M S Viswanathan - The Legend lives on

      M.S.Viswanathan 24 June 1928 - 14 July 2015

M S Viswanathan, popularly called as MSV,is no more.Ofcourse he is 87,so one can say 'its not a young age'.May be true.But there are people who grew up listening to M S Viswanathan's songs.If I say, 'MSV's music made my childhood awesome',it can't be an exaggeration.It doesn't mean I haven't listened to other music directors,but only some people find a special place in our hearts and MSV is one such person.

MSV refined music in Tamil cinema and now he is like a library to all the music directors. Prior to MSV,music followed a 'drama' style.The movie will be full of songs,infact dialogues will come in between songs.That was a trend.But MSV has given a new dimension to music in Tamil cinema.It is not like before MSV music was bad,but only means MSV was a trendsetter.The number of instruments used,the way background music was given,singers were chosen etc, all changed with MSV's arrival.May be there were legends like K V Mahadevan who were good at it too,but MSV was still someone special.Along with Mr.T K Ramamoorthy,MSV has composed lot of memorable songs.

One important quality of MSV is the amount of respect he showed for lyrics and also lyricists. There were instances of MSV composing music for lyrics and also lyrics being written after the tune was composed.He had a golden run in the industry with veteran lyricists like Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram, Kannadasan and Vaali. I have read lot of incidents about MSV. Once Kannadasan came to studio early while MSV has not turned up and he was not picking up the phone call too. Then it was understood he was still sleeping.But Kannadasan had to go, so he wrote the lyrics starting with the lines 'avanukenna thoongi vittaan,agapattavan naanallavaa'(meaning he slept happily,but I was caught here).After MSV came to studio,he had a smile on his face and as the lyrics matched the tune perfectly,he went ahead with composition with the same lyrics.

There was an argument between Vaali and MSV while composing a song.MSV challenged Vaali for a song and said if Vaali could impress MSV,he would give him his gold ornaments.Vaali accepted the challenge and gave the lyrics to MSV,in return MSV gave his gold chain to Vaali as he was highly impressed with the lyrics,which then Vaali politely refused.So much respect he had for lyrics. Vaali himself has struggled a lot to establish himself in industry.Vaali was highly talented,but he was waiting for the right opportunity.After he wrote for the MGR starer 'Padagotti' for which MSV was the music director,Vaali became a 'star' lyricist.Infact,MSV has recommended Vaali's name to many producers and Vaali himself has written this.Not only to Vaali,MSV gave break to great singers like SPB,Vani Jayaram etc.

People said with Ilaiyaraja's entry into Tamil Cinema,MSV's domination ended.But the reality was different. With Ilaiyaraja's entry, Tamil people's love for Hindi songs faded away as Ilaiyaraja's tunes were fresh.Undoubtedly Ilaiyaraja went on to become a trendsetter and rightly he is being called as the 'Isaignani'(musical genius).With time,people's taste changes and trend changes accordingly. Ilaiyaraja could only create a place for himself(which none can replace),but his rise could not sideline MSV.Viswanathan continued to compose music and gave memorable songs. Just like that one cannot compose 16 songs for a movie - Ninaithale Inikkum and make all the 16 as super hit songs. Once MSV was invited as chief guest in a college.Ilaiyaraja was at a peak at that time.When MSV went to stage,students started screaming 'sing Siva Sambo'(Sambo Siva Sambo is a song from the movie Ninaithale Inikkum).MSV said,'wait wait I will definitely sing Siva Sambo' while going to stage. Even after Ilaiyaraja's entry, MSV continued his golden touch with movies like Ninaithale Inikkum,Billa,Simla Special,Thillu Mullu,Varumayin Niram Sivappu,Thirisoolam,Ranuva Veeran etc.

MSV worked with Ilaiyaraja too in the movies 'Mella Thirandhadhu Kadhavu' and 'Vishwa Thulasi'. He is not only a great music director,but also a great singer.He sang many songs for other music directors.'Unakkenna kuraichal' from Velli Vizha music by V Kumar,Vidaikodu Engal Naade from Kannathil Muthamittal and AalaalaKandaa from Sangamam music by A R Rahman,Megame from Madrasapattinam music by G V Prakash etc.Madrasapattinam released in 2010. MSV's voice had the magic till his last breath.God's gift.

MSV was one among the very music directors who used the instruments perfectly. The piano usage in songs like 'Paaduvor paadinaal aada thondrum'(Kannan en Kadhalan),'Enakkoru Kadhali Irukkindraal'(Muthana Muthallavo),'Ellorum nalam vaazha'(Enga Mama),Saxaphone usage after every line in the song 'Kalyana naal paarkka sollalama'(Parakkum Paavai),violin usage in 'Engey Nimmadhi'(Puthiya Paravai) etc. are genius work by him.These are all just samples.

MSV along with T K Ramamoorthy has given 'n' number of hit songs.T K Ramamoorthy was a master in Violin while MSV was a master in Harmonium.The song 'Engey Nimmadhi' held the record for using more number of violins those days.Puthiya Paravai was an altogether different experience. It was a thriller and the song 'Paartha Nyaabagam Illayo' with a haunting humming and terrific instrument usage would have definitely frightened some people those days.I didn't have the privilege of watching it in theaters as the movie released 23 years before I was born.Last month Jaya TV telecasted Puthiya Paravai,still the movie has not lost its charisma to attract new age audience too. You should watch this song to understand this :

Many songs like Koduthadhellam Koduthaan(Padagotti),Athai Madi Methayadi(Karpagam),Ullathil Nalla Ullam(Karnan),Nenjam Marappadhillai(Nenjam Marappadhillai),Sonnadhu Neethaana(Nenjil Or Aalayam),Senthamizhthen Mozhiyaal(Maalayitta Mangai),Manaivi Amaivadhellam(Manmadha Leelai),Kadavul Amaithu Vaitha Medai,Deivam Thandha Veeda(Avaloru Thodarkadhai), Vetri meedhu vetri vandhu(Thedi Vandha Mappillai),Odum Megangale,Adho andha paravai pola(Aayirathil Oruvan),Kettadhum koduppavane Krishna Krishna,Deivame(Deiva Magan), Madhavi Pon Mayilaal thogai viriththaal(Iru Malargal),Puthiya Vaanam,Rajavin Paarvai Raniyin pakkam(Anbe Vaa), Manithanenbavan(Sumaithangi), Paramasivan Kazhuthilirundhu(Soorya Gandhi),Pazhamudhir Solayile,Anbulla Maanvizhiye(Kuzhanthayum Deivamum),Adisaya Raagam,Yezhu Swarangaliley,Kelviyin Nayagane(Aboorva Raagangal) etc etc etc. I can keep typing his hit songs. To list out his hit songs itself I can write atleast 5 blog posts.

