyadarshan style. This is probably one of the very very few films where a large section of the people wait till the last frame to see the end credit thanks to the title song which goes "Hare raam Hare raam" that plays along with the credits. The song, sung by Neeraj Shridhar is a real chartbuster. I listen to it almost 8 times a day on radio and laaauv it! Pritam, the Hindi Deva is the music director. Liked Hindi 'ra-ra' as well sung by Shreya Ghoshal and MG Sreegumar.

Vidya's sarees are lovely. Shiney looks smart. The location is beautiful, the bhoot mahal looks believable.

WHAT DOESN'T

The first half is very very slow. Too many continuity mistakes. Too many characters. What was the need for M G Sreegumar to sing Hindi ra-ra.. uggggh! Ore the accent aanu. The mallu connection (Priyadarshan) I guess.

WHAT I MISSED THE MOST

1. Lakalakalakalakalaka...
2. Enna koduma Saravanan Idhu?
3. Purushan felt that Hindi Ra-ra didn't have the punch of the tamizh song.

PREVIEW

Om-Sixpack-Om and Jodha-something's trailors. When one tells the story in the trailor itself, I guess half the interest is gone. Not that I was enthu anyways. Sick pack Khan is the struggling actor and his best friend, also a junior artiste, is Shreyas Talpade(the trailor says junior artist.. englipees elizabetthungala? which is right? artiste or artist?) Sick Khan falls in love with Deepika Padukone, a successful actress. Just as Sick Khan hits the jackpot with a hit film with him in the lead, Arjun Rampal the rival hero kills him. Sick Khan is reborn as Om, becomes an actor and takes revenge on Arjun Rampal (Karz?). It has Kirron Kher in it. One big reason for anyone to avoid the film.. A-V-O-I-D big time but for Blogeswari's sake I shall watch Om Shanti Om :)

Jodha Akbar looked boring. Too many Ishq ki mohabbat ki Jodha Rajputon ki khwatir himmati hijwaar karenge sabko... kinda stuff.. highly yawnable.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Golu

My chitti's family is one enthu kudumbam in Bengalooru. Chitti's daughter is a talented singer, emcee, song-composer, dancer.... Every year their Golu is based on a particular theme. Last year it was Andal kalyanam. This year their theme is the story of Pundaleeka. The interesting aspect is that they make a whole lot of dolls for the theme, themselves and decorate them accordingly. I have posted pictures from their Golu for my readers. Enjoy!


PUNDALEEKA According to legend there was this Krishna devotee called Pundaleeka whose main virtue was that he took extremely good care of his aged parents.

Scene 1: To test him, Krishna decides to reveal himself and descends one night on his doorstep. Pundaleeka (busy pressing his father's feet), throws a brick outside, signaling the Lord to halt right there.

(his parents being in deep slumber, he just couldn't appreciate any sort of disturbance then). Krishna stands there for a really long time on that brick...an impression of His divine feet get engraved in it ('iitige mele kalu oorida krishna" -devaranama by purandara dasa. Ittige in kannada means brick)

Scene2: A tear-filled Pundaleeka rushes out and falls at the lord's feet. Apologises for not having been hospitable to Him and clarifies that his parents hadn't slept this well in weeks, so he couldn't allow the lord to enter. Krishna, bowled over by his parental devotion sanctions him a boon. Pundaleeka says "Everyday i carry my parents to the river which is far off. They find it tough to bear the heat and dust. If only there was a water-body nearby, it would significantly ease their discomfort" .

Scene3: Krishna then changes the course of the Bhima river and makes it flow right at the doorstep of this boy (it flows in the form of a half-moon and is popularly known as Chandrabagha river.)



Scene4: The Rukmani-Panduranga kshetram in Pandharpur. Supposedly that's where Pundaleeka lived

The boy and his parents get Darshan of The Almighty with his consort and all of them reach heaven.

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Moral of the story: Parents are everything. Priority-wise they even precede the master of the universe. They are your jeeta-jaagta Gods. Worship them.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 23

# 10 points to be won
# Email answers to blogeswari[at]gmail[dot]com
# One attempt per person. Only one guess allowed

Ten television advertisements have been posted. Identify them. All these commercials are on esnips which may take time to load.

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.


10.


Results on the next Vilambara vilayaattu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers for விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 22

Picture grid :
1. Pure it ;2. Clinic plus ; 3. Prestige; 4. Rin; 5. Iodex; 6. Dettol; 7. Chik; 8. MTR ;9. Complan; 10 . Colgate

Results: Manikandan Rajamani wins with 9 out of 10 - Congratulations!
Umayal, Dhivya R and Sala Annamalai score 8 points each.
Raji - 6 ; The Visitor- 4 ; Ambi - 3

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

அசத்தல் அட்வர்டைஸ்மென்ட்7

சிறுவயதில், நாம் எல்லோருக்குமே சாப்பாட்டில் எதாவது ஒரு அயிட்டத்தின் மேல் அலாதி பிரியம் உண்டு. என்னைப் போன்ற சாப்பாட்டு ராமிகளுக்கு சிறுவயது என்றில்லை... ஒரு அயிட்டம் என்றில்லை.. இப்பொழுது கூட.. பற்பல ஃபேவரைட் அயிட்டம்ஸ் உண்டு. என் ஐந்து வயது nephewவிற்கு ஒரு காலத்தில்(!) தோசை என்றால் கொள்ளை ஆசை- காலை, மாலை, இரவு நேரம் பாராமல் சதா "தோசே தோசே" என்பான். பின்பு 'தோசே' ' பாஸ்தா உப்புமாவிற்கு' [சேமியா உப்புமா] விட்டுக்கொடுத்தது. இன்றைய தேதியின் ஃபேவரிட் என்ன என்பது அவனுக்கே வெளிச்சம்.

இந்த அசத்தல் அட்வர்டைஸ்மென்ட் 7 - இன் கான்செப்ட் சின்ன குழந்தைகளின் ஃபேவரிட் ஃபுட் அயிட்டம் இவைகளைக் கொண்டு அமைக்கப்பட்டதுதான்.

