Kamal Haasan and Nasser in Thevar Magan
The more powerful the villain, the more interesting the film. This simple rule-of-the-thumb in screenplay-writing has given us a plethora of super-hits right up to Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, where Bhalladeva (Rana Daggubati) is no less a match for the mighty Amarendra (Prabhas). Bhalladeva’s physical prowess is more lethal than his arrow-spewing chariot. One of Baahubali-2’s imagery borrows its idea from the close-up shot of Kamal Haasan and Nasser in Bharathan’s seminal 1992 film,
Thevar Magan. Shaktivelu (Kamal Haasan) and Maayathevan (Nasser) come face-to-face in the village panchayat to discuss the opening of the temple, with Shakti being given the prestigious task of pulling the temple-chariot first. It is a verbal war-zone as Maayan swells up in anger. A firm Shakti tells Maayan not to awaken the animal in him. The right and left profiles of the two powerful adversaries occupy the whole screen — the baying-for-blood in one vs the patient resolve-for-peace in another. The might of the two characters come alive not in a stunt sequence but in this single dialogue exchange… in this one frame. Thevar Magan is one of the best films to take as an example where character-led conflicts become the crux for crucial events to unfold.
Maayathevan is obviously more equipped than the foreign-returned Shaktivelu. His sole flaw is his hunger for power — he is crafty, able-bodied and hankers for the throne. His killer instinct can annihilate his own people and it almost does when he orders the dam to be opened so the blame can fall on Shakti and his father Periyathevar (the amazing, in-form and stupendously in-sync with the acting of our times, Sivaji Ganesan). Shakti, on the other hand, is merely taking over from his father. He is already a popular choice by virtue of being the good son (his elder brother is an alcoholic). Shakti doesn’t compete for the legacy — it comes to him, much to Maayan’s ire. Situations created by Maayan see Shakti become the animal he warned Maayan about. Thevar Magan is a social drama with a stunning climax, where you cannot remove any scene or song (it has nine songs in all!) for fear of losing the plot. Written by Kamal Haasan, it remains one of the best movies where story, screenplay, dialogues,
direction, acting, cinematography (PC Sreeram), music (Ilaiyaraaja) and production values (Haasan’s Raajkamal Films) come together in a perfect blend.
Be it the Godfather or the Mahabharatha, Thevar Magan or Baahubali-2, the premise of good versus evil becomes an interesting watch when the villain is pitched one notch above the hero. Rajinikanth’s Chitti – the robot gains better ground when he turns evil and the actor in our superstar outshone his previous villain acts (though Ramanathan from Avargal and the literally-shades-of-grey portrayal in Netrikkann have my vote as well). When a powerful villain looms large, it
gives room for promises-to-keep for the hero. The more layers the villain has, the better the battle becomes. And the best is reserved for an earth-shattering climax. What a spectacle it is then for us to watch!
The writer is a former journalist who has worked in the film industry for several years and is passionate about movies, music and everything related to entertainment
Source: The New Indian Express