Kavitha oru kavithai. Aval adhu kathai oru thodar kathai (Kavitha is a poem. Her story/struggle/sacrifice is never-ending)
Aval Oru Thodar Kathai
Cast – Sujatha, Jaiganesh, Kamal Hassan, Fatafat Jayalakshmi, Sripriya, Vijaykumar
Music: M.S.Viswanathan
Director: K.Balachandar
In some respects, the 1974 Tamil film Aval Oru Thodar Kathai is junk.
The story is wildly implausible, the acting of some of the characters below average, the photography pitiful and picturization of most songs below par.
Still the film went on to become a big hit and a classic, at least by Indian film standards.
Aval Oru Thodar Kathai is the only Tamil movie that has been remade or dubbed in five other Indian languages (Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali).
So what accounts for the remarkable success of Aval Oru Thodar Kathai?
Four Virtues
Despite its many shortcomings, four things salvaged Aval Oru Thodar Kathai and rescued it from the dumpster where 99% of Tamil movies end up.
Aval Oru Thodar Kathai’s redeeming elements were great music (thanks to M.S.Viswanathan), an off-beat, heroine-centric film headlined by the late actress Sujatha, above average acting by Sujatha and an unusually restrained performance from Ulaga Madayan Kamal Haasan in a supporting role.
Sujatha made her Tamil debut in Aval Oru Thodar Kathai as a family’s eldest daughter Kavitha, who is the financial anchor and sole breadwinner of the large household.
Kavitha’s father has abandoned the family and vanished eight years back, the elder brother is a drunkard and the younger sister a widow.
There’s also a mother, another younger sister, a blind younger brother, a young niece and nephew and a baby to support.
Although it’s Kavitha’s earnings as a stenographer that keeps the household afloat, the family members tend to view her in harsh terms as a strict woman with an acerbic tongue.
Although yearning for a normal married life like all women, responsibilities toward the welfare of the family leaves her with no choice.
It’s Kavitha’s helpless situation that has turned her into an acerbic personality.
As the title strongly hints, Aval Oru Thodar Kathai is a movie that does not have a happy ending.
Successful Troika
In my opinion, three people deserve credit for the success of Aval Oru Thodar Kathai – director K.Balachander, music director M.S.Viswanathan and actress Sujatha.
Who played the bigger role in the movie’s success is hard for mortals to determine.
Perhaps, it was director Balachander who also penned the screenplay and wrote its dialogs.
Divine Music
As long as Tamil movie fans derive pleasure from music, Aval Oru Thodar Kathai will have a place in their hearts for its beautiful melodies.
Just one of countless gems wrought by the creative juices of ace music director M.S.Viswanathan.
Dheivam Thantha Veedu can justly lay claim to the honor of being one of the finest Tamil movie songs ever.
Song by Yesudas and picturized on Kavitha’s wayward elder brother Murthy (Jaiganesh) in the movie, the passage of time has not diminished its appeal to Tamil movie fans.
I wouldn’t describe the picturization of the song as great but it wasn’t too bad either.
But what I found incongruous was that the song with meaningful lyrics was picturized on a no-good, lazy drunken bum in the movie.
Kannilae Enna Undu, Kadavul Amaithu Vaitha Medai and Adi Ennadi Ulagam are the other pleasing songs from this movie and have all stood the test of time.
In the Tamil Nadu of the 1970s, songs from this movie were constantly blaring out on radio and loudspeakers at marriages and other public functions.
Kannilae Enna Undu
Kadavul Amaithu Vaitha Medai
Adi Ennadi Ulagam
Sujatha
The fame of most Indian heroines owes more to family connections, their gleeful willingness to shed their inhibitions and clothes to titillate the audience and being in the ‘good’ books of heroes.
Not surprisingly, most Indian heroines tend to induce a reflex orgy of vomit in serious movie fans.
Sujatha is one of the rare talents in Indian cinema on the female side.
By the time Sujatha ventured into Tamil movies, she had already done several Malayalam movies.
In Aval Oru Thodar Kathai, Sujatha, acquits herself well in the role of a stern, sacrificing elder sister forever concerned about her family members despite their frequent jabs of ingratitude.