ஹார்லிக்ஸ் - பொதுவாக ஹார்லிக்ஸ் என்றாலே ஹாஸ்பிடல், உடல் நலமின்மை, அந்த டப்பா மூடியை வாங்கி வர மனைவிமார்கள் கணவன்மாரை நச்சரிக்கும் மலராத நினைவுகள் மட்டுமல்ல - ஹார்லிக்ஸ் அட்வர்டைஸ்மென்டும்தான் நினைவிற்கு வரும். "குடிக்கவேண்டாம் அப்டியே சாப்பிடுவேன்".. அந்த குட்டிப் பையனின் மழலை டயலாக் நினைவிருக்கிறதா? "மனூ... நான் ரொம்ப பிஸீ...." - அந்த சுட்டிப் பையன் மட்டுமா? அம்மாவாக நடித்த த்ரிஷாவும்தான் ஞாபகத்திற்கு வருகிறார்கள். இப்படி ஹார்லிக்ஸ் விளம்பரங்கள் எல்லாமே நம் நினைவில் நீங்கா இடம்பிடித்துவிட்டன.

ஹார்லிக்ஸைவிட ஜூனியர் ஹார்லிக்ஸ் விளம்பரங்கள் படு பாப்புலர். சாப்பிடப் படுத்தும் சுட்டிப்பையன்களை மையமாக வைத்து படு அமர்க்களமாக, துள்ளலாக இந்த விளம்பரங்கள் தயாரிக்கப்படுகின்றன. லேட்டஸ்டாக தற்போது டிவியில் வந்து கொண்டிருக்கும் ஜூனியர் ஹார்லிக்ஸ் "N for நூடுல்ஸ்" விளம்பரம் மிகப் பிரபலமாகிவிட்டது.

மூன்று வயது சிறுவன் ஒருவன் ஃபரிட்ஜைத் திறந்தவாரே "நூடுல்ஸ் எங்கே?" என்கிறான். வீட்டிலுள்ள கேஸரோல்கள் எல்லாவற்றையும் திறந்து "நூடுல்ஸ் எங்கே?" என்கிறான் அம்மாவை செல்லமாக கோபித்துக் கொண்டே! அம்மா துருவும் சீஸைப் பார்த்து "நூடுல்ஸ்!!" என்கிறான்.அம்மாவின் என்ட்ரி..."மனுவுக்கு இப்ப நூடுல்ஸ் மேல ஆசை வந்தாச்சு..." என்கிறாள். "N for Noodaaals" -இது நம்ம ஹீரோ மனு. ஆரஞ்சு சுளையை உரிக்கிறான்..நூடுல்ஸை தேடி... "இப்படி நூடுல்ஸ் சாப்பிட்டா ஆரோக்கியம் எப்படி கிடைக்கும்? அதனாலதான் ஜூனியர் ஹார்லிக்ஸ்" என்று பிராடக்டைப் பற்றிக் கூறுகிறாள் அம்மா. பின்பு ஜுனியர் ஹார்லிக்ஸில் உள்ள இத்யாதி இத்யாதி போன்றவை விளம்பரப்படுத்தப்படுகின்றன. ஸ்வெட்டர் பின்னும் அம்மா எடுக்கும் உல்லன் நூலைப் பார்த்து "நூடுல்ஸ்!!!!!" என்று ஆரவாரிக்கும் மனுவை அம்மா அணைக்க படம் முடிகிறது.

ஒரு படம் - அது 3 மணி நேரப்படமோ, 30 வினாடி விளம்பரப்படமோ - நாமறிந்த யாரையோ, குறிப்பாக குழந்தைகளை நினைவுறுத்தினால் அது கண்டிப்பாக ஹிட்டுதான். இந்த ஜூனியர் ஹார்லிக்ஸ் விளம்பரம் என்னை என் 'தோசே-பாஸ்தா உப்புமா-cereals' nephew-வை ஞாபகப்படுத்துகிறது. எந்த கருத்தையுமே இன்ட்ரெஸ்டிங் visuals-ஆக சொன்னால்தான் மனதில் நிற்கும். ஒரு குட்டி நாய் ஒரு மொபைல் நிறுவனத்தின் டேக்-ஒவர் - பெயர் மாற்றம் எல்லாவற்றையும் விளம்பரத்தில் பிரமாதப்படுத்திக் கொண்டிருக்கிறது. ஒரு குட்டிப்பையன் ஒரு particular ஃபுட் அயிட்டத்தை மட்டுமே சாப்பிடுவேன் என்று அடம்பிடிக்கிறான். ஆனால் அதையே சாப்பிட்டால் சத்து கிடைக்காதே.. அதனால்... ஜூனியர் ஹார்லிக்ஸ். இந்த ஒரே Beverage- இல் உள்ள பல சத்துக்கள்
குழந்தையின் வளர்ச்சிக்கு உதவும் என்கிற கருத்தை இன்ட்ரெஸ்டிங்காக , குட்டிக் குழந்தையின் சேட்டையுடன் நமக்கு வழங்கியுள்ளனர்.

இந்த விளம்பரத்தை தயாரித்தவர்கள் ப்ளாக் மேஜிக் மோஷன் பிக்சர்ஸ் ப்ரைவேட் லிமிடெட்(BMMP). இயக்கியவர் அவர்களின் ஆஸ்தான இயக்குனர் பெளத்தாயன் முகர்ஜி. BMMP- இல் உதவி இயக்குனராக சேர்ந்து பற்பல விளம்பரங்களில் அபிஜித் சவுத்ரி- அர்ஜுன் கெளரிசாரியா இயக்குனர்களுடன் உதவி இயக்குனராக பணியாற்றி கடந்த சில வருடங்களாக அவருடைய சொந்த பாணியில் பல விளம்பரங்களை தனித்து இயக்கி வருகிறார்.

