Iruvar

'Iruvar' is easily Mani Ratnam's best work to date- well researched, well planned, tight screenplay, wonderful classic resembling songs, great camera-work, above all, stellar star cast and performances. The scene on the rooftop of Tamil Selvam (Prakash Raj)'s house where Anand (Mohan Lal) is urged to greet his fans is indeed, a masterpiece of a scene. I should say that 11 years has passed since this movie was made but i have loved every one who has worked on this movie. I believe Santosh Sivan is the best cameraman in India, and I am also saddened that he is not doing cemeraworks for Mani Ratnam anymore (this and Dil Se were both class). I loved Mohan Lal, and ever since then, any of his movies failed to come anywhere near as impactful as this. Above all, there is Aishwarya Rai. There are many people who doubt her acting prowess, claiming her to be nothing but glamorous and beautiful. This is, I admit, the second best all-time single film performance by an actress that i have witnessed in my life thus far (ranking first is the Clementine Wozniacki played by Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine). Ash is tremendous in enacting the role of both a village girl and a seductive actress. There is not a single scene which she fails to impress. Considering this her debut movie, i would say that she always carried great potential, i have seen rushes on the sets of the films that she has worked and i observe that she certainly is a very committed lady trying to portray the role in the best way possible. It's only sad that directors get stuck up when giving her roles. Sanjay Leela Bhansali only gave her HDDCS and Devdas where she played beautiful, exuberant young ladies but did not give her the role he gave to Rani in Black. Ash is easily the most talented of all the actresses, not only the most beautiful, her performances in Mani Ratnam's films (Guru) proves that. He seems to be the only director who knows how to use her talent and also beauty both appropriately. The thing about Iruvar is that the songs never look out of place. They are not abrupt nor mindless. This film, as i have witnessed, has changed a common perception that a good movie shouldn't have song and dance sequences. This is a good movie, and it is even a better movie for its song and dances. They are not out of place because all the songs refer to movies which Anand was acting in, and at the same time, all were gorgeously shot. 'Aayirathil Oruvan' had great locations and camera-work, so did 'Venilla', while 'Aayirathil Oruvan' too is the best shot-under-pouring-rain song i have seen so far. And i am writing this 11 years after the movie released, and five years after i watched it for the first time. I still can't erase it off my memory (I played the movie so many times that i ended up tarnishing the VCD), so i feel it deserves an IMDb review.

actually while writing this,i was trying to find out any faults with the Mohanlal,Aishwarya Rai,Prakash Raj stare'IRUVAR',a film by the Indian Spielberg 'manirathnam'.but i couldn't find anything wrong because the film is superb.first to talk about the star cast,it was one of the most biggest performer studded movie in Tamil cinema.stars other than the above mentioned include Gowthami,Revathi,Tabu,Delhi Ganeshan and more. the movie is based on the real life story of legendary actor mgr,Jayalalitha and Karunanithi.as the title says, the story is about the relationship of mgr and Karunanithi.the names were changed in the movie to avoid controversy but still the movie brought out some political problems in Tamilnadu.the opposition from party of Karunanidhi,led the movie to fail in the box office. one of India's greatest actor MOHANLAL plays the lead, Anandan who is from middle class family in 1940's.his ambition was to be a hero in Tamil films and with the help of his friend as well as writer, Tamil Selvan,who is also a politician,he becomes superstar.the party of Tamil Selvan,takes advantage of Anandan's popularity to get votes for the election and later they succeeds.this eventually leads anandan to come to politics.and gradually the ideas of Anandan and tamilselvan differs and they form separate parties.due to anandan's popularity and kindness to people,anaNdan gets crowned.this leads Tamil to think of killing Anandan and some how Anandan survives from the attempt. in this movie,story moves on character of Anandhan from his young age to his old age.Mani Rathnam decorates the IRUVAR with a love story of Kalpana with Anandan.Anandan falls in love with Kalpana,who resembles his late wife Pushpa. the movie scores one gr8 star for the genius actor MOHANLAL for his extraordinary performance.two stars for the director MANIRATHNAM for his good written script.a glowing star for AR Rahman,proving that he is really GOD OF MUSIC.an exclusive star for AR Rahman's back ground score.Prakash Raj as Tamil selvan is also worth a proud star because of his acting excellence.Aishwarya Rai also gets a superb star for her good acting in her debut film.rest of the three stars are given to the dialogues,camera and art direction. A MUST WATCH FOR ALL.