Following her acclaimed performance, Sujatha went on to do other good movies like Avargal.
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan has a small but memorable role as the orphan staying in Kavitha’s house.
His goal is to be a singer but encounters repeated failure.
Mercifully, Kamal Hassan was still not Ulaga Nayagan (universal hero) when this film was made and he renders a restrained and noteworthy performance as the disappointed lover and failed music artiste
Balachander
K.Balachander has been deservedly hailed as one of the best directors Tamil cinema has produced.
Many of his movies eschew the usual claptrap of invincible heroes, demure heroines, foreign locales and focus on small settings where personal relationships and conflict constitute the essence of the movie.
In an age when hero-centric films was the norm in Tamil cinema, Balachander deserves kudos for daring to make a movie with a girl playing the key role.
Besides directing Aval Oru Thodar Kathai, Balachander also wrote the screenplay and dialogs.
One of the interesting aspects of the movie is that although Kavitha is the centerpiece of the film there are other strong characters including her brother Murthy, the boss Chandrasekhar, her friend Chandra (Phataphat Jayalakshmi), her boyfriend Tilak, sister Bharathi, Kavith’s mother, the orphan Prasad and Chandra’s mother.
By the way, Jayalakshmi made her cinema debut in Aval Oru Thodar Kathai and earned the sobriquet ‘Phataphat’ Jayalakshmi for her character’s penchant to frequently use the ‘Phataphat‘ expression.
SearchIndia.com strongly recommends Aval Oru Thodar Kathai.
It’s one of those rare Tamil movies that you can sit through without puking your guts out.
Aval Oru Thodar Kathai is available on DVD at Netflix and Amazon Instant Video.
Aval Oru Thodar Kathai – A Tamil Classic added by SearchIndia.com on
View all posts by SearchIndia.com →
My God, when was this released.
Kamal Hassan was my dad’s favorite when he was young.
Sooooo many years n he is still there..
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Kamal Hassan was my dad’s favorite when he was young. Sooooo many years n he is still there..
Ha ha ha….Kamal Hassan will still be around when your grandson is in cheddies.
Aval Oru Thodar Kathai came out in 1974.
Kamal usually underplays his characters whenever he is in the sidelines. For example, sample this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSkPfNcG8SI
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Good one, although the Western classical interlude at the end seemed incongruous in a Tamil funereal setting.
If the only way to avoid below par acting from Ulaga
NayaganMadayan is by ‘sidelining’ him then let’s do so with gusto! 😉I fail to see why SI fails to acknowledge the fact that Kamal is a very good ACTOR.
I understand your point about him being an egoistic psychopath who believes that he is the best in everything, when he isn’t, but you have to admit, when that man isn’t busy going over-the-top, he is actually a good actor. You practically said it yourselves in your review of Anbe Sivam.
Besides, Anbe Sivam, Nayagan, Sigappu Rojakkal, Avargal, Salangai Oli and even that hideous Dasavatharam, where some films in which you commended his ACTING.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. You write: you have to admit, when that man isn’t busy going over-the-top, he is actually a good actor
Well, I suppose you could say of any man that if he’s not going over the top or under the bottom he’s a good actor. 😉
That said, by Tamil or Telugu standards, Kamal Hassan is all right.
But I’ve seen better. Far better.
Jennifer Lawrence, one of my Hollywood inamoratas, in her third film Winter’s Bone was a million times better than Kamal Hassan in his 200th or 300th film.
She was 18 then. Jennifer’s extraordinary performance even snagged her a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
At 60, can Kamal dream of an award outside of Katpadi, Bengaluru or Machilipatnam?
Heck, no. Not in a million years.
Kamal Hassan shines because his competition is restricted to the like of Vijay, Ajith, Surya, Simbhu and an assortment of other buffoons who wouldn’t recognize acting if it punched them in the face or kicked them on the backside.
2. Worse, Kamal Hassan is a thieving bastard. Remember, Ulaga Madayan Kamal Hassan took credit for the story in Manmadhan Ambu.
3. I may have been impressed with Anbe Sivam four or five years back.
But having seen countless films since I’m now less inclined gush about the film, Kamal Hassan’s performance or that fat buffalo Madhavan.
