A Countryman's Farcry: Uzhavar Santhai

"To thy who feeds , the entire society ought to be grateful and bow down to him", this is something I personally believe in. One can seek a comfortable way of life in plush corporate jobs but there is a greater novelty in toiling hard in the fields and treating the entire world as it's baby to provide the basic living essential- 'FOOD' and making a living out of it.(If at all I romanticized in the first half) 

Empowerment to such a Farming community, is a stride on the path of social development !! The 'Uzhavar Santhai' conceptualized in 1999 by the erstwhile Chief Minister Mr. Kalaignar was one such significant leap for TN. Implemented first in my hometown Madurai, I distinctly remember my father taking me there while I was in 4th grade (which almost then became a standard Sunday Ritual) who pointed to me the flocking footfall and the smallest of the impact a deserving revenue can have for the working class and their families. Drawing inspiration from an pre-existing model in Chandigarh, it spawned the dawn for agricultural economy in the state. Simple in it's framework: Farmers can sell the commodities which they grow directly to the common man with no intermediate 
interfaces. The benefits reaped by these village folks are :

• No commissions need to be paid to the middlemen\traders in the value chain 
• Rental Space for business activity is provided by the government
• Saving on Transport and Logistics costs
•  Regularized Price slabs

Close to where I Live

Meantime an average person is able to take back home vegetables and fruits at an affordable price. Having said all this,there are issues still which plague such as inadequate toilet facilities, power cuts which if addressed will make this a benchmark for socio-economic schemes. On the whole it as an important public policy case where a win-win situation arises for both the producer and the consumer, which can a guiding objective to implement such groundbreaking civic proposals in various sectors for the future.

PS: Ela Ulaven Kezhaven ivunga rendu perum mattum dhaan le uyiroda irukaporanga.

'The more spoken Sandiyar and Less Spoken Cult'

The statement -"Grew up watching Mr.Hassan's films" is a cliche', nevertheless it is the undeniable truth. Now time travelling back to high school days, surfing up on Kamal's filmography I came across this catchy, vernacular title-" Virumaandi". Just as the name, the movie has it's own due course of riveting and enigmatic touch. Before Virumaandi had released, a whole bunch of movies were made based on the Madurai-backdrop, but this was all together a mind-blowing narrative. I was in awww of the entire arc, to break it down here were my best picks.

Andha Kandamani Song : 'Cold Shivers everytime'

Power-housed with excellent performances by the leads- Kamal, Pasupathy, Napolean .(Quoting UlagaNayagan from an 2003 interview excerpt: " More than the story, Virumaandi is a Nadippu Thiruvizha"). The plot experimented the non-linear structure with the account being narrated from two persepectives by Viruman and Kothala Thevar respectively. The way the premises were bulit from the very beginning on how the feudal clash between two villages (Chinnakolarpatti Vs Nallamanayakanur) goes on to impact a lot of lifes. The rural aura (Not to forget this iconic Panchayathu scene below ) and the rustic aesthetics gave the rawness a new dimension, a delight to watch !!   

Virumaandi embodied a lot of values based on humanity. It was one of the first movies to openly talk about why death sentences was inhumane in nature and needed to be abolished (infact the opening documentary clippings). In the sub-context, to cite examples there are two peculiar scenes- The one where a drunken Kamal refuses to part away with his late Appatha's land and equates the soil as his "mother's blood" and swears at those who come with an offer to buy it. It was a hard slap on those affluent pocket-filled class who think agricultural land can bought off with might of money and stresses how important is agriculture for our country. The other one is where Naicker walks out of the court after losing in a illicit manner says- "Manusu dhaan da courtu aprom dhaan da idhellam" ( One might escape the loopholes in the judicial system but eventually will fall prey to the karma ). Finally, special mention
the end credits dialogue: Manippu keka therinjaven Manusen, Mannikka therinjaven periyamanusen.

Steered by strong-woman characters, be it Ms. Anjela Mathew (who comes to interview the imprisoned inmates) or Annalakshmi- playing the love interest of Viruman as opposed to the streotypical heriones was a progressive step forward. Ilayaraaja's heart-stabbing eerie background score is nothing short of staying truthful and paying respect to this piece of art. It was unarguably his best album of the decade. Still hooked on to 'Unna Vida' and it's lyrics on my playlist. The Maestro-Nayagan duology always have been promising but this was one notch above imo.

Many current-gen filmakers like Pa. Ranjith, Karthik Naren have spoken about how Virumaandi has been a great source of inspiration for screenplay and the craft as a whole in the landscape of tamil cinema. Ultimately the movie has it's own deep flaws like Caste Glorification but it will forever remain as my favourite Kamal Hassan venture in my world of pop culture. Those of you who haven't watched it has one been of the regulars airing on KTV and hope it makes your eyes stay glued like it did for me.

PS: Forgive me if at all I was an ignorant Casteist Bigot.