Vivek: Of Mimicry, Madurai And M R Radha
by Balakumar Kuppuswamy - Apr 17, 2021 11:24 AM
Tamil actor Vivek, who passed away today.
Snapshot
Among the comedians in Kollywood â and it has been blessed with several â Vivek was one of the most aware of the industry, its many people and their funny foibles, and he brilliantly used the familiarity of those details with the general public to great effect in his comedic repertoire.
Writing obits for comedians, trying to invoke the tragedy of the moment essentially through their humour lines, can be a strangely morbid exercise.
And in the case of Tamil actor-comedian Vivek, who passed away in Chennai today due to a massive cardiac arrest, it becomes more pronounced because one of his most famous lines â one through which he announced his arrival in Tamil cinema â
Karthik Subbaraj discusses producing Triples on Hotstar, and why anthologies challenge him as a filmmaker As a filmmaker, anthologies excite me because you have to tell a solid story within 30 minutes, says Karthik Subbaraj on directing in an anthology of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video each. Raja Sekar December 19, 2020 16:20:31 IST Karthik Subbaraj. Facebook
In Tamil cinema, the benchmark set by late writer and actor Crazy Mohan is unparalleled. The makers of
Triples, a comedy web series currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, have been mentioning in their press interactions that they have tried to pay respect to the legacy of Crazy Mohan with the series.
Express News Service
Directors funding the first project of their assistants is not a common occurrence, with a handful of filmmakers like AR Murugadoss, Shankar and Mani Ratnam doing so. Karthik Subbaraj now joins that list as he has turned producer for Triples, made by his erstwhile associate, Charukesh Sekar. I ve tried to incorporate my learnings from Karthik Subbaraj in this web series, including staging and drawing best performances, says Charukesh.
Excerpts:
Karthik, your recent films like Mercury and Petta have not had your brand of humour seen in earlier films like Pizza and Jigarthanda. Was this why you were drawn to this project?
Triples review: All of Tamil cinema can’t save this bummer of a web series The biggest shame with Triples is that it had potential. A sharper commentary on the world and a cleverer dialogue writer could have made Triples an absolute delight of a show. Ranjani Krishnakumar December 14, 2020 14:05:12 IST
Language: Tamil
It is not uncommon among Tamil filmmakers in general, and the Karthik Subbaraj production house in particular, to want to pay homage to the past.
Triples chooses Crazy Mohan’s oeuvre. Ram, played by a surprisingly adept Jai, is on the verge of marrying Mythili (Madhuri MJ), after a heart-breaking divorce from Meera (Vani Bhojan). Situation has it that Meera wants to reunite with Ram. His friends Cheenu (Rajkumar), Maadhu (Vivek Prasanna) and his wife Janaki (Namita Krishnamurthy) decide to play cupid.
Express News Service
The main characters of Disney Hotstar’s Triples go by names like Maadhu, Cheenu, Mythili and Janaki. You hear these names; you think of Crazy Mohan such is the impact of the late actor-writer’s contribution to the Tamil comedy scene. Somewhere early in the first episode of this eight-episode web-series, Ram (Jai) and friends borrow money from a loan shark named Baby Chettaa, and proceed to open a coffee shop called Kalakkitta Da (do I need to explain the pun?).
The said Chettaa, before lending his money, says he’s like a bank. Ram and friends smile in relief. But then Chettaa wears his face of menace and takes a deep breath meant to increase the effect of his punchline and clarifies that he is a ‘blood bank’.