He has composed music for devotional songs like Pullanguzhal Kodutha Moongilgale.He has composed music for the song 'Allah Allah nee illadhe idame illai neethaane ulagin ellai' and he himself sang this song. This song was composed for the movie 'Mohammed Bin Thuglak'.The lyrics for this song was written by Vaali.The then CM MGR was not happy with MSV composing music for this movie as it was a political satire.MSV was very close to MGR,but that didn't stop him from working for this movie.

He has composed music for over 1700 movies in Tamil,Malayalam,Kannada and Hindi.The nation should have celebrated him like anything and he should have got a Bharata Ratna during his lifetime itself.Unfortunately,he was not even honored with a Padma award.Not sure what was wrong with the juries.Vani Jayaram got national award for the best playback singer category for the movie Aboorva Raagangal(music by MSV),but M S Viswanathan did not get the award.Ofcourse Vani Jayaram deserves it,no doubt about that. During a felicitation function(I think it was for A R Rahman),people raised the concerns of MSV not being honored with national/padma awards.But Mr.Viswanathan gracefully said,'the love and affection of fans is my biggest award.I could see so many people getting award in the industry,I am so happy about it.'.So what if the successive govts didn't give him any award? That will not degrade him,that has only made those awards meaningless. Today a leading Tamil daily mentioned about MSV's proximity to MGR and Kalaignar Karunanidhi,but still he has not got an award.Had he considered these awards so important,easily he could have 'got' it by making MGR or Kalaignar to recommend his name.But he didn't do that,man of self-respect. Ms.Jayalalithaa is the only Chief Minister to recommend his name for Padma awards,but the central govts as usual ignored a legend from Tamil Nadu.If MSV doesn't deserve these awards then who else deserves them? MSV is on par with legends like Naushad Ali.Because MSV was not given these awards,only the awards lost its respect.

M S Viswanathan was not only a great music director but also a nice person.He has never spoken anything against anyone.MSV took care of his Guru Mr.S M Subbaiah Naidu(he was a great music director as well) and his wife till the end of their life.Royal Salute!!!

The song 'Vaaraayo thozhi vaaraayo' is a common song in marriages happening in Tamil Nadu and also for some other happy occasions. Music was composed by MSV.So MSV will be behind the happiness of people of future generations too.MSV composed music for 'Thamizhththaai Vaazhththu'(தமிழ்த்தாய் வாழ்த்து) and even today school children sing Thamizhththaai Vaazhththu in the same tune. As long Tamil is alive,people will sing Thamizhththai Vaazhththu and as long as people sing it,MSV will be remembered.Tamil is immortal and so is MSV.

Bahubali - The Epic

The most expected movie of the year - Bahubali,directed by S S Rajamouli, has finally hit the silver screens.I watched the Tamil version.Rajamouli gained popularity all over India after his fantasy flick Magadheera - starring Ram Charan.The dubbed version itself was well received among even non-Telugu speaking audience.Then he went on with Eega(Naan-E in Tamil and it was not a dubbing, but a bilingual),which again went on to become a super hit.Now he has made Bahubali as a bilingual again(some say its trilingual - Tamil,Telugu and Hindu,but not sure).What's Bahubali all about? I can answer in one word - Grandeur.Ofcourse Bahubali has more to offer.

Well in the name of review,I don't want to reveal too much about the story. Infact,more than story it is the narration and the visuals that keeps us engaged till the end.This is how the movie goes on - the tribal people see a hand carrying a kid in water,asking for help.The kid is brought up by Rohini and she names him Shivudu. The boy keeps asking whats there in the hills behind waterfalls and he attempts to climb that hill many times,but he fails.Needless to say,who that kid is - hero Prabhas. One fine day he sees an angel like girl calling singing and dancing at him,Somehow he climbs the hill and finds out a rebel group.Who are they?What's their goal?How Prabhas joins them and what he finds out? This is what Bahubali part-1 is all about.

Rajamouli's screenplay has more scope for 'mass' scenes than any suspense element.Performance-wise everyone has done their part very well.Tamanna as Avantika, has tried her best to act as a rebel.Her angry expressions and fights justify her casting.Other heroine Anushka as Devasenai, has less footage compared to Tamanna, but its a powerful character.Anushka's make-up and dialogues are well received by the masses. The very first scene when Anushka was shown,people started whistling.Glad to see a heroine having such a mass appeal,especially when her character is not an usual glamorous one.Sathyaraj rocked as Kattappa - the loyal slave.In one scene Sathyaraj fights with 'Kicha' Sudeep.It was choreographed very well.The energy shown by Sathyaraj in that scene makes it a treat to watch.Sudeep as Aslam,comes in just 1 scene.He may get more footage in second part it seems.Still I doubt it as he gets a special 'Thanks' in the title card.

Palvaalthevan(Rana) is a ruthless king.He kills his own people,tries to kill his cousin,doesn't mind people dying when his 100 feet gold statue is raised.Such is his lust for power.He looks good and has a good screenpresence.He had to work really hard to be accepted as a villain.His hard work paid off. Prabhas as Bahubali and Shiva fits to the character perfectly.He is not such a big mass hero, but his tall and strong physique is appealing.His physqiue makes some scenes like lifting the Shiva statue believable.There are mass scenes for Prabhas.His entry into the Magizhmadhi kingdom is the best sequence. Theater erupted to a thunderous response for the golden statue scene.There are more mass scenes like his walk after chopping off the head of a prince,lifting the Shiva Lingam,fighting in battle field etc.

Rajamouli has shown the quality called 'Rajabakthi'(people's devotion towards the king) very well.I have read this in novels as well,how a 'good' king will be treated by the people of his country.In one word - he will be treated like a God.We can see that from the expressions of people.It was so natural especially in the statue lifting scene.

CGI work was ok,not bad.It could have been bit better,but with an Indian budget,we have to compromise on this aspect.Flying scenes,the snow ride etc were bit amateur.But the battlefield scenes are the highlight of the movie.It was picturised so well that one could feel as if he is returning from real battlefield. Of course, one can argue that there are better Hollywood movies.Always there will be a better option,without comparison I can say the battle scene was marvelous.The funny language of 'Kalakeyas',the competition between Rana and Prabhas to outsmart each other in defeating the enemy to get crowned,Prabhas' inspirational speech and the grand sets and CGI work makes the battlefield scene a mind blowing experience. 