இந்த விளம்பரத்தின் ஹீரோ - மனுவாக நடித்த ஆரியன் ஃபெர்னான்டஸுக்கு இதுவே முதல் படம். மலேசியாவிலிருந்து இந்தியாவிற்கு அண்மையில் குடிபெயர்ந்தது இந்த மூன்று வயது வாண்டின் குடும்பம் . படப்பிடிப்பிற்கு முன்னரே இயக்குனருடன் இரண்டு வெவ்வேறு நாட்களில் rehearsal செய்தாராம் இந்த குட்டி ஹீரோ. இயக்குனர் வீட்டில் நடந்த ஒரு rehearsal இன் போதுதான், இயக்குனரின் 3 வயது மகள் ஆர்ஷா முகர்ஜியுடன் பயங்கர ஜிகிரியாகிவிட்டார் ஆரியன். அதனால் படப்பிடிப்பின்போது ஆரியனை நல்ல மூடில் வைக்க இயக்குனர் தன் மகள் ஆர்ஷாவையும் செட்டிற்கு அழைத்து வந்து அவனுடன் விளையாட வைத்தார். இப்படப்பிடிப்பு மும்பையின் க்ரீன் கிஃப்ட் பங்களாவில் மூன்று நாட்கள் நடைபெற்றது. மூன்று நாட்களும் ஆரியன் சமர்த்தாக இயக்குனர் சொல்படி கேட்டு அழகாக ஒரு professional-ஐ போல் நடித்துக் கொடுத்தான். இந்த புகழ் ஆரியனுக்கு மட்டுமல்ல டப்பிங் செய்த ஷ்ரே எனும் குட்டிப்பையனையும் சேரும். ஷ்ரேவும் இந்த விளம்பரத்தில் நடிக்க shortlist செய்யப்பட்டவர்களுள் ஒருவன். ஆனால் இறுதியில் நடிக்கும் வாய்ப்பு ஆரியனுக்குக் கிடைத்தத

விளம்பரத்தின் கருத்தாக்கம் : JWT, தில்லி. ஒளிப்பதிவாளர் : கார்த்திக் விஜய். ஆர்ட் டைரக்டர்: ஷேகர் & ரிச்சர்டு. படத்தில் மனுவின் obsession நூடுல்ஸ் என்பதால் சைனீஸ் ஸ்டைலில் இசையமைத்தவர் கனிஷ்கா.

இந்தி, பெங்காலி மொழிகளில் விளம்பரத்தில் வரும் குட்டிப் பையனின் on-screen பெயர் 'தோஜோ' . மேலும் அவனுக்குப் பிடித்த சாப்பாடு அயிட்டம் 'செளமீன்' என்கிற நூடுல்ஸ். தமிழிலும் இன்ன பிற தென்னிந்திய மொழிகளில் செளமீன் என்றால் familiar ஆக இருக்காது என்பதால் அதை N for நூடுல்ஸாக தென்னிந்தியைஸ் செய்துள்ளனர்.

ம்ம்ம்... இந்த விளம்பரத்தின் தமிழ் பிரதி என் இன் - பாக்ஸில் கிடைக்க பல நாட்களாகும் என்பதால், ஜுனியர் ஹார்லிக்ஸின் பெங்காலி விளம்பரம் இங்கு இடம்பெறுகிறது. மலையாள காப்பி இவ்விட . மனுவாக இருந்தால் என்ன, தோஜோவாக இருந்தால் என்ன... குட்டிப்பையனின் கிள்ளை மொழியை ரசிக்க is language a barrier?




ps : விளம்பரத்தின் தமிழ் பிரதி கிடைத்தவுடன் ஒரு update போடுகிறேன்

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 22

# 10 points to be won
# Email answers to blogeswari[at]gmail[dot]com
# One attempt per person. Only one guess allowed

Ten television advertisements have been posted with sound, muted. Identify them. All these commercials are on esnips which may take time to load.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Results on the next Vilambara vilayaattu
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Answers for விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 21

Picture grid :
Vicks, Rexona, Pampers
Jr.Horlicks, Ariel, Snuggies
Lizol, Parachute, Bru

Audio : Chakra gold... (thangamaana rusi)

Results: It is a tie again! Rajarajeswari Subramaniam and Hamsika Iyer win with 7 out of 10. Congratulations!
Umayal thiagarajan - 6 out of 10 ; Dhivya R - 5 out of 10 ; Manikandan Rajamani - 3 out of 10


Saturday, September 22, 2007

ஸ்பைடர் பிள்ளையார்

[ Image courtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/simmermon/480012075/ ]

A Happy birthday song to the dude above, penned by HIS ardent fan - yours truly ...to be sung to the tune of


TV Theme Songs - S...


பிள்ளையார் பிள்ளையார்
பேண்டு போட்ட பிள்ளையார்
கட்டம் போட்ட ட்ரெஸ்ஸ பார்
தெரியுதா பிள்ளையார்
யா....ர்
இவர்தான் பிள்ளையார்

ஆனை முகத்தான் அசத்துறான்
சிலந்தி ட்ரெஸ்ஸுல கலக்குறான்
போசு இவன் குடுக்குறான்
கையில் வித்தை காட்டுறான்
அடுத்த..
சூப்பர் ஸ்டார் வந்துட்டான்

வேண்டியதை வேண்டிக்கோ
வேணுங்கிறதை கேட்டுக்கோ
கேட்டதெல்லாம் தருவார்
நம்ம பிள்ளூ சூப்பர்ஸ்டார்

பிள்ளையார் பிள்ளையார்
மாடர்ன் கடவுள் பிள்ளையார்
கெட்டப்பை மாத்துவார்
கொழுக்கட்டை தின்னுவார்
பிள்ளூஸ்...
யானை முகத்தோட சிரிப்பார்
தெரு முனையில் இருப்பார்
ஹேப்பி பெர்த்டே பிள்ளையா...ர்

Will miss you Pillooos.. See you next year, dude!

Friday, September 21, 2007

Film-making:The Madness -DUBBING

Ah, my favourite topic: Dubbing aka Dupping in Kollywood baashai. I am not talking about films like Aparachitudu, Shivaputrudu, Idhu dhaanda Police which are dubbed from the master language into another. This post will talk about dubbing artistes who dub for actors and actresses in films.

You can't give full credit to an actor whose voice dubbed by another for his/her performance. Their job is probably just 60%. 40% of the effort is put in by the dubbing artiste who scream, shout, cry, laugh, smile, talk infront of the mike.

