Sivaji still drawing them in

NOW SHOWING: Karnan (Tamil)
Directed by B.R. Panthulu
Starring Sivaji Ganesan, N.T. Rama Rao, S.A. Ashokan, R. Muthuraman, Devika, Savitri, M.V. Rajamma
Duration 180 minutes
Rating U

Sivaji wins over fans with his fabulous acting in the 1964 Karnan, now re-released in theatres

WHEN new movies like Mirattal fail to hold your interest, you seek other films to satisfy you. Now there’s a 1964 Tamil movie re-released in theatres in a digital format drawing big crowds.

Karnan is one of the greatest hits of the late Sivaji Ganesan. It was considered as a magnum opus at the time — using specially-built chariots and Indian army soldiers appearing as extras. Taking three years and costing RM200,000 to digitalise and improve on its colour and sound quality, the re-release brought in RM3 million at the box office, with the movie playing more than 100 days in several cities in Tamil Naadu in July.

Once upon a time, I saw a lion in Nandan Kannan zoo. I had seen lions in Chennai’s vandalur zoo as well, but this lion, I saw was bigger and it looked every bit like the lions I had read about in the stories as a child. It evoked a kind of fear and awe in me, the feeling you have when you see the smaller hair in the back of your head rising in a moment of electric tension. I have never been able to feel that awe ever since (Of course a different awe and goose flesh experience comes over when I hear a Ilaiyaraaja’s soul searching melody). It is my life’s pity that I never faced that lion without the iron/aluminium bars in between and the deep hole and moat that seperated the lion and me. For a moment there was this urge to cross the fence and observe its brilliance upclose and personal.

There was another lion, whose most brilliant moments I have seen in a much smaller cage – Tele Vision. As a person born in the late 70s and with a growing passion of cinema in the 90s, I have been denied the opportunity of watching this lion perform on the big screen, save for certain fortunate moments. This lion I am referring to here is Late.Chevalier Shivaji Ganesan, popularly known in thamizh nadu and rest of south india as ‘Nadigar Thilagam’. This post was in my mind for a while, but when I remembered that tomorow (July 21st – Thanks to Murali Srinivas of www.mayyam.com/hub for reminding everyone) was the eighth death anniversary of the legendary actor, i could wait no more and hence the birth of this post