There will be comparisons between Magadheera and Bahubali.The question of whether Bahubali is better than Magadheera is unavoidable.Magadheera cannot be called as a period film as only the flashback portions involve all those wars and kingdoms.But Bahubali is completely a period film. Magadheera had a reference to Sagapthiya Vamsam, people of which will kill atleast 100 people before their death in wars to save the country, with the hero Ram Charan himself playing a warrior from Sagapthiya Vamsam. Bahubali has Kattappa,a strong and bold warrior,who is capable of saving the entire kingdom,but remains a slave to kings due to the promise of his ancestors.Magadheera had electrifying scenes like confrontation between Ram Charan and SriHari,RamCharan and DevGill etc. Bahubali doesn't have such confrontation scenes with villain directly.Probably I should say till now we didn't see such a scene as the movie is still not over.The director gives a clear lead to second part in the climax.Otherwise both the movies follows the 'mass template' faithfully. There are scenes of head chopping,item song etc in both the movies.Magadheera had better songs compared to Bahubali. But Maragatha Mani's BGM gives the much needed mass feel.

I have written about almost all the important characters except Ramya Krishnan.She deserves a special write up.16 years ago,her Neelampari character was a huge hit among masses.Her acting had such a reach that people teared off the screens in some theaters because she insulted Rajni(in movie). In these 16 years she has done many movies,but her Sivagami character in Bahubali creates the same impact.You get goosebumps when she feeds both the babies and says both are her sons(Rana and Prabhas), runs the kingdom in the absence of an able king,fights the traitors,brings up the children. The crowning scene was terrific.Ramya understood the character very well and has given what it actually needs.She stands up tall,with a proud smile on her face praises one prince and crowns the other.If I remember correctly only Ramya speaks punch dialogues,ex 'adhuve en kattalai,enadhu kattalaye Saasanam'.Splendid performance.If you ask me to watch it a second time,without any second thought I would go mainly because of Ramya Krishnan.She has lived as Raj Mata. I am sure Ramya will have a part in second part too.

We should ignore people who sit in home and say "my uncle's sister's friend's brother's daughter texted me 'Bahubali' is average,so its average".We have seen movies like this since black and white days.MGR's 'Adimaippen' had somewhat similar script.But that we can say for any movie. Bahubali is a tested and tried formula script with grand visuals and soulful performances.Royal salute to Rajamouli for making the characters speak proper Tamil.Credit goes to Karky(dialogue writer) as well. Its not only a visual treat but its epic. Go for it!!!

Papanasam - Recreates the 'Drishyam' Magic

Papanasam is a faithful remake of the malayalam classic 'Drishyam'.I am writing this review after watching both the movies - Papanasam and Drishyam.Before watching Papanasam,I had an opinion that it was highly impossible to recreate the magic of Mohan Lal's Drishyam. There were reasons for that.Be it Mohan Lal or Meena or the children who acted as their daughters or even the Muslim who runs the tea-shop,their performances were very natural. On the other hand,I thought Kamal may overact and spoil the character in an attempt to overtake MohanLal.There were many who thought like this.But 'Papanasam' gave a tight slap to us.We felt like Kamal through his 'Choyambulingam' character saying 'chinna pasangala yaar kitta?' to us.

Remaking a classic, which was also commercial blockbuster, is like walking on a tight rope. That too, Drishyam is a complicated case.Mohan Lal's George Kutty character doesn't demand any special appearance or loud dialogues.George Kutty is a common man, who earned all his properties by sheer hardwork and leads a happy life with his family.How he faces a difficult situation and how he overcomes it.That is what the protagonist of Drishyam or Papanasam is supposed to do.When Mohan Lal has already done this perfectly,the task of doing this role again in a different language is going to be a real challenge.Kamal took up the challenge.

The story is simple.Choyambulingam(Kamal) is an ordinary man,who has come up on his own, marries Gautami without getting any dowry.He has 2 daughters.At times voices out against the corrupt policeman(Kalabavan Mani).One day his family faces an unexpected problem.What the problem is?Is Choyambulingam able to solve it?If yes, how? This is what Papanasam is all about.Recently,we have seen lot of thriller/horror movies.In such movies, the screenplay will revolve around an incident and the audience will be left guessing - 'who is behind the incident?'.But Papanasam is a different thriller.Here you will be tempted to know what will be the next move of the protagonist rather than thinking 'what would have happened when the incident took place'.You will understand this while watching the movie. 


Biggest success of Papanasam is its casting and performance.Baby Esther and Asha Sarath played the same roles in original version as well.I thought Gautami is a miscast after watching Meena.I felt Meena had a better screenpresence than Gautami,but that did not spoil the character.Gautami has done well.Hope she gets more offers after Papanasam. The elder daughter Niveda,corrupt policeman Kalabhavan Mani,Ilavarasu as constable, Arul Dass as sub-inspector have done well too.Nothing was artificial.Baby Esther's eyes, expressions and dialogue delivery would leave you spellbound. Asha Sarath as a tough police officer and a caring mother has done exceedingly well.It seems she is doing acting in this role for third time( after Malayalam and Kannada versions).

 But it was M.S.Bhaskar as the tea-shop owner stood out.He was damn brilliant.People will usually say 'he lived as that character',that sentence will suit Mr.Bhaskar very well.His local slang,expressions,body language etc proves his quality.I can proudly call myself as a fan of this actor.He was terrific in movies like Mozhi,Uttama Villain etc.Compared to those movies,he has less footage in Papanasam,but he has proved his mettle in this role too.Other than M S Bhaskar,I feel one more character has come out very well in Tamil - Anant Mahadevan's Prabhakar,who comes as husband of Asha Sarath.He was impressive with his innocent expressions and body language.This particular character alone I feel Tamil version is better than Malayalam.

Ghibran's BGM and songs are pleasing.The background music is neither too loud nor quiet. Ghibran has given as much as the situation demands.Sujith's cinematography takes you to Papanasam itself.Lovely visuals.'Yeya En Kottikara' song has a soothing music and pleasant visuals.

 I have mentioned lot of positives about the movie,but Kamal as Choyambulingam elevates the standard of movie.Full credit to director Jeethu Joseph.Though he has directed the original version,it is not easy to create the same impact again.Handling Mohan Lal and Kamal has its own advantages and difficulties.They are known for their acting skills,so it is quite normal for even an average movie-goer to expect some impressive performance. The advantage is they are capable of doing it,difficulty is extracting it perfectly.The director has mastered the art it seems. 

There are some scenes which are enough to differentiate Mohan Lal and Kamal.Mohan Lal shows an unimaginable calmness in his face and his body language conveys the message 'you have underestimated me and you are going to pay for it'. The same scene,Kamal does bit differently.He just gives a sarcastic look towards the police. It was like saying 'now you might have understood who Choyambulingam is'. Audience were crazily whistling and clapping for this particular scene.Again in climax, Mohan Lal maintains his calmness on his face still we are able to notice the tears in his eyes.Here too his expressions and body language says,'yes,it may be wrong.even we are not happy with that,but there was no other option,for me my family is important'. Whereas Kamal was completely different from Mohan Lal in climax.He starts of kind of normally, gradually he gets emotional and suddenly he breaks-down.Splendid performance it was. In short, Mohan Lal and Kamal have acted differently but with complete perfection. Those who have watched Drishyam and Papanasam will never say Kamal was better than Mohan Lal or Mohan Lal was better than Kamal.