In a hero dominated industry like ours, no one really cares whether the heroine knows tamizh or not." Ellam dubbing la pathukallam pa" is one term you will hear most often on the sets of a tamizh film when there is a dialogue oriented scene filmed. It means that during a dialogue shot, the usual imports from Mumbai like Payal Agarwals, Pooja Khandelwals and the Neha Mehtas will say 1-2-3 or a-b-c-d if they are convent educated, their voices are later dubbed usually by Savitha Reddy, Priya or Renuka Kadhir. No wonder Simran and Jyothika sounded the same. Real life sisters Radha and Ambika had the same voice too - Durga R. Sundarrajan zindabad! Blame Meena or Kanaka's irritatingly cute cute "poangaa mamaaa" on Uma Bharani. The brief for these dubbing artistes is plain and simple. "Oru love-oda tamizh ponnu madiri pesunggammaaa!" Seriously, listen to Meena in Muthu - yikes! Radha in Mella tirandadu Kadavu - One slap on her face when she kozhanjufyes with Mohan with that over-cute voice. The most irritating of all - Jeya Geetha for Kolangal Devayani saying "Precchaaanai" and "Tollssss". The most popular is Anuradha who is Khushboo's aasthana dubbeee. Khushboo was one of the few actresses who came out in public and gave credit to Anuradha. No dubbing in Kollywood is complete without two mentions. 1. The first family of Kollywood dubbers - Hemamalini who was a queen bee dubber dubbing for most actresses in 80s, her brother M S Bhaskar, their children, grandchildren etc. 2. Average playback singer S N Surendhar's claim to fame was that he dubbed for Mike Mogan. No concert of Ganghei Amaren in the 90s was complete without SNS saying "poranda kuzhanda en teriyuma azhardu..." dialogue from Mouna Ragam. But when Mike Mogan started dubbing himself without SNS, down went his market along with the mike.

Most of the villians like Andhra imported like Kotta Srinivasa Rao or Mumbai irakkumadi Aashish vidyarthi probably say sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni if they have to say "yeeei.. unnaa summma vida maatendaaaa..." and Rajendhar, Sai kumar, Sai ravi etc do the honours for them. Watch the blockbuster film Dhill and see Ashish Vidyarthi's lips saying "ya ya ya ma ma ma ya ya ya" for everything.

Having said that, I must give credit for some film-makers who make an effort to get new voices to dub for the cast. Actress Kaniha dubbed for Sadaa in Anniyan and for Shriya Saran in Sivaji. The sync - less said the better. But I quite liked the voice that matched the face. A whole bunch of people were auditioned to dub for Suman in Sivaji. Finally, Subbu Arunachalam whose voice, in a way sounds similar to Suman's real voice with a nasal tone was used. Deepa Venkat was fantastic for Simran in Kannathil..Singer Chinmayi had dubbed for Bhumika in Sillunnu oru kaadhal, Tanisha in Unnale Unnale and now Padmapriya in Sattham Podathey. I will not bore you guys again talking about the sync in the above films because it was indeed terrible but again a different voice. Yet to watch Sattham... so can't comment on that.

A lot of popular actors and actresses have dubbed for other actresses. Saritha for Naghma in Kaadhalan and other films, Revathi for Kajol in Minsara Kanavu and Tabu in Kandukondein, Banupriya for Urmila Matondkar in Indian and Sripriya for Jayasudha in Alaipayuthey. Rare actors like Jayashree [of thendrale ennai todu fame] dubbed for Geetha in Azhagan, Jyothika in Pachaikili. But when popular character actors dub for other actors, you can't but visualize the dubbing actor's face instead of the one on screen. When I watched Mallu actor Murali, I could only see actor Rajesh who dubbed for him because of his distinct voice... Nasser for Nedumudi Venu in some film - Again it was nasser's nasal voice + nose was what I was thinking of, not Nedumudi+nose. Delhi Ganesh is one lucky fellow. He has dubbed for two big superstars in tamizh films -Kannada actor Vishnuvardhan in Mazhalai pattalangal and Chiranjeevi in 47 naatkal. I always think that Suhasini as Thalapathi's heroine, not Shobhana.. may be it is because I visualize Suhasini automatically whenever I watch Shobhana's scenes in the film. But I was happy to see the hindi film Guru in tamizh visualizing Surya instead of the boring Abhishek Bachchan...he he he. Actress Rohini's voice matched Jyothika in Vettaiyadu better than the usual Savitha Reddy voice. Rohini is one person who has a nice, natural, un-dubbey tone to her voice. Vikram has this distinct credit of dubbing for both Abbas and Prabhudeva in V.I.P.Vikram dubbed for Abbas in Kandukondein as well.

Ah! Gautam Menon and his hitchcock-tanam. Not only does our man show his face in all his films but has also started dubbing for his villians- Jeevan in Kaakha Kaakha and Milind Soman in Pachaikili. Gautam, you are a decent director not dubber. Ditto Bharathiraja. Do you remember Nizhalgal Ravi's face in Vedampudidu or Bharathiraja 's voice? Bharathiraja for Manivannan in Kodi parakkudu was bad.

Kudos to Ameer for letting tamizh-terinja actress Priya mani to dub for herself in Parutthi veeran. I believe they took 22 days to dub but it was worth the effort. It sounded very natural and rustic. I like Asin better than Trisha for the simple reason that Asin dubs herself. Our convent-educated "naa church park la padichen-enakku tameeel teriyadu" Tamizh girl Trisha - Shame on you! I also wonder why Padmapriya did not dub herself in Sattham... Vasanth had to dub lead actor Prithviraj twice for the film (he mentioned this on a Podhigai show) to cut the mallu accent. In that case, why not half the effort for your lead actress as well, Sir?

Guys, isn't it irritating to listen to the same dubbing artistes' voice and most of the times badly dubbed? Why can't film-makers put some effort to sync the dialogues better during dubbing especially for actresses? Why can't they get their heroines to learn their lines by-heart prior to the shoot so that it does not look bad on screen when dubbed later? The heroines' dubbing looks awful on screen with lips saying a-b-c-d and voice saying "enna mannichuddungaaa....",doesn't it? Vasanth, Shankar, Selvaraghavan - are you all listening?