Wonderful performance by Nagesh in the above link which was one of my fav movie scenes ever…That performance gave him the best supporting actor award (national award) which was a rare instance in Indian cinema where a genuine performance was rewarded
Nagesh is one of the few actors who can draw a line between acting and puking.
Watch the below scene in which he completely overwhelms sivaji ganesan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozgQLP3o6gY
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Good.
Nagesh (like my other favorites Rajpal Yadav and Johnny Lever) was created for comic roles.
“Jennifer Lawrence, one of my Hollywood inamoratas, in her third film Winter’s Bone was a million times better than Kamal Hassan in his 200th or 300th film.
She was 18 then. Jennifer’s extraordinary performance even snagged her a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
At 60, can Kamal dream of an award outside of Katpadi, Bengaluru or Machilipatnam? ”
Not just Kamal but any Indian actor except if he acts in a Hollywood movie or in an Indian movie by a Hollywood director. Correct me if I’m wrong.
I don’t think I’ve seen Jennifer Lawrence in any other movie except X men First Class. Everyone in First Class was good. Hence, she doesn’t really stand out.
Now, I bet you that if she were to act in an Indian movie, she wouldn’t deliver even half of what she did in Winter’s Bone, unless it happens to be at least a decent movie. Hollywood film makers certainly know what they’re doing and how to extract good performances from the actors. Not just that but most Hollywood movies also contain something that’s absent in 99% Indian movies… a good script.
Let’s take Kamal Hassan in movies like Punnagai Mannan, Hey Ram, Virumandi, Anbe Sivam and the recently released Vishwaroopam. All these movies were good and so was Kamal’s acting. Let’s also not forget that Kamal was the director of 3 of them. All 3 dared to be different from the run-of-the-mill junk. I don’t know how Hey Ram and Virumandi performed in the BO but Vishwaroopam is a blockbuster, if reports of it grossing 120 cr in 4 days is true. Besides, the movie is house full in Chennai for the second week too.
How can a man who delivered an electrifying performance in some movies be mediocre in many others? Because he’s an average actor? Do you think that makes any sense?
I blame the shoddy script and his despair to make money. It’s also possible that he had no choice because good scripts are rare as far as Tamil movies are concerned. If he needs to make it big, he has to keep doing movies. If actors remain stubborn they’d do only those movies that have a good script, then I’m afraid the entire Tamil film industry would collapse. Most film makers simply don’t have the ability to deliver a good movie. The only ones that show some promise are the newbies who made movies like Pizza and Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom.
About his thieving practices, I agree with you. Any movie he steals deserves to bomb at the box office. Anyway, that was the case with Manmadhan Ambu. Maybe that’s why he’s worked hard on Vishwaroopam.. to repent for his past doings. 😛
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Forget Oscars.
If Kamal Haasan is truly delivering “electrifying performances” (your words) in some movies why is it that no one outside India has ever heard of him.
Why are his movies not releasing in U.S. indie/foreign film theatres like Ritz, Rave, Landmark Sunshine where French, Korean, Spanish, German, Chinese films release with monotonous frequency. Mainstream Americans have embraced foreign films in good numbers at these theatres and surely if Kamal/Tamil films were good they wouldn’t hesitate to support our good films.
I suppose the Tamil Nadu definition of “electrifying” is different from mainstream acceptance of the word.
Vinith: Most film makers simply don’t have the ability to deliver a good movie.
Not true. There are talented filmmakers. I think, its our own denial of accepting anything as entertainment other than just being on a superficial level. We refuse to come out of that circle.
Genre & demographics. These two will be the major questions any producer be it, Hollywood, Kollywood, Bollywood etc will ask since they are the primary ones concerned about ROI.
Just imagine a producer who goes to movie like ‘Dasavatharam’ and watch the audience dance, whistle and howl for song in the end where K.S. Ravikumar dances like Goundamani. I still wonder what is so entertaining about that song.
Look what happened to Suseendhran. He gave two decent movies and succumbed to the rural mass.
Look what happened to Balaji Shaktivel’s “Vazhakku Enn 18/9”. Audience preferred to watch “Kalakalappu @ Masala Cafe” instead. The ability is there. We are just unwilling to accept it.