There is another important point about this script.Anant Mahadevan once says 'our son is misusing your affection'.Parents should control their children - both son and daughter. When parents fail to control their children on some aspects,they will only end up suffering.Just because someone is a 'son',he doesn't get the license to do some 'small' mistakes. Ignoring some 'serious' mischief of the 'sons' is the starting point for most of the crimes in the society.

As I have mentioned in the title, the Kamal-Jeethu Joseph combination has recreated the 'Drishyam' magic in Papanasam too.Instead of walking out of theaters, when the hero does not fight with the villains using muscle power and uses his brains,the audience are whistling clapping like anything.Papanasam is going to be a huge hit for Kamal and undoubtedly this is the best movie of Kamal in the last 12 years.To be honest,I don't find any negative points in this movie.It is flawless. If you are a fan of good cinema,without any second thought,book your tickets for Papanasam.

Jaya Verdict

This is the hot topic in Tamil Nadu.Lot of discussions are happening everywhere about this topic. Needless to mention about social media.Facebook and twitter are full of trolls,memes,outrages etc.What is really unfortunate is,people share all these in haste. Not many are ready to spare few minutes to think before sharing something.There are some people who doesn't care anything about what they are sharing.For them sharing trolls/memes gives a sense of satisfaction.Well we can't find fault with such people.But there is another group which has people who share serious 'updates/tweets'.There is a problem with this particular group.Most of them don't even try to find the details about what they are sharing.As expected they are sharing so many updates about the disproportionate assets case of Jayalalithaa.

There are people who feel Jaya 'bought this verdict'. These people belong to only 4 categories - 1) Hardcore Jaya haters 2) DMK supporters 3) Those who think except them all others are corrupt 4) People who expect the judiciary to be unbiased and the nation to be 'corruption free'.Personally I am least bothered about categories 1,2 and 3 as it is waste of time trying to wake-up someone who pretends to be sleeping.But I have a message to people belonging to category 4 - kindly think before expressing your anger in social network.

With reference to the verdict delivered by Mr.Kumarasamy,I would say this is not at all shocking for me.If you say 'this is unexpected','I am shocked' etc about this judgement, then I can only say this to you people - you didn't follow the case properly.I was actually shocked when the verdict was against Jayalalithaa in special court.The evidences submitted were not good enough to punish the former Tamil Nadu CM.For example,let us consider the grand marriage of Sudhakaran (Jaya's foster son whom she disowned long back).In this case they have mentioned that the cost of pandal, used in this marriage, itself is 5 crore 10 lakhs.This is an estimated cost and this estimate was provided only after the marriage was over(they have inspected it after 2 and half years and gave this estimate).Note the point,this is estimated cost,no proper bills were submitted.The special court judge, Mr.Kunha, didn't agree to this and he felt 5 crore is too big amount for this pandal,so he reduced the estimate to 3 crore. So without any proper documents they have estimated the cost and came to a conclusion. This is just an example,if you go through the entire judgement you can find more. This was mentioned by Tamil journalist Mr.Cho Ramaswamy.Immediately don't make conclusions that Thuglak/Cho is a pro-ADMK magazine bla bla bla. Ofcourse, Thuglak is supporting Jaya and ADMK, no doubt about it. The discussion is not whether it is right or wrong, but what Thuglak has reported is from the judgement of Kunha.Not many magazines published these details,but Thuglak published it. That is the reason for referring to it now.

This is just an example and there are lot of things in the judgement about which I was not convinced and that is the reason why I strongly believed Jayalalithaa will get acquittal.I am not saying anything against Mr.Kunha.Whenever a case involves a celebrity(politician,cricket player,cinema actors etc), the trial goes on in media and the judgement too will be delivered by the legal experts of these private channels.Print media too started behaving in the same way.These channels and magazines creates an impression that 'the judge is honest if the judgement is against the celebrity and he is corrupt if its in favor of them'.This is a very bad trend.

Mr.Kunha felt the evidences submitted by the prosecution was good enough to give conviction to Jaya and rejected the defense side arguments.As a result Jaya got a punishment for 4 years with a fine of 100 crores.Now in appeal,in high court,Mr.Kumarasamy felt the other way. The evidence submitted by the prosecution was not good enough to give conviction.People claim that the court didn't hear the prosecution's arguments at all.This is a wrong statement.In an appeal in a higher court, the entire trial will not happen again.The argument will be based on only the important evidences rejected and considered by the lower court.As far as I know,new witnesses too will be allowed. But the entire trial will not happen for sure.My basic understanding is 'an appeal against the lower court verdict means either the defense or prosecution is dissatisfied with the verdict pronounced based on the arguments made.Which means the argument is valid and only the judgement is not satisfactory. Incase a new witness/evidence is found it should be considered as well'.So the question of unfair treatment to Acharya,the public prosecutor itself is invalid.The Supreme court said, Bhavani Singh's appointment as public prosecutor(PP) was invalid at the same time there is no need for a fresh trial.It has asked Anbazhagan(one of the petitioner against Jaya) and the PP(Karnataka govt appointed Acharya as PP after Supreme court's verdict) to give their arguments in writing.

This Acharya was the one who argued against Jayalalithaa in lower court and based on his arguments only Mr.Kunha gave a 4 year imprisonment to Jaya.By any yardstick,one day was good enough for a lawyer, who is aware of top-to-bottom in a case, to file his counter arguments against the defense. Instead of providing documents supporting his arguments against Jaya,this man just like that said 'the appeal itself is invalid.Without public prosecutor a trial can't happen'.Mr.Acharya was well aware of the fact that when asked about the appointment of public prosecutor,the Karnataka govt said 'no comments' and it was then the Tamil Nadu vigilance appointed Bhavani Singh as PP.Acharya had his chance to provide documents supporting his claim.Having failed to do that, whats the point of rueing now?When the Supreme court itself says 'a fresh trial is not needed',Acharya says the appeal is invalid.According to Acharya,whatever verdict given in the lower court should be upheld in High court and he will not provide any supporting documents for that.Is Mr.Acharya not making a mockery of law here?Who is Acharya to say an appeal itself is unnecessary?

Because the prosecution could not produce any concrete evidence,Mr.Kumarasamy cancelled the lower court judgement and acquitted Jaya.When Jaya got convicted there was joy and proud moments in social media with statements like 'needhi vendradhu'.'truth alone triumphs','justice prevails' etc.When the high court cancels that judgement,suddenly judiciary lost its respect for these people. The logic is simple - if Jaya gets conviction, 'justice prevails(நீதி வென்றது). If the judgement is in favor of Jaya - then ' money won(நிதி வென்றது).