Bollywood is way ahead when it comes to dubbing. Watch Jism and you will never be able to make out the fact that both Bipasha and John Abraham's voices were dubbed by professional voice-over artistes Mona Ghosh and Viraj respectively. I am waiting to watch Om Shanti Om to see how Deepika Padukone's voice has been dubbed by RJ Prachi.

Ps: The funniest of all dubbings - Anita Raj in Thaai veedu. She says all her dialogues in Hindi. yes.. a tamizh film with the lead actress mouthing her dialogues in Hindi with a completely different voice dubbing for her in tamizh. It is hilarious! This DVD is one collector's item. Buy it, watch it .. now!


Updated - Please check the comments for more inputs from the comments

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Film-making:The Madness - THE CREDITS

It is a different high seeing one's name on the credits of a feature film. You wait for that one moment when you get to see your name on the credits...on the big screen. In a bit of a perasai, one of the projects that I worked on , I wanted my name to occupy the entire screen - so there was my 7 letter name + my 10 letter surname +my purushan's 6 letter name. Ensured that none who watched the film missed this name with 23 letters!

A close friend worked on this marathon 3 hour film. It was quite an ordeal to sit through the film in the theatre and I did that only to see her name. To my disappointment, the theatre was running against time and hence did not run the entire reel with the end credits. Actually a lot of theatres don't. When I watch Kollywood and Bollywood films, it is my alpa pazhakkam to see the credits till the end and say "Hey, look at XYZ's name on the credits as production boy. He served me suda suda pongal when I went for the shoot to Madras" and pult things like "Oh !they shot on ARRI535??Wow!" types

I was watching Karagaattakaran the other day and was very happy to see not just the names of the technicians but their faces too in the beginning of the film... right from the production driver to the manager to the top actors.











Even Farah Khan's Main Hoo Naa's end credits have the entire crew and cast dancing infront of the camera when their names appear...if not their names, atleast their faces with them holding a placard saying 'Production'.. 'Make up'.. 'assistant directors' etc. Much better than names scrolling upwards against a black background to an empty theatre.

Old films are better in this regard in the sense that the names appeared in the beginning, so there was no chance of the man in-charge at the projector room to shut the machine before the end credits roll. Remember old Tamizh films with credits in the beginning "Sangeetham - Saraswathi stores" " Isai Udavi - Pugazhenthi, Joseph Krishna"?

In most films the assistant directors, production managers, assistant cameraman, assistant art directors - get beginning credits. It is only the pult directors like Maniratnam who give end.. maha end credits to the assistants, like the Hollywood lot. While watching some Mani ratnam film, I felt bad for director Priya [Kanda naal Mudhal, Kannamoochi Yenada], whose name appeared in the end credits. When Mani sir suffered a heart attack during the making of Ayidha ezhuthu, it was his former assistants turned directors like Priya, Shaad Ali and Sivakumar who went to his rescue helping him on the sets. Avangalukkellam front la credit kudutha koranju poiduveengala Mani Sir?


Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mumbai cha Raja

The Elephant God takes over the state of Maharashtra and its capital during these 10 days of the Ganpati festival. Ganpati festival in this state is a combination of the festivities of Deepavali, Pongal, Navarathri, Aadi masam, Thai poosam, Akshaya triti etc etc in Tamilnadu. Most Maharashtrians in Mumbai take off for 10 days to visit their deity in their native village and celebrate the festival with their loved ones . Wherever you go, you can hear someone or the other talking about "Keeping Ganpati at home". Similar to our Golu tradition, the Maharashtrians keep Pillayar idol and offer poojai for a couple of days before the Visarjan. It is a season of discount offers, sale at major stores... like the Aadi season in our land. The city wears a festive look for these 10 days and every street, mini street, road, lane, by-lane has a Ganpati mandal with a pretty looking Pillayar idol.

Here are two pictures of our society Ganpati mandal.. Every mandal performs aarti twice a day and offers prasadam for all visitors.














The fun aspects of the festival:

1) Mumbai is at its festive best... there are Ganpati mandals all over the city, well lit, well adorned. It is a treat to watch the well decorated mandals and the effort that goes into it.

2) Visiting Mandals with a variety of themes can be great fun. There are Pillayars made of coconuts, chocolates, groundnuts which attract huge crowds.

3) One gets a day off on the day of Visarjan. You spend the day sleeping at home because all main roads lead to the sea where Visarjan happens are blocked, so there is nothing much that one can do. For maha vettis, there is a live telecast of the Visarjan on the local cable channel that one can watch from noon to midnight.

4)For the advertising gang, the festive season starts with Ganpati and goes on till Christmas time. Since advertisers tend to spend a lot more during these three months for Ganpati, Dussera, Deepavali and Christmas, the ad gang gets to do a lot of work and the smart freelancers [unlike me] tend to make a lot of money.

The moan parts:

1)Adding to the traffic woes are the traffic diversion posts all over the city. On a normal 'Mumbai' day, if it takes you 2 hours to cover a distance of 30 kilometres by road, these 10 days you will probably have to add another half hour of sulking in the car.

2) You will probably have an L R Eswari screaming out of a loudspeaker at only the temples of Madras but in Mumbai almost all building societies compete with one another to be their loudest best. You will probably hear the ever popular "Devaho deva ganpathi deva" and the Gayatri Mantra on repeat-u mode in the mornings and suddenly Mr.DJ - usually called Vicky takes over in the evening to play "Ohhhh..aashiq banayaaaaa.." or "Beedi Jalaileeee" with jing-chak beats.

3) Idols made of Plaster of Paris are a lot more popular than the clay ones. Despite repeated appeals from environmentalists, these idols only add to the environmental pollution mess.

The Lalbaug Cha Raja - a huge Pillayar mandal at the Lalbaug area in Parel attracts huge crowds owing to His wish fulfilling power. This deity is the most popular pillayar in Mumbai.Every year He gets tons of diamond, gold and ofcourse cash offerings at the mandal. These offerings are utilised for numerous social activities. hmm.. He even has his own personal tailor. Get Lalbaug Cha Raja's blessings here.