SI: If Kamal Haasan is truly delivering “electrifying performances” (your words) in some movies why is it that no one outside India has ever heard of him.
I slowly gather that SI ain’t buying Barry Osborne deal. You think it’s all “dubaakoor” (lie) ;)?
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. I’ll buy it when I see it happening!
No, I wouldn’t slam it as a ‘lie’ ….but more like Vishwaroopam hype.
In any case, there’s no deal yet…..Just the blah blah blah.
2. What are they (Barry + Kamal) going to do – Introduce a 60-year-old “Hero” (Kamal Haasan) that no one’s ever heard of to the Americans.
It’s probably too late.
Plus, Kamal ain’t no Javier Bardem in the acting department.
3. Indians need to come up to at least Chinese or Korean levels before they can venture out or be taken seriously.
Koreans are making mainstream Hollywood movies now – Kim Ji-woon recently directed The Last Stand (Arnold Schwarzenegger), following the success of his Korean films The Good, the Bad, the Weird and I Saw the Devil.
You can see SI’s review of several Korean films here – http://www.searchindia.com/tag/korean-films/
@Madmax
“Not true. There are talented filmmakers. I think, its our own denial of accepting anything as entertainment other than just being on a superficial level. We refuse to come out of that circle.”
I agree. That’s why I used the word ‘MOST’. I’ve to admit there are talented film makers here but they don’t get the recognition they deserve. Instead, talentless people like Shankar, Gautam Menon etc get all the attention.
I believe the audience still has taste for good movies. How else do you explain the success of Pizza? The movie released out of the blue and it’s cast and crew were relative unheard of, except for maybe Remya Nambeesan.
“Genre & demographics. These two will be the major questions any producer be it, Hollywood, Kollywood, Bollywood etc will ask since they are the primary ones concerned about ROI.”
As far as Kollywood goes, I don’t think there’s any genre other than love, love/action. Endhiran was supposed to be the first ever Sci-Fi movie in Tamil but even that was basically a love story. The only difference is that the villain was a robot.
This is what I don’t understand about the Tamil audience. While they encourage movies like Chennai 28, Naan Mahaan Alla etc, they also have no problem in accepting trash like Endhiran.
“Look what happened to Balaji Shaktivel’s “Vazhakku Enn 18/9″”
Despite people raving about the movie, I felt it was just above average at best. The movie was off-beat and certain incidents shown in the movie are happening in real life as well but the problem was the overall execution.
Kalakalappu was plain rubbish. Vazhakku Enn is much better in comparison.
“I slowly gather that SI ain’t buying Barry Osborne deal”
SI is right. We can’t believe it unless something actually happens.
SI: What are they (Barry + Kamal) going to do – Introduce a 60-year-old “Hero” (Kamal Haasan) that no one’s ever heard of to the Americans.
I’d guess, Kamal probably showed Barry the amount of “celebrity” value he has and the potential return that he could get off of it.
SI: Plus, Kamal ain’t no Javier Bardem in the acting department. Indians need to come up to at least Chinese or Korean levels before they can venture out or be taken seriously.
I agree 100%. I watched “I saw the Devil”. I personally think Kamal can’t match Byung-hun Lee’s performance, after all. I watched “Yellow Sea” as well. That is not my kinda movie as it ends on a very depressing note but I was spellbound with one set-piece in particular. Can’t get it out of my head (hotel room scene ;)).
Just off the topic, since we’re discussing Kamal Haasan’s performance in general. I just finished watching a Norwegian flick called “Headhunters”. Available in Netflix. I liked it a lot. I don’t wanna spoil but you’ll catch what I am trying to get at. “Make up” department. There is one shot in that film that looked too realistic that none of Kamal’s ‘make-ups’ gave me that sense of reality. The picture quality, casting, action and the scoring was just fantastic!
Vinith: Instead, talentless people like Shankar, Gautam Menon etc get all the attention.
‘Gentleman’, ‘Indian’ and ‘Mudhalvan’ were good. So was ‘Minnale’ and ‘Kaakha Kaakha’ (Kollywood standards). Wonder why you’d say that they’re talentless. I think it’s just that they have succumbed to the fact that this is just a profession and not an unwitting vanity.