A judgement will be only based on evidences submitted and not based on whether a person is good or bad.If the evidences submitted against Jaya were not strong enough to prove her guilt and if the judge still gives a verdict against her - is it fair? Is that not an insult to our judicial system?Recently Salman Khan got bail and his 5yr sentence was suspended and today along with Jaya's acquittal there is another news doing rounds that Satyam founder Mr.Ramalinga Raju got bail.So there is a lame communist thought going viral in social media that law is applicable only to common man. Ramalinga Raju got bail in a sessions court and his 7 years rigorous imprisonment was suspended.

This is again the judicial system of India.In appeal the accused will get bail and the sentence may be suspended too.The only problem I see here is the unusual delay in finishing a case in the lower court. The delay need not necessarily happen only because of the accused,it can also happen for various other reasons like the retirement of a judge in the middle of a case,changing a judge based on a petition etc.This delay is the only drawback with Indian judicial system.Well in that case, no country is perfect,they all have their own shortcomings.Just like that saying 'the law is only for common man' etc looks really childish.Salman Khan and Raju's bail and Jaya's acquittal,everything happened in a quick succession but coincidentally. Linking these 3 and blaming the entire system is nothing more than childishness. Even reputed sites like Firstpost have proven to be no different from other desperate channels.

I am facing another question - don't you think Jaya committed mistake?Don't you know was involved in illegal activities? How can you even support this judgement? Well my answer is simple - judgements cannot be infact should not be based on assumptions.Right from the beginning, people who filed the case against Jaya were not serious enough.This case was filed for political reasons and now when the case was nearing its completion,the opposition wants to exploit the situation using this case.They were sleeping for more than 15 years and they have waken up all of a sudden and wants to send Jaya to jail.Had they filed the case with proper evidences, the verdict would have been different. This case failed long back because it was not handled well by the people who filed it. With this verdict,to be honest, am satisfied that still there are judges who just don't succumb to hype and pressure and do their work sincerely.

Congratulations Ms.Jayalalithaa. More details about Ms.Jayalalithaa the politician and ADMK later.

Ratham Ore Niram

Sujatha's Ratham Ore Niram - a novel based on First Indian war of Independence (1857). One of the best historical novels.It doesn't blindly demonize the British.McKinsey - a cruel British captain,has no respect for women or no sentiments at all.Muthukumaran,a local guy defeats Mc Kinsey in a fight(Silambam - martial arts) and an angry Mc Kinsey kills Muthukumaran's father in confusion.Now Muthukumaran wants to take revenge against Mc Kinsey.He is on a mission.

Captain Ashley, total contrast to Mc Kinsey.He follows ethics,doesn't accept killing women and innocent people.He writes poems to express his love to Emily while Mc Kinsey directly touches her 'romantically' to get her and Emily marries Mc Kinsey while she still sympathizes Ashley.Later she realizes how cruel Mc Kinsey is and finds out some kids in a locality resembling Mc Kinsey.If am not wrong, Sujatha's Karuppu Sivappu Veluppu was stopped because of this episode.

Though this is a historical novel and based on first war of Independence,it doesn't fail to entertain us.Characters like Pooncholai and Bairagi are added mainly for entertainment.Through Ashley's character,Sujatha means,not all the Britishers were cruel and there good people like Ashley too. One need not doubt this,yes there were good people in British side too and a best example would be Lord Ripon.So Ashley's character is very much believable.The novel moves at a brisk pace and scenes like Ashley helping Muthukumaran to escape twice, Muthukumaran rescuing Sivagami(Pooncholai's younger sister) from British custody etc are typical Sujatha touch :-) . The following conversation between Ashley and Edward Mc Kinsey shows how the 1857 revolt started.When you read this novel completely,you will understand 'what caused the revolt and how it ended up'.

"இந்தச் சின்ன கொழுப்பு விஷயத்துக்காகப் பெரிய கலகம் விளையுமா?"

"இல்லை எட்வர்ட்.காரணம் இது மட்டும் இல்லை. இது கலகம் வெடிக்க ஏற்படக் கடைசிக் காரணம். முக்கியமான காரணம் வேறு." - ஆஷ்லி 

"என்ன அது?"

"நாம் இந்தியர்களை நடத்தும் விதம்."

"ஹ! அதில் என்ன குறை? கறுப்பர்களை வைக்க வேண்டிய இடத்தில்தான் வைத்திருக்கிறோம்"

"இப்போது நீ 'கறுப்பர்கள்' என்று சொல்கிறாயே அதில் இருக்கும் வெறுப்பும் ஆணவமும்தான் இன்று கலகம் துவங்கியிருப்பதற்குக் காரணம்."

What makes this novel unique is the 'balance' which Sujatha maintains in describing the atrocities of British and also the Indian rebels.While Sujatha describes the cruel nature of British through scenes like Mc Kinsey enjoying an Indian widow getting burnt alive,British army ruthlessly killing 2 children because they were wearing a rebel like dress etc etc. The narration of Bibighar massacre was so hard-hitting that even being an Indian,I sympathized for the British.120 British women and children captured by the Sepoy forces were slaughtered mercilessly and their remains were thrown into a nearby well to hide the evidence.After reading this book,some questions came to my mind - 'should we take it as all is fair in war? should we oppose wars/fights at any cost?'. On a killing spree one may kill any number of people,but that will haunt him throughout his life.

Infact, there is an important character called 'Bairaagi' (kind of monk, though not exactly..this monk is an expert in martial arts and also cracks adult jokes at times) and this Bairaagi justifies all these war cruelties and he says 'even rape is right in war'.On the other hand,he also describes about British people trapped in Kanpur.They were on losing side and they were even sure of their death in the war.Amiliya,an innocent girl once says to Emily, 'before our troupes reach Kanpur,we all will be raped' and she laughs at an old lady.And she goes on,'after we come out,first thing I would do is to buy a dress as yours'..While offered to leave by the Indians, these trapped people still carried some valuables with them and Amiliya says 'whatever happens,desires of people remains the same'..the death of the 120 people including Amiliya will move anyone to tears.

There are emotional scenes like Muthukumaran saving Emily from an Indian soldier,who tried to rape her.While Muthukumaran takes Emily with him, she emotionally thanks God for sending Muthu to save her.Finally Ashley comes searching Emily and finds her.What happens then is the climax.

I read this book only last year.Once in a while,'Ratham Ore Niram' comes to my mind and also the horror suffered by innocent people(both Indians and British). Sujatha Sujatha thaan 

smile emoticon not sure,if he was honored with any award in the field of literature,but his books will be loved by future generations too compared to some 'award winning books/novels'.  I have said this so many times 'Writer Sujatha is immortal smile emoticon '.