Friday, September 14, 2007

விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 21

# 10 points to be won
# Email answers to blogeswari[at]gmail[dot]com
# One attempt per person. Only one guess allowed

1. Picture grid:
Identify the ads, starting Row1 L to R. Every correct answer carries one point.














2. Listen to this tune. Identify the product. The correct answer carries one point

Melody.mp3
Answers on Vilambara Vilayattu 22
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Answers for விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 20
1. Picture grid: Clinic, maaza, nokia, max newyork life, splendour bike, emami mentho plus
2. Tanishq
3. Shahrukh & Surya : Himani Navaratna oil, Emami Fair and handsome,Sunfeast,
Himani Navaratna talc
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Results [based on your first guesses - only one attempt allowed]:
It is a tie between Umayal and Manikandan - 9 out of 10 - Congratulations!
Ambi 8 out 10 ; Dhivya R - 6 ; Rajarajeswari Subramaniam
- 6; The Visitor -5 ; Hamsika- 4
By the way, Hamsi and Ambi - I had asked the COMMON products that both Surya and Shahrukh endorse.

Ganpathi Bappa Morya!

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Film-making:The Madness

Film-making-It is more a mad effort than a team effort. Script discussion, budgeting, shot breakdown, Budget approval, financ(ier)es, Crew contracts, Artistes' tantrums, location hunts, Equipment deals, Annoying assistant directors, Patient Production Managers (ahem ahem), Eccentric Executive producers, Demanding directors.. uff!! It is indeed a mad mad mad effort to put together a film.

But it is a super experience to be a part of a shoot crew. Advertising films is jujubee once you are part of the feature film eccentricity. In ads, you shoot for a maximum of 3-4 days with a week's pre-production, post production goes on for yet another 3 days and once your ad film gets approved you are out of it. But feature film is a completely different ball game. You are part of a feature for almost 6-8 months, think, eat, breathe the film for the entire period. If you are in the production, art, costume, direction department you forget your sleep for that period, work round-the-clock, party hard and wait for that one big day when your film releases.

These days Bollywood film-making industry functions very differently from our very own Kollywood. In most Bollywood feature film productions, the crew does not get on floor without a bound script, no last-minute dialogues scribbles on paper, the first assistant director's[a.d] break-down is the bible, he/she calls the shots, treate on-par with the director, second to second assistant director takes care of the artistes and not the director's chai, the last assistant director is the clap guy.. Each department is given clear and specific tasks. Like for instance, the production manager is responsible for the make up van's diesel but if the artiste sitting in the van refuses to come out for the shot, it is the headache of the second second assistant director to get the actor out. The production personnel cannot be blamed for the shoot's delay. Lagaan, Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Don, Swades, Honeymoon Travels (P) Ltd are few of the many films whose pre-production went on for a year before they went on floor. With every department handed out a detailed list of requirement for every scene and shot things are made easy with less goof-ups. It is a great boon for the lighting department who, with a bound script and storyboard, can go about with their work instead of waiting for the cinematographer's instructions till the last minute. This saves a lot of time and money.

Unfortunately Kollywood still functions the old way where the assistant director is more the director's assistant taking care of his needs "Director tea kekkaraaaru", "Sir-kku chair eduthupodungaappa" is also what he does apart from sitting for script discussions. A friend of mine worked as an assistant director in Kollywood's # 1 director's production. A schedule was shot in Switzerland and including the 2 main actors they were just about 12 of them flown to Switzerland. She ended up acting as a friend in the film apart from dialogue rehearsal sessions with actors, ironing actors' costumes etc. It was a terrible experience for her. "No budget" was the answer from the producer's front when confronted. But I wonder how that justifies an A.D doubling, tripling, quadrupling as costume assistant, make-up assistant, actor etc. My friend was on her next flight to Bollywood city from Chennai, as soon as the film wrapped.

A mega hit tamizh film is being remade in Hindi with the same director from Kollywood who is used to his way of functioning. In Bollywood, he has been given the first assistant director who calls the shots, is treated on-par with the director and is probably flown business class! Wonder how Mr."devotee-of-Lord-Shiva's-son" is managing with his Bollywood first A.D

But I still go with Kollywood when it comes to artistes. They are punctual, humble and do their homework unlike the Bollywood lot. Having worked with a couple of Khans, some Ka, Ra, Aj, Vi actors in Bollywood, it felt terrible seeing all months of pre-production work on a feature film to start shoot at 9.30 am go down the drain when these characters reported at 10 am for an 8 am reporting call-sheet.. Ennatha seiiya? Ennatha solla?

I came across this website which covers the madness of film-making...blogs by directors, assistant directors, production stills, interviews with cast and crew and so on.

If you are interested in film-making as a process, do visit http://www.silenceonthefloor.com/

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PS : Mani, Ambi , LKS, The Visitor - will post Vilambara Vilayaatu results soon. Have been a bit busy with work

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

'Aag' and Advertising

RGV ki Aag and Advertising have a great similarity. The former is, I am told a pathetic remake of the cult film Sholay. Whenever the advertising brains run out of ideas, they quickly scribble a few dialogues from Sholay and come up with a script which only they can appreciate. So in that sense a lot of ads, too are Sholay copycats.

From Sanitary Napkin to a Steel plant anything and everything is advertised with a Sholay dialogue... and mostly these are radio spots where the poor client with a limited budget happily gives a go-ahead for a Sholay-ed radio spot presented by the agency 'french beards'.

The most popular ones are on Gabbar Singh who will probably say "Areey Oh Samba, kitne toffees they" and his henchman "Do". Gabbar says " Aur ek dalo.. XYZ toffee.. do ke saath abhi ek muft". Let me admit, even I have been a part of the production of such 'award winning' scripts, but I often wonder how clients are so gullible in approving such pathetic stuff. But with such scripts over flooding the market, guess who is most happy? The voice-overs artistes! The Gabbar, Thakur, Dharmendra imitators are hugely in demand and they charge anywhere between 10-15,000 per radio spot. I once did some radio commercial where there was an old lady voice artiste uttering some Sholay dialogue and I was told that she was a hugely popular character in Sholay. So, if you think you can do a "Basanteeeee... Un kuttonke saamne math naachnaa!" in Dharmendra's voice, or "Chod dho Mujhee" in Hema malini's voice, it is time to do PR with an agency 'aatu daadi'. Good luck!

