Nothing hits house fairly like nostalgia, and as the recent trend of re-releases has proved, it’s particularly the case in the case of cinema. 20 years after it was initially launched, Ghilli is back on the big screen, and a matinee present on the packed principal display at PVR Sathyam cinemas on Saturday noticed a crowd of followers dance to the opening beats of ‘Soora Thenga,’ as if it was one of many a number of First Day First Show celebrations of actor Vijay’s movies that now we have witnessed during the last 20 years.
A remake of the 2003 Telugu movie Okkadu, Ghilli follows Velu (Vijay), a kabaddi participant who bravely dares to rescue Dhanalakshmi (Trisha) from a Madurai gang chief Muthupandi (Prakash Raj). The movie’s plot and narrative is so simple as it will get, and but, audiences since 2004 have gone again to it a number of instances within the final 20 years, principally when it received aired on tv and extra just lately on OTT. This has solely led to extra pleasure constructing within the weeks main as much as the re-release, culminating in a social media frenzy due to followers who shared a number of movies of the revelry from packed theatres. So what makes a masala fest like Ghilli one of the re-watchable motion pictures?
Vijay in a still from ‘Ghilli’
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Sri Surya Movies
Dharani, a director who mastered making masala business entertainers
Twenty years later, Dharani’s Ghilli is still regarded to have perfected a method — as an eminently re-watchable movie that has the right drama, track, dance, combat, romance and comedy ratio. In 2004, expectations had been set, on condition that director Dharani was additionally driving excessive on the success of his earlier movies, Dhill and Dhool.
Both movies, helmed by Vikram had an identical, easy premise — an extraordinary man who’s tasked with taking evil head-on, encounters a number of roadblocks, has near-death experiences, and then proceeds to unravel an elaborate plan of revenge. If Kanagavel’s plans of becoming a member of the police drive are thwarted by a corrupt officer in Dhill, Arumugam in Dhool has a bigger concern from his hometown he hopes the federal government will deal with — a polluted water supply.
In Ghilli, Dharani’s protagonist has much less to fret about. We as a substitute discover his relationship along with his household and buddies (who present a lot of the comedian reduction) and snort at his lack of a bigger ambition aside from excelling at Kabaddi. He is a idler, however a particularly likable one with coronary heart and spirit, particularly when confronted with a problem.
Vijay in a still from ‘Ghilli’
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Sri Surya Movies
Iconic dialogues and Vidyasagar’s music
Through the opening weekend, audiences haven’t stopped simply singing alongside to cult favorite ‘Appadi Podu,’ however have additionally been loudly reciting the movie’s many iconic dialogues with the actors on display — together with Vijay’s opening monologue, Ashish Vidyarthi’s ‘wrong nanbargal’, and Prakash Raj’s many declarations of terrifyingly heartfelt love. Phone cameras had been additionally stored able to seize Trisha’s memorable demand for kaara pori proper in the course of a heated chase sequence.
Much of the nostalgia tied to Ghilli is owing to its exceptionally enjoyable soundtrack by Vidyasagar, in his fourth collaboration with Dharani after Edhirum Pudhirum, Dhill and Dhool. The excessive vitality isn’t simply reserved for a chase scene or a hero introduction track — even the romance right here will get a excessive octane ‘Appadi Podu’, which stays one of the in style Tamil dance numbers to at the present time.
Muthupandi and the depraved allure of his ‘Chellam’
Vijay and Trisha’s first scenes within the movie may need been met with loud cheers, however the deafening cheers reserved for Prakash Raj’s Muthupandi needed to be seen to be believed. It wasn’t stunning although, given how Muthupandi and his quirks attained a type of cult standing again in 2004. Muthupandi is a philanderer, however not in the case of his ‘Chellam‘, as he tells a very revolted Dhanalakshmi after having killed both her brothers in quick succession. While this could have been a textbook angry thug out to get the man who has dared to get the better of him, Prakash Raj as Muthupandi hams it up in an entirely different way — chosing to go over the top with the comedy, all while baying for blood.
Prakash Raj as Muthupandi in a still from ‘Ghilli’
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Sri Surya Movies
‘Ghilli,’ a reminder of what good masala entertainers meant in Tamil cinema
Both sports activities and motion movies have seen a gentle evolution over time, with fights changing into higher choreographed and sports activities sequences a minimum of making an attempt to look extra genuine. The excessive factors of Ghilli, from its many combat and motion sequences, nevertheless, proceed to stay most gratifying and had been met with loud cheers within the theatre. The filmmaking might sound dated in components, however the excessive moments proceed to be efficient regardless of the time that has handed, which is an affidavit to how the movie has aged.
We’ve been seeing a streak of motion movies within the south, particularly in Tamil, with a ton of violence, excessive stakes and greater budgets. But watching Ghilli now could be a reminder of the way you didn’t want a lot to make an ideal formulaic masala movie work. The movie banks on the vitality of its lead forged, ensures the screenplay by no means lags, and has an ideal soundtrack. The roadblocks are disbursed off at breakneck velocity, and there’s sufficient comedian reduction for each combat sequence that dangerously toes the road with changing into repetitive.
A still from the ‘Soora Thenga’ track from ‘Ghilli’
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Sri Surya Movies
In our eagerness to up the stakes, have a few of our motion movies in current instances actually overlooked what works and has the ability to stay memorable for years to come back? There’s been fairly a little bit of discourse about how rom-com as a style are flailing and an try to revive the identical, and not sufficient is being stated concerning the consolation of the Tamil masala motion pictures from greater than 20 years in the past, which proceed to make for the right rewatches on lazy weekend afternoons.
While overseas places or innovatively staged gory fights is likely to be in ample provide at current, a Velu and Dhanalakshmi driving throughout a freeway to the beats of ‘Arjunar Villu’is likely to be simply the cinematic excessive that all of us have to experience infrequently.