Rhythm - A memorable flashback

This is an age of netizens.A movie's fate can be known within minutes after its release.One need not even wait to find a computer to login and update the review,people have smart phones with 2G/3G data facilities.Infact some people have gone mad that they start posting scene by scene updates too thereby killing the mood of others who haven't watched the movie.Now I want to review a movie which released 15 years ago.I have mentioned the movie name in the title of this post - Rhythm,an Arjun starer directed by Vasanth.

It was holiday time for me when I watched this movie.I watched it in New Cinema Theater( Sri Krishna Palace) in Tindivanam.I went with an expectation of watching some fun-filled action entertainer.I ended up with Rhythm.I had no patience as the reaction of the audience influenced me too.I felt its a painfully slow boring movie.The main reason for watching this movie was songs.A R Rahman was at his peak when this movie got released and Vasanth said in some interviews that there are 5 songs representing the 'pancha boothas(Five prime elements of nature)' - land,water,air,sky and fire.This created an expectation in me and I went to theater.After few months I watched the same movie in sun tv - alone. I understood the movie and fell in love with it.Let me explain this sequence later in this article, now my focus shifts to movie.

Movie starts with the song for water - 'Nadhiye nadhiye'.The main characters involved are Arjun,his parents,Meena,her son and actress Lakshmi.The hero-heroine meets are so natural.At the beginning,Arjun initiates chats with Meena,ofcourse naturally and Meena avoids him.Later on they become friends.This sequence is too natural that we can feel as if its happening in our day to day life.One fine day, Meena requests Arjun and his family to take care of her son for few days as she wants to go out of Mumbai for few days due to some work.Now a strong bonding develops between Arjun and the boy. In between there is a flashback for both Arjun and Meena and the twist is Arjun is a widower while Meena is a widow.Arjun's wife Jyothika and Meena's husband Ramesh Aravind,both died in the same train accident.After knowing all this, Nagesh, Arjun's father asks Meena if she was ready to marry him and she says no immediately.That ends the friendship between Arjun and Meena.

Ours is a society where women has lot of restrictions.Vasanth takes on all the social restrictions imposed on women.He doesn't preach the audience with 10 page dialogues that women are this and that and we should worship them,celebrate them,bla bla bla..Meena's husband is shown as someone belonging to a wannabe orthodox Brahmin family.His ambition was to adopt an orphan kid and wants his wife to consider that kid as their first child.His mom,Lakshmi,an old fashioned traditional mom is not ready to accept this.She neither accepts her son's love.Ramesh Aravind and Meena marries without the permission of Ramesh Aravind's parents.Fate plays its part and hours after the marriage Ramesh goes to meet his mom hearing that she is ill.Lakshmi refuses to meet him and sends him out without even blessing him a happy married life.Ramesh travels back in train.

The other flashback shows as Arjun working in bomb squad and he loves his profession so much.He loves his wife like anything and while watching the movie one may feel that Karthik and Aruna(Arjun and Jyothika) are the happiest couple.Even the impatient audience in that small theater enjoyed the Arjun-Jyothika sequence.One day Jyothika expresses her fear about her husband's job to Ajay Rathnam,Arjun's close friend.She doesn't want to say anything about it to her husband,because she knows how much he loves that job and she loves her husband even more.Again fate plays its role here.Ajay gets brutally injured while diffusing a bomb and he conveys the fear expressed by Jyothika to Arjun.He understands it and immediately resigns his job.He loves his wife more than his job.He doesn't want his wife to be worried.He informs Jyothika about his resignation through a phone call.Jyothika was in her friend's marriage.On hearing this from her husband,out of excitement she immediately leaves to Chennai to meet Arjun.She gets into a train.

Now both the trains clash with each other and Ramesh and Jyothika dies.Meena adopts a kid from the orphanage(Shivananda Gurukulam) where Ramesh was serving and names him Shiva as a token of love and respect for her husband.She gets her husband's bank job.Her in-laws refuse to accept her and she takes care of the kid all alone.Shiva became too close to Arjun.The society is not only with good people.It has its own share of selfish, bad,ugly and cruel people too.One such person is living in Meena's neighborhood.

In our society young/middle-aged widows and divorcees are soft target for men.They want to exploit the biological emotions of these women.They will not marry these women but are ready to do everything else.When you talk about marrying them,you will get all the lectures of tradition,culture etc etc etc.Now,the neighbor attempts to rape Meena and she escapes from him.There is a scene following this like Arjun fighting with the neighbor and this fellow migrates with his family from his residence.This scene is added keeping Arjun's action hero image in mind.But thats just 5 minutes and its alright.Meena meets a priest who seems to be her well-wisher.She openly expresses her fear of being alone.The attempt-to-rape incident has created a sense of fear in her.She has a responsibility with her in the form of Shiva.The priest advises her to marry again.Director speaks through this priest.A short but powerful conversation.

He says,"you should marry again,if not for you,atleast for your kid.Why are you not accepting for another marriage?Do you think its a betrayal to your husband?If your husband loved you really will he be happy to see you suffering like this throughout your life?Those days when my grandfather died,they burnt my grandmother as well along with him.Doesn't it appear foolish now?Likewise things has to change.Just because someone we like has died, it doesn't mean our life is over with them.Death is not the end".This the director is not advising to Meena,but to the society.He asks the society to treat women equally through these dialogues.

A disturbed Meena thinks about this.Though she refused to marry Arjun,somewhere deep inside her mind she too wants someone like Arjun to take care of her.She wants someone who understands her well,someone who will consider her son as his son.In short she wants to marry someone for whom love is more than just love-making.There is a scene which shows the boy crying to meet Arjun. Now Meena decides. She says,"will you be happy if we all - you,me,Karthik sir(Arjun) and his parents live in the same house?" and the boy happily says yes.Had Arjun married Meena with this scene,the movie might have ended soon and the audience might not have complained about the length.But that would have been incomplete.So there is more. Meena calls Arjun and asks him to meet her.Now she is all set to propose him and convey the decision about marriage.She blushes again.There is a beautiful song for this situation - 'thaniye thannanthaniye naan kaathu kaathu nindren'.

Meena comes back.She is in for a shock.Her mother-in-law,Lakshmi is sitting inside the house with Shiva.She is shocked.That's it.She doesn't show anyother emotion on her face. She does not angrily push her mother-in-law out of her house.She casually greets her. Serves her food with total respect.After eating Lakshmi cries loud.She says because she refused to meet Ramesh on that fateful day,he met with an accident and she killed her own son.She is moved by her daughter-in-law's gesture to serve food and treat her with respect. She asks her to quit the job and come to her native to live together.The old lady feels she was not fortunate to live with her son for a long time and she wants to spend her remaining life with her grandson and daughter-in-law.Meena with a heavy heart agrees to it.She leaves with Lakshmi and Shiva,gets into train.Meanwhile Arjun is waiting for Meena.He is waiting. She notices him.She cares for him.She wants to get down and explain her situation to him. But something restricts her.She feels it awkward to do so infront of her mother-in-law.With tears in her eyes she leaves without even informing him.Arjun is still waiting.He waits for a long time.