Meanwhile, here I am, waiting for that one.. any one friend to accompany me to watch the classic RGV ki Aag. If I get the baaghyam of watching the padam, will post review soon.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 20

# 10 points to be won
# Email answers to blogeswari[at]gmail[dot]com
# One attempt per person. Only one guess allowed



1. Picture grid:
Identify the ads, starting Row1 L to R. Every correct answer carries one point.

2. Identify the commercial:

A song from the film Veera Abhimanyu in Sahana ragam, now on a television commercial. Identify the product. The correct answer carries one point.


3. Actors on ads :

Apart from Pepsi, name any three products that both actors Suriya and Shahrukh Khan endorse. Every correct answer carries one point each (maximum 3 correct answers accepted)
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Answers for விளம்பர விளையாட்டு 19
1. Picture grid
Row 1 : Surf, Complan, Musst Bites
2nd : Lifebuoy, TVS Starcity, Himani navarathna thailam
3rd: Huggies, Vicks Asli Honey, MTR

2. Fast track from Titan :"How many how many how many..."

Results: It is a tie again!
Ambi and Manikandan-9 out of 10 - Congratulations!
Umayal thiyagarajan- 8 ;
Hamsika- 7; The Visitor- 3

Monday, August 20, 2007

Cricket Coach: 'Ad'ded

The Pakistan Cricket board had advertised for a new coach on their website...an Indian daily invited applications for a new cricket coach and had asked a few reputed agencies to come up with a good press ad. Here's two of Mumbai mirror's shortlist.




-> Agency : LOWE ; Team: Samrat Dasgupta, Jaywant Dhabolkar
"No comments "- BCCI is looking for yet another coach to mouth these magic words.






Agency: J WALTER THOMPSON
Team: Josy Paul, Steven Mathias, Priya Pardiwalla.

"BCCI is looking for a coach with attached toilet"

At BCCI we are fed up of hiring coaches who let us down or fight with the captain...... The coach will have a permanent sticker at the door saying
'Please leave your egos and chappels outside'.




Thursday, August 16, 2007

அசத்தல் அட்வர்டைஸ்மென்ட்6

ரொம்....ப... நாட்களாக இந்த விளம்பரத்தைப் பற்றி இந்தப் பகுதியில் எழுதவேண்டும் என்று ஆசை என்றாலும் நல்லதொரு தருணத்திற்காக, வெகு நாட்களாக காத்திருந்தேன். அந்த நல்ல தருணம் என்று நான் சொன்னது விளம்பர உலகின் கான்ஸ் லயன்ஸ் விருது அறிவிக்கப்படும் நேரம்தான்.


இந்த வருடம் இந்தியாவின் எதிர்பார்ப்பெல்லாம் இந்த விளம்பரம் கண்டிப்பாக வெற்றிபெற வேண்டும் என்பதே. இந்தியாவில் பற்பல அட்வர்டைஸிங் அவார்டுகளை அள்ளிக்குவித்த அந்த விளம்பரம்தான் Happydent. 8 வருடங்களுக்குப் பிறகு இந்தியாவிலிருந்து ஒரு விளம்பரம் கான்ஸ் ஃபிலிம் லயன்ஸ் விருதை வென்றுள்ளது. சில வருடங்களுக்கு முன், சோனி எரிக்ஸனின் "One black coffee" விளம்பரம் கான்ஸ் ஃபிலிம் லயன்ஸ் வென்றது.

பளபளக்கும் வெண்மை பற்களைக் காண்பிக்க இதுவரை ஒரே வழிதான் கடைபிடிக்கப்பட்டு வந்தது. விளம்பரப்படுத்தப்படும் பொருளை பயன்படுத்திய பின்னர், காமிராவின் முன், மாடல் "ஈஈஈ.. " என்று பள்ளிளிக்கும் புராதன முறைதான் அது. ஆனால் இதே கருத்தை மையப்படுத்தி, Happydent என்கிற சூயிங்கம் தயாரிக்கும் பெர்ஃபெட்டி என்கிற க்ளையண்டிற்காக மெக்கான் எரிக்ஸன் விளம்பர நிறுவனம் வடிவமைத்த விளம்பரம் சென்ற வருடம் பெரும் பரபரப்பை ஏற்படுத்தியது.

இந்த 80 செகண்ட் விளம்பரத்தில் வேட்டி, டர்பன் அணிந்த ஒருவன் பரபரப்பாக சைக்கிளில் சென்று கொண்டு இருக்கிறான். அவனுடைய டயர் நதியில் விழுந்துவிட, அது வழியாக செல்லும் காரில் லிஃப்ட் கேட்கிறான். "முஸ்குராலே, ஜக்மகாலே" என்ற பாட்டு (jingle) ஒலிக்கிறது. அந்த காரின் முன் இருக்கும் ஹெட் லைட்டிற்கு பதில், இரு மனித லைட்டுகள் இருப்பதைக் காண்கிறோம்.

கார் லிஃப்ட் தர மறுக்கிறது. நம் ஹீரோ தன் ஓட்டத்தைத் தொடர்கிறார். வழி நெடுக, பற்பல லாம்ப் போஸ்டுகள். எல்லாவற்றிலும் லைட்டுகளுக்கு பதிலாக மனித விளக்குகள். ஸ்விம்மிங் பூல், டென்னிஸ் கோர்ட் அதே போல் விளக்குகளாக மனிதர்கள்.

அவன் அரண்மனையினுள் நுழைகிறான். அங்கும் மனிதவிளக்குகள். மூச்சிரக்க, பால்கனி வழியாக ஷாண்டிலேரை (chandelier) எட்டிப்பிடிக்கிறான் அவன். ஷாண்டிலேரில் தொங்குகிற அவனுடன் பலர் ஏற்கனவே தொங்கிக் கொண்டிருக்கின்றனர். அந்த ஷாண்டிலேரின் கீழ் ஒரு டைனிங் டேபிளில் தூங்குமூஞ்சி மகாராஜா சாப்பிடத் தயாராக உட்கார்ந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறார்.

