Review of Thenali (Ayngaran International)

Introduction

After the wonderful comedy of Avai Shanmugi (1996) and Kadhala Kadhala (1998), both of which was written by the talented Crazy Mohan and had the actor Kamal Hassan displaying fine performances, the two team up for this hilarious comedy with the director K.S. Ravikumar, a Tamil director whose work`s are similar to David Dhawan`s direction of his earlier (and better) movies.

K.S. Ravikumar is one of Tamil cinemas most notable and favourite director for both the masses and classes alike. His previous movies has been blockbusters not just in India but around the world as well, living up to the expectations of his audience. His movies do not involve high technical values just pure melodrama, wacky special effects and overly comedy that aims to only entertain - a notion that he fully justifies. Works like Muthu (1995), Paidaiyaapa (1999), Avai Shanmugi (1996) are examples to see what the director aims at.

This film does have wonderful moments of cinematography seen in the songs `Swasame` and `Injarango.` Editing might seem slack at times, but it is expected from the director and really doesn`t bother me. Other aspects of technical values are average. From the opening animated sequence to the art direction, no big complaints can be made about them.

The film has a wonderful and experimental score by A.R. Rahman who was oddly criticize for his music in this film. I personally loved it as it had a sense of both originality and melodious. The song `Injarango` had great worldly instuments from jazz trumpets, Spanish guitar, African drums and Indian bass. While it may sound stange on the first listen after a few listens all the songs do grab your attention. The music background score is also excellently done, just check out the opening symphony score and the last fight sequence. The score helps with the narrative and emotions on the film and acts as a wonderful experience in itself.

One of the films great aspects is the wonderful screenplay and dialogues that are both witty and intelligent. It especially helps us the audiences as these elements are squeezed out the situations that are integral to the plot of the film. Sequences on Dr. Kailash trying to rid of Thenali through the likes of kidnapping and sending him to the police station are excellent examples.

The film does resort to some nasty comedy as well, involving a man who eats so much he vomits it all out. However it helps with the narrative, serving a purpose, and is not in there just for a laugh. It is quite nice to see that all elements of comedies (sick, slapstick, witty, daring etc...) are funny and work on their own levels for a family audience.

Both main actors, Kamal Hassan and Jayaram, who perform the patient + doctor role displays tremendous and memorable comic flair that becomes the best scenes in the movie. Both contrast each other and play on it commendably. Also a special mention should go to the flawless Sri Lankan (Ceylon) accent that Kamal Hassan speaks with to enhance his characterization. Here is his not just a comedian but an actor who displays high amounts of emotions. This is seen in the two scenes when he is reviling his past life. The rest of the cast, while not as involving as the two main actors, help with some nice and warm performances that adds to the comic delivery.

Overall out of the whole Diwali releases in India, which consisted of big budgeted movies like Mohabaatien (2000) and Mission: Kashmir (2000), it is Thenali which is my favourite as it delivered on what I expected:- great comedy, wonderful performances, average technical values and melodious music score, a K.S Ravikumar special!

A few months back Blue Mountain Digital (BMD) released this film on DVD for the US market, which I had the privilege to review. The review stated that while the disc had quality present, it was hindered by three main factors;

1) Incorrect method used on the anamorphic transfer,
2) Source used was poor as it was taken from a cinema 35mm negative print &
3) Has lack of English subtitles.

Yet with such problems the DVD still sufficed to be one of the best when compared to many DVD titles created by big Hindi film distributors EROS Multimedia, or Worldwide Entertainment Group. On this basis I gave the BMD Thenali DVD a high rating.

But now Ayngaran International, who own worldwide rights to the film, has decided to release their own version onto DVD and the results are simply amazing...

Video

This DVD has presented the film in a 2.30:1 aspect ratio, which is near to the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and most of the frame is covered. No cropping problems as such is detected (so no major complaints there). The DVD has been anamorphically transferred for extra quality, and does so in a perfect fashion.......even beating the BMD DVD version. All the anamorphic and letterbox problems on the BMD DVD has been corrected on this version, and gives the film a much professional and cinematic look. The DVD has been encoded on a dual layer disc eliminating problems like compression artefacts, grain and other sources related to the encoding of the film onto DVD.

Problems of wear and tear, which were very apparent on the BMD DVD version, is nearly unheard of on this disc. The film was transferred from its original interpositive negative in India, hence the reason for such clarity and lack of blemishes. Only during a couple of reel changes the disc shows small white and black dots appearing, which won`t distract viewing.

The picture presents us with sharp and concise images which is similar to the BMD version, but because the source is in near immaculate condition, more picture information is seen and problems like shimmering and moiré effects are limited.

Colours are very cinematic with near three dimensional definition viewing. The rendering of the colour saturation was excellently tackled, never presenting problems like bleeding or over saturation. The song `Injarango` has luscious green colours that make the whole scene seem more vivid and bold. No hues problems was detected suggesting that work on colour correction was carried out on this title. Black details and shadows were deep and solid, giving the image a lot of depth while the contrasts used gave the picture a range.

Audio

The sound has been encoded in Dolby Digital 5.1 from the original DTS 6 track mix source, and has gone one step further then the BMD DVD version in terms of soundfield expansion and dynamics. I originally thought that the BMD DVD had a very `vivid and active presence of a 360 degrees soundfield` and indeed this is still the case. But what this Ayngaran DVD does is more then that. It actually makes you detected every single sound effect coming from each speaker, in any place you sit. Also more sound effects on the rear speakers are heard, and Rahman`s score is ever so more powerful and energetic.

The reason for this is that this version has used the original source which was stored on Rahman`s computer in his high tech Indian studio `Panchathan Records - Inn`. This is an brilliant move by Ayngaran International as it means that the soundtrack is fresh, and virtually no problems are detected.

This is perhaps one of the best 5.1 sound experience I have ever heard on this format, and is comparable to the DVD`s of Universal`s Gladiator (2000), Disney`s/Pixar`s Toy Story (1996), & DEI`s Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000). It simply is stunning and added more enjoyment to the viewing experience.

Features

The menus are thematic with the music score `Thenali` playing in the background, while a montage of film clips are playing in the background. There are no major supplements as the film is long and the average bit rate is set around 5Mbit/sec. You can play all the songs in one go without the need to select them individually from the main feature.

A major bonus is included with this disc which is a English subtitle track, which improves upon the BMD version. The subtitles are average and grammar work still needs to be improved upon by Ayngaran. Also the type font used is big in size, taking up all of the bottom section of the screen. The box design was very impressive.

Conclusion

I thought the BMD version was great but this Ayngaran version is spectacular and is worth the purchase even if you have the BMD version, or if your planning to buy this film title.