Iruvar: A Tale Of Two Men

Iruvar!
Friendship! It makes the world go round. It can move mountains. When you are surrounded by your friends, you feel like you can do anything. This masterpiece by Mani Sir is an ode to Friendship. It is a brilliant tale of how 2 men, as different as chalk and cheese sadly let their ambition come in the way of their love for each other leading to a gargantuan political conflict that ends up influencing the political topography of a state. It is a tale of their lives with and without each other and what paths they end up taking and how it all ends for them.

Iruvar is the tale of Anandan (Mohanlal), a man who has come up the hard way in life. He is a very talented actor and is eagerly waiting for his chance under the arc-lights. He is a sensitive man, proud, and patient, but slowly beginning to give in to despair.
It is the tale of Thamizhchezhvan( Prakash Raj), A man who knows the difference between right and wrong. A man who wants to make a difference and change all that is bad about society. He is confident bordering on arrogant, but he is sincere and is ready to commit sacrilege when it comes to old outdated customs and traditions.

From their 1st meeting, it’s quite clear that Thamizh is the leader of the pack and Anandan is more than willing to follow. Thamizh mentors Anandan and they end up making a great cinematic team of writer and actor. While Anandan is content with becoming the hero of a few movies, Thamizh has larger ambitions for himself. He is a prominent lieutenant of the firebrand leader Velu Annachi (Nasser) who is unhappy with the way Tamilians have been sidelined in national politics and wishes to carve out a separate identity for them and Thamizh is more than willing to fight by his side for this.

The story then focuses on their gradual rise to fame as Anandan slowly becomes one of the Superstars of Tamil Cinema and Thamizh begins to gain fame as a politician. Things come to a head when Annachi wishes to give Anandan a bigger role in the party and Thamizh begins to feel sidelined. That is when jealousy rears its ugly head and slowly a rift is created between the 2 friends. One thing leads to another and Anandan forms his own party. Then on begins a game of one upmanship between them before age catches up with the duo.

I’ll be frank. I am not at all familiar with the relationship between MGR and Karunanidhi on whom the above characters are based. I am also not familiar with the movies MGR has done and have maybe watched one or two on TV. So, I may have missed out on a lot of significant details in the movie which many others who are more well versed with the situation may have noticed.

Mohanlal is a gifted actor. I say it now and I will always say it in spite of all the absolute crap that he has been acting in lately. What I’ve loved about Lalettan is that acting comes so naturally to him. It is always a pleasure to see him on screen and this movie is no exception. I never saw Anandan as MGR. I saw Anandan as this innocent young man who slowly evolves into somebody who understands the world around him and does not take any rubbish from it. The evolution of Anandan has been done brilliantly and equal credit goes to both Mani sir and Lalettan for having worked really hard on the character. His best sequences include the one where he is demoted to play the role of an extra. The expressions that he shows tell us why he is one of the best actors in India. Also, the scene where he climbs to the terrace of Thamizh’s house and is surprised at the crowd waiting downstairs for him.

And what can one say about Prakash Raj. I was just left stunned with the intensity with which he has done this role. He did not just act as Thamizhchezhuvan, He BECAME Thamizhchezhuvan. The confidence with the slight hint of arrogance in his eyes, the force with which he delivers his speeches, those moments of silence where he ponders over what may have been, the tenderness with which he interacts with his wives, the fondness with which he looks at the CM’s chair when he is first elected into office, his grief at Anandan’s death and the way he pours it all out in one of the best monologues I’ve ever heard. He truly deserved the National Award that year and it’s a shame that directors would rather have him act in those terrible roles as a hamming villain.

Aishwarya Rai. I see her in this movie and I wonder to myself, What the fuck happened? Be it the innocent but sensible Pushpa or the ambitious and scheming Kalpana, She handles both roles with such finesse it’s hard to believe that it was only her first movie. Of course, equal credit must go to Rohini for having done a wonderful job dubbing for her. Pity that she never delivered any other performance as good as this in the rest of her career (Ok, Maybe Guru, But nothing else).

The rest of the ladies however, Tabu, Revathy and Gautami were kind of under-utilized I felt, but then again, to be fair, It was not their story. The rest of the supporting cast too did brilliantly, but special mention must go to Nasser who is crackling as the fiery Ayya!
This movie was shot by Santosh Sivan and I must say he does a brilliant job of it. Every frame, is captured so beautifully that you wish that the movie goes on and on and on and you could just keep watching. The songs are shot so beautifully that you don’t feel that they act as speedbreakers in the narrative. The music and background score by Rahman are absolutely brilliant. My pick of the lot would be Aayirathil Naan Oruvan sung with aplomb by Mano and shot beautifully.

This movie is truly one of Mani Sir’s finest works. A tale of friendship with a backdrop of the evolution of a state. Just brilliant!

Read more reviews on MANI RATNAM BLOGATHON:

1. Pallavi Anupallavi (Kannada) 2. Unaroo (Malayalam) 3. Pagal Nilavu (Tamil) 4. Idaya Kovil (Tamil) 5. Mouna Ragam (Tamil) 6. Nayagan Tamil) 7. Agni Natchathiram (Tamil) 8. Geethanjali (Telugu) 9. Anjali (Tamil) 10. Thalapathi (Tamil) Take 2 Thalapathi (Tamil) 11. Roja (Tamil) 12. Thiruda Thiruda (Tamil) 13. Bombay (Tamil) 14. Iruvar (Tamil) Take 2 Iruvar (Tamil) 15. Dil Se…(Hindi) Take 2 Dil Se…(Hindi) 16. Alaipayuthey (Tamil) 17. Kannathil Muthamittal (Tamil) Take 2 Kannathil Muthamittal(Tamil) 18. Yuva (Hindi) 19. Aayutha Ezhuthu (Tamil) 20. Guru (Hindi)  21. Raavanan(Tamil) 22. Raavan (Hindi)

Vikram Bondal

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