Mani Rathnam has told a fine story about two friends. One who is a film actor whom the people love dearly and harbours political ambitions. One who is an accomplished writer, poet and politician. sounds familiar?

Anand is played by Malayalee actor Mohan Lal and Tamil Selvam's role by the very talented Prakashraj.

One cannot miss the resemblance to the real lives of M.G. Ramachnadran and Karunanithi. However very little is revealed of Pushpa who plays the love interest of Anand. Perhaps Manirathnam was playing his cards carefully, avoiding possible repercussions from Ms Jayalalith, who was the real life mistress of MGR.

There is also some fine acting by Naser who portrays the real life Tamil leader, Anna Durai. Indian cinema has few directors who can make a film that will stand the test of time. Manirathnam is one of them. The story for this film has been well researched and planned. Most Indian films skip these vital steps prior to production. Some may complain about the typical indianess of the film with the usual song and dance sequences in a good film like this. But do bear in mind that the intellectual crowd who sees the usual song and dance as a distraction is a minority. Majority of our desi brothers go to see Aishwarya Rai shaking about. And a movie can make money only by pleasing the Lowest common Factor of the society: The typical desi. Unless Mani Rathnam entertains them we won't have the opportunity to see more movies from this fine director.

I think this is one of Mani's best films ever. Everything about it was astounding. Rehman's music - transported you to the period. Prakash Raj's acting was amazing, he's a class act in this one. Mohan Lal, needless to say was sparkling, some of his emotions, like when he says they expelled him for asking a question and in numerous other instances, were superb. Aish was great... and the accolades goes on.

Also the movie was remarkable for Mani's raw power / edge in showing a movie that so loosely piles incident upon incident, scene after scene - more like a real life documentary, and less like a feature film. Great experimenting and also great final product. Was enjoyed more by film scholars and film students, and not so much by the general public. In the end, it's just good to know that one of India's most successful commercial directors is also experimenting with new themes, new presentation styles, thereby pushing the frontiers of what can be done film-wise.

I have seen this movie about 10 times in the last 5 years. One of the most inspiring movie ever made in Indian movie history. The best part which sets this movie apart is the fact that it is in Tamil and about two of the greatest pioneers of Tamil Nadu, yet it is unbiased and brings out the psyche of two of the greatest minds of Tamil Nadu. Although the movie claims that it is not a true story (in the very first scene), it is intuitive to anybody who lived or are aware of the golden age of Tamil Nadu.

Mohanlal and Prakash Rai play Anandan and Tamizh Chelvan respectively. Impeccable performances by them portraying the real life characters. Every bit of this movie says that it is a classic and this will only be realized in years to come. The film showcases the kind of films Maniratnam is capable of making. A.R.Rahman's music will haunt the ears of the viewers.

This movie was not appreciated by the movie goers in India as it was a little too slow. There are no racy songs, unwanted characters or unrealistic scenes to woo the viewers. Suhasini Maniratnam's dialogues in Tamil takes this movie to a pedestal where only the connoisseurs can admire. A very straight forward approach by the best film-maker in India.

Arvind Swami lends his masculine voice to Vairamuthu's verses to bring out the intensity in the scenes that show Thamizh Chelvan's prowess as a poet.

On the whole, a wonderful movie to have in your DVD rack. A classic that will only reveal itself in the years to come.