உடனே நம் ஹீரோ, கடகடவென சூயிங்கம்மை எடுத்து வாயினுள் போட்டு மென்று ஒரு பெரிய்ய்ய புன்னகையை உதிர்க்கிறான்.அந்த புன்னகையே ஹெட் லைட்டாக அமைய பாட்டும் "தேரா தில் ரோஷன், தேரா மன் ரோஷன்" என்று ஹை டெம்போவில் கேட்க, ஊரிலுள்ள மற்ற மனித பல்புகளும் எரிய ஆரம்பிக்கின்றன.. பேக்ரவுண்டில் நகரம் முழுதும் வெளிச்சமயாய் பிராடக்ட் தெரிகிறது. வாய்ஸ் - ஓவர் "ஹேப்பி டென்ட் வைட் சூயிங்கம்" என்று சொல்ல படம் முடிகிறது.

சூயிங்கம் என்பது 14 வயதுக்கு கீழ் உள்ளோர் மட்டுமே பயன்படுத்தவது, வாய் துர்நாற்றத்தை போக்குவதே அதன் வேலை - இவ்விரண்டு perceptionகளை மாற்றுகிறது இந்த campaign.Happy Dent குழந்தைகளுக்கான Product மட்டும் இல்லை. பற்களின் சுகாதரத்தை ஜாலியாக,interesting-ஆக கூறுகிறது இந்த விளம்பரம்.

நவரசங்களில் ஒன்றான அற்புதத்தை வெளிப்படுத்துகிறது இந்த விளம்பரம்.
பார்த்தவுடனேயே "ஆஹா...இது வித்தியாசமா இருக்கே!" என்று கூற வைக்கிறது. Happy Dent என்கிற பிராண்டை நினைவில் வைக்க ஒரு different-ஆன creative.

மின்சாரமற்ற ஒரு கற்பனை உலகில் அமைக்கப்பட்டு, பிரம்மாண்டமாக தயாரிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது. மும்பை அருகிலுள்ள பன்வேல் எனுமிடத்தில் படம்பிடிக்கப்பட்டது. முதற்காட்சியில் தோன்றும் பாலம் முதற்கொண்டு எல்லாமே 'செட்'தான். விளம்பரத்தின் இயக்குனர் ராம் மாத்வானி, தயாரிப்பு: ஈக்வினாக்ஸ் ஃபிலிம்ஸ். படம்பிடித்தவர்: அனில் மெஹ்தா.

இந்த விளம்பரத்தில் நடிப்பதற்காக ஸ்பெஷலாக 20 அக்ரோபேட் கலைஞர்கள் மகாராஷ்ட்ரா மற்றும் கேரளாவிலிருந்து தெரிவு செய்யப்பட்டனர். படப்பிடிப்பிற்கு பல நாட்களுக்கு முன்னரே அவர்களுக்கு காட்சியமைப்பின்படி பயிற்சி அளிக்கப்பட்டது. இவற்றிற்கெல்லாம் முன்பாக, இந்த விளம்பர படப்பிடிப்பின் முதற்கட்டமாக ஒரு Story board வரையப்பட்டது. அந்த Story boardஇன் சில ஃப்ரேம்களை இங்கே .jpeg களாக இணைத்துள்ளேன். மேலே நீங்கள் காணும் ஃபோட்டோ அந்த கலைஞர்கள், ஷாண்டிலேரின் திடத்தை பரிசோதிக்க அதில் தொங்கி பயிற்சி செய்தபோது எடுக்கப்பட்டது.

ஸ்டோரி போர்ட், கலைஞர்கள் பயிற்சி, செட் அமைப்பு போன்றவை தவிர்த்து, நடிகர்களுடைய உடையலங்காரம் போன்றவையும் வரைபடமாக, படப்பிடிப்புக்கு வெகு நாட்களுக்கு முன்னரே தயார் நிலையில் இருந்தது. படத்திற்கு இசையமைத்தவர் விளம்பர உலகில் பிரபலமாக விளங்கும் ஷாந்தனூ மொய்த்ரா. இவர் ப்ரினீதா, ஏகலவ்யா போன்ற திரைப்படங்களுக்கும் இசையமைத்தவர். இந்த விளம்பரத்தின் பாடலாசிரியரும் இவரே. கைலாஷ் கேர், ப்ரசூன் ஜோஷி, ப்ரணவ் பிஸ்வாஸ் - உடன் இந்த ஜிங்கிளை மொய்த்ரா பாடியும் உள்ளார். 'சூஃபி' இசை வடிவில் ஜிங்கிள் அமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது." 'சூஃபி' இசைக்கு 'லாஜிக்' கிடையாது. It is mystical. அதனால்தான் பாடலை சூஃபி இசையாக வடிவமைத்தோம்," என்று இந்த விளம்பரத்தை கருத்தாக்கம் செய்த McCann Erickson விளம்பர நிறுவனத்தின் Creative director ப்ரசூன் ஜோஷி குறிப்பிடுகிறார்.

'ஸ்வீட் ஃபூட்ஸ் & ஸ்நாக்ஸ்' உபபிரிவில் கான்ஸ் சில்வர் லயனை வென்றதோடு மட்டுமின்றி சிறந்த இசையாக்கத்திற்கான வெண்கலத்தை வென்றுள்ளது இவ்விளம்பரம்.

இந்த விளம்பரம் அட்வர்டைஸிங் உலகில் ஒரு பெரும் பரபரப்பை ஏற்படுத்தியது உண்மைதான். ஆனால் actual consumer -ஆகிய உங்களில் எவ்வளவு பேரை Happydent வாங்கச் செய்தது இந்த விளம்பரம்? இது தமிழ் சேனல்களில் இடம்பெறாத விளம்பரம் என்பதை நினைவில் வைத்து, மற்ற சேனல்களில் இந்த விளம்பரத்தைப் பார்த்திருந்தால் சொல்லுங்கள்.

விளம்பரத்தை பார்த்ததேயில்லையா? யூடியூப் இருக்க கவலையேன்?


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