Thank God Vasanth didn't end the movie like this to show Meena as a woman who has not deviated from the so called tradition.There is more.Meena is not selfish.She wanted to marry Arjun not only for security reasons,but also out of love.Her love was true too.The news about a bomb blast in Mumbai Indian Express office (Arjun works for Indian Express) sends a chill down her spine.She immediately makes a phone call to the Indian Express office and inquires about Arjun.She is relieved after knowing that he is fine.

Now Arjun meets Meena in Ooty, this is mere coincidence.Lakshmi learns about how Arjun's wife died and invites him to her home.Arjun agrees to it.Finally Arjun and Meena gets the much needed privacy as Lakshmi has gone to school to pick up Shiva. Now Meena makes a confession.She explains everything to him.She says she called him to say yes to the marriage and the events that followed has brought her here.Finally she says,even now if I don't say this,you will never ask,because you are so good (ipo kooda naanaa idha sollalanaa neenga idha kettirukka maatinga,ennaa neenga romba nallavar :-) ). Finally Lakshmi comes to know about the marriage plan through Shiva. She requests Arjun to marry Meena and says she is not an outdated woman(pazhaya panchangam) atleast in this matter. Meena needs someone like you to take care of her throughout the life. The movie happily ends with Meena and Arjun walking having Shiva in between them.

I used to wonder what made me like this movie after 6 months.Till now I haven't found a convincing answer for this.Probably I should have watched the movie patiently without getting influenced by the activities of people around.What went wrong with this movie that it failed in box office?Some charismatic actor instead of Ramesh Aravind might have worked out.Someone like Mounaragam Karthik.Otherwise no complaints about this movie at all. Vasanth has beautifully explained the feelings of a woman. The poetic love sequences with a lovely music makes this movie one of my all-time favorites :-). By the time am publishing this post,it will be February 14 - Valentine's day.Yes this is a Valentine's day special.

I could have written some usual girl-boy-love related stuff.But I wanted to attempt something different.I wanted to write something so that the misogynistic boys/men understands the feelings of girls/women.I want to strongly express my opinion that love is more than love-making.Love is much more than kissing on road.I know you all have watched Rhythm so many times in KTV.Still I wanted to use this movie as a medium to convey certain things.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Freedom of Expression and Protests

This is not a new topic,I have written some articles in this blog about freedom of expression and protests that followed.When there were protests against Thuppakki,Viswaroopam I posted an article in this same blog.Now this 'freedom' has gained more importance.

Perumal Murugan - a Tamil writer is the latest to get attention in the name of freedom of expression. Now the protests are against his novel - 'Maadhorubhaagan' which was published few years ago.I don't know what he has written as I haven't read that book.I was not even aware of that book. Thanks to all protesters,now I came to know about Perumal Murugan and his Maadhorubhaagan. The protesters claim is that the author has insulted people of Tiruchengode by projecting their lifestyle in bad light. It seems the author has written something like men and women had sex with anyone they wanted to have with during Thiruvizhas(kind of festival).

Source -

http://tamil.oneindia.com/news/tamilnadu/author-perumal-murugan-has-died-hounded-hindutva-groups-218934.html

Now the offended people wants to show their protest.This made intellectuals, progressive thinkers,communists, cynics etc angry.As usual they started,"the Hindutva organizations, saffron camp has crushed the freedom of expression in India.There is an emergency like situation in India". But these gentlemen missed out something here.Strong protests have come from the Kongu Vellalar community.Their protests were even severe than the Hindutva outfits.This is not my imagination or story,this is what Mr.D Ravikumar,belonging to VCK(Viduthalai Chiruthaigal) had to say. You can find the details in the Hindu link given below :

"இந்துத்துவா அமைப்புகளைக் காட்டிலும், மாநிலத்தின் மேற்குப் பகுதியில் வாக்கு வங்கியில் முக்கியப் பங்கு வகிக்கும் கொங்கு வெள்ளாளர் பிரிவைச் சேர்ந்த மக்களே பெருமாள்முருகனுக்கு எதிராக போர்க்கொடியை அதி தீவிரமாக உயர்த்தியுள்ளனர் என்பது கவனிக்கப்பட வேண்டியது."

http://tamil.thehindu.com/opinion/reporter-page/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%88%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B0%E0%AE%BE%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%9F-%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9A%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%B5%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A9%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A9%E0%AE%A3%E0%AE%BF-%E0%AE%8E%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A9/article6788072.ece?widget-art=four-rel

While all these gentlemen showed their boldness and expressed their solidarity by condemning the Hindutva/saffron camp,not a single person pointed out about the caste outfit involved.So now we can understand what these gentlemen are pissed-off with.They are fine with the outrage against freedom of expression.But that outrage should not come from Hindutva groups.This is a brilliant logic.

Now coming to Mr.Perumal Murugan, this is what he had to say after the talks with protesters :

"“Perumal Murugan, the writer is dead. As he is no God, he is not going to resurrect himself. He also has no faith in rebirth. An ordinary teacher, he will live as P. Murugan. Leave him alone,” he has posted on his Facebook account."

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/perumal-murugan-gives-up-writing/article6784745.ece

Not sure what this man is trying to do.For me,this looks like a publicity stunt.If he quits writing, who is going to get benefited?Anyway I don't want to discuss about it.

There was an author.He started writing a historical novel.After some 3 episodes were published in a leading Tamil weekly,there were threats to the writer.The complaint was that he had insulted a community.To my knowledge,no rationalist,progressive thinker,communist,cynic etc raised their voice in favor of the writer.Only the editor of the weekly offered him support and suggested to continue with the story.Ofcourse,there may be cheap reasons for their silence then. The editor was ready to publish the remaining episodes.But the writer took a wise decision.

He said,'it seems one particular community feels I have insulted them.Now even if I explain them that the motive of the story is something different,they will not be in a position to understand.Moreover they are threatening to cut my right hand.Then I have to practice to write using my left hand.So let us stop this'.He concludes saying,'after this incident I understood certain things. There is an unwritten rule in the world of Tamil literature that only some people can write certain stories.I felt protesting or fighting for this is so childish'.After few months, he fine tuned the story and published it in another name in the same magazine.This time the protesters didn't care about it and this novel is regarded as one of the best historical novel in Tamil literature.

The novel is 'Ratham Ore Niram' and the author as you all know is none other than the genius Mr.Sujatha.Initially it was titled as 'Karuppu Sivappu Veluppu'. Kumudham published some 3 episodes and its editor Mr.S A B suggested Sujatha to continue Karuppu Sivappu Veluppu and not to care about the protestors,that he was ready to publish the story.Here it is in Tamil :

நான் இதுவரை இரண்டு சரித்திர நாவல்களை எழுதியிருக்கிறேன். ‘ரத்தம் ஒரே நிறம்’, ‘கந்தளூர் வசந்தகுமாரன் கதை’. ‘ரத்தம் ஒரே நிறம்’ கதைக்கே ஒரு சிறிய சரித்திரம் உண்டு. முதலில் அது ‘கறுப்பு சிவப்பு வெளுப்பு’ என்ற தலைப்பில் குமுதத்தில் தொடர்கதையாக அட்டகாசமாகத் துவங்கியது, மணியம் செல்வனின் அழகான சித்திரங்களுடன். மூன்று வாரங்கள் சிறப்பாக வந்த பின் எதிர்பாராத ஓர் எதிர்ப்பு அதற்கு நாடார் இனத்தவரிடமிருந்து வந்தது. நான் அப்போது பெங்களூரில் இருந்தேன். எனக்கு ஏகப்பட்ட மிரட்டல் கடிதங்கள் வந்தன. தமிழில் புதுப்புது திட்டுவார்த்தைகள் எல்லாம் எனக்கு பாடமாயின. தொலைபேசியில் கொலை பேசினார்கள். குமுதம் இதழைக் கடையில் எரித்தார்கள். அதன் ஆசிரியருக்கு நாடார் சங்கத்தைச் சார்ந்தவர்கள் கதையை உடனே நிறுத்தும்படியும் மன்னிப்புக் கேட்கும்படியும் வற்புறுத்தினார்கள்.

ஆசிரியர் ஏ.எஸ்.பி. எனக்கு போன் போட்டு ‘நீங்கள் என்ன சொல்கிறீர்கள்?’ என்று கேட்டார். நான் ‘ஓர் இனத்தின் மனத்தைப் புண்படுத்திவிட்டதாகத் தெரிகிறது. அவர்களின் தற்போதைய கோபத்தில் கதையின் நோக்கம் அதுவல்ல, அடுத்துவரும் அத்தியாயங்களைப் படித்தால் தெரியும் என்று என்னதான் விவாதித்தாலும் உணர்ச்சிபொங்கும் இந்தக் கணத்தில் யாரும் ஒத்துக்கொள்ளப் போவதில்லை. மேலும் தொடர்ந்து எழுதினால் என் வலது கையை வெட்டுவேன் என்று சொல்லியிருக்கிறார்கள். எனக்கு இடது கையால் எழுதவேறு பழகவேண்டும். நிறுத்திவிடுங்கள். அடம்பிடித்து மரணத்துடன் விளையாட இது ஒன்றும் பிரெஞ்சுப் புரட்சி அல்ல’ என்றேன். கதை நிறுத்தப்பட்டது.

ஆசிரியர் ஏ.எஸ்.பி ஆறுமாதம் கழித்து கோபம் அடங்கியதும் இதே கதையை தலைப்பை மாற்றி வெளியிடலாம் என்றார். ‘கருப்பு சிவப்பு வெளுப்பு’ அதேபோல் ஆற அமர ‘ரத்தம் ஒரே நிறமாக’ வெளிவந்தது. சிப்பாய்க்கலகத்தைப் பற்றிப்படித்தபின் அதில் ஒரு தமிழன் கலந்துகொண்டால் எப்படி இருந்திருக்கும் என்பதைக் கற்பனை செய்து பார்த்த கதை இது.

இப்போது இதைப்படிக்கும்போது எதற்காக இதை எதிர்த்தார்கள் என்ற கேள்வி உங்களுக்கு எழலாம். அதை மறுபடி கிளற எனக்கு இஷ்டமில்லை. ஆனால் இந்த சம்பவத்தில் எனக்குப் பல விஷயங்கள் புலனாயின. தமிழ் சமூகத்தில் சில கதைகளை சிலர்தான் எழுதலாம் என்ற எழுதப்படாத ஓர் விதி இருக்கிறது. அதை மீறினதால் வந்த வினை என்பது இப்போது புரிகிறது. எழுத்தின் மேல் பிடிவாதம் இருப்பதோ, எழுதினது வேதவாக்கு, அதை யாராவது வழிமறித்தால் உயிருள்ளவரை போராடுவேன் என்பதெல்லாம் விஞ்ஞானச் சூழ்நிலையில் வளர்ந்த எனக்கு சிறுபிள்ளைத்தனம்.

எல்லாப் போராட்டங்களும் அலுத்துவிடுகின்றன. புதிய காரணங்கள் தேடப்படுகின்றன. ‘ரத்தம் ஒரே நிறம்’ மீண்டும் வந்தபோது முதலில் அதை எதிர்த்தவர்கள் யாருமே அதைக் கண்டுகொள்ளவில்லை. இந்தப் புதியபதிப்பை சிறப்பாக வெளியிடும் உயிர்மை பதிப்பகத்தார்க்கு என் நன்றிகள்.

-சுஜாதா (18.12.2005)
courtesy : http://kiruthikan.blogspot.in/2009/07/blog-post_204.html

Here Perumal Murugan is getting threats years after he has published the novel and this only shows there is some motive behind these protests.I don't want to blame any outfit just like that and show my self as a progressive thinker.But there are some points which I would like to mention here.

Whenever there is a product(a book,a movie or a song) in store which criticizes religion(any religion), a group starts their protests against it.If its a movie there is a censor board to verify the content and issue certificate.Protesting against a movie even after passing through censor is atrocious. I don't know if there is a censor-like-body for books.But you have a court.File a case against the author referring to the offensive content.Prove your point and get a ban legally.Vandalizing cinema theaters(protests against PK),burning a book,threatening an author etc are not the qualities of civilized people.Encouraging these activities will do more harm to our future generations.

If I say violent protests are wrong, selective condemnations are nothing short of a crime.Where were all these intellectuals hiding when The Da Vinci Code was banned by the then DMK govt?Did they not support Christian missionaries and organizations then?Did these people raised their voice against the ban on Kamal Hassan's Viswaroopam? When you are not ready to condemn the caste outfit involved in these protests,you should not condemn the Hindutva outfits as well.If you don't have guts to speak against one group,then speaking against another group will not make you a warrior. Till now neither the DMK nor the ADMK has made any statements about this issue.Being a state govt, ADMK has more responsibility as this is a law and order issue.I believe none of these parties will make a statement on this fearing the votebank.

It will be great if the creators avoid vulgarity in the name of freedom of expression.In this case of Perumal Murugan,as mentioned in the Tamil Hindu link shared above,it is upto him to come out in open and what has actually happened.Simply making stunts like 'I will quit writing,the writer in me is dead' and all will do no good to him.He may get some publicity,otherwise these stunts are not worthy at all.

P.S. : I would like to repeat again, I haven't read Perumal Murugan's book,so I can't comment about it.The reference to caste and religious outfits in this article are based on the sources shared.