A real artist seldom cares for money.
Vinith: How else do you explain the success of Pizza?
Let me know the other competitive movies that released at that time and I’ll explain you the success of ‘Pizza’.
SI: Aishwarya Rai is not famous here. Nobody knows her here or has heard of her. Let’s stop kidding ourselves. She’s a nonentity as far as movies here. An average moviegoer in the U.S. would be clueless if you mentioned her name.
She was the first choice for ‘Jane Smith’ for “Mr & Mrs. Smith”. On the record, it says that she turned it down due to scheduling conflicts, but off the record, her performance sucked and the role ended up with Angelina Jolie that ultimately resulted in ruining Jennifer Aniston’s life.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. I watched Headhunters on Amazon because there was a “Long Wait” on Netflix. Here’s the SI take on the film – http://www.searchindia.com/2012/08/29/headhunters-review-be-wary-of-the-gps/
2. Aishwarya Rai considered for the role of ‘Jane Smith’ in Mr and Mrs.Smith?
Ha ha ha ha. Thank you, I needed a good laugh this Sunday morning! 😉 The casting director must have fallen off his chair over her clownish, feeble attempts at acting.
Marion Cotillard or Juliette Binoche, Aishwarya Rai is not.
Aishwarya Rai is lucky that Indians don’t look beyond the looks of their “actresses” in films.
BTW, I do not believe “Jennifer Aniston’s life was ruined”…..au contraire, I’d say true love triumphed! 😉
Brangelina and their large menagerie seem to be happy!
SI: Ha ha ha ha. Thank you, I needed a good laugh this Sunday morning! 😉 The casting director must have fallen off his chair over her clownish, feeble attempts at acting.
Sure. You’re welcome. I think the casting director and all involved should’ve been profoundly embarrassed.
SI: Brangelina and their large menagerie seem to be happy!
You’re right. Seems true. 😀
“If Kamal Haasan is truly delivering “electrifying performances” (your words) in some movies why is it that no one outside India has ever heard of him.”
Those were actually your words from your review of Anbe Sivam.
Now, to answer your question, I doubt anyone who doesn’t watch Hollywood movies often would have even heard of Jennifer Lawrence, Viggo Mortensson and many other fine actors. I’m not even sure if any of their movies were even released here. You’re talking about world-wide appeal whereas I’m talking about talent. Kamal Hassan has it.
Aishwarya Rai is famous both all over India and abroad as well. She’s acted in movies like Pink Panther 2 with the likes of Steve Martin. Does that make her a good actress?
I’m sorry SI but that question is a bit silly.
“Why are his movies not releasing in U.S. indie/foreign film theatres like Ritz, Rave, Landmark Sunshine where French, Korean, Spanish, German, Chinese films release with monotonous frequency. Mainstream Americans have embraced foreign films in good numbers at these theatres and surely if Kamal/Tamil films were good they wouldn’t hesitate to support our good films.”
You need to ask the distributors about that. But the fact is, if a 100 Tamil movies are releasing in a year, only about 10 of them would be worth watching, whether it’s Kamal Hassan’s or any other’s. My point is not that Tamil/Kamal films are always good. It’s that Kamal Hassan isn’t a mediocre actor. While I don’t deny he’s delivered merely passable performances in many movies, his performance in the movies that I mentioned in my previous comment aren’t that of a mediocre actor’s. Even accomplished Hollywood actors have failed quite a few times to deliver a a powerful performance. How do you explain that then?
I believe shoddy scripts and poorly developed characters are also to blame.
“I suppose the Tamil Nadu definition of “electrifying” is different from mainstream acceptance of the word.”
Well, I got to admit you’re right here. When movies like Endhiran are hailed as masterpieces, actors like Vijay and Ajith are hailed as Ilaya Thalapathy, Thala, Next Superstar etc, what you said above is certainly true.
To conclude, while I don’t think Kamal deserves the title of Ulaga Nayagan (let’s face it, he’s no Marlon Brando or Al Pacino), all I’m stating here is that dismissing him as a mediocre actor isn’t fair. When you’re talking about a particular movie it’s fine, but don’t you think it’s a little unfair to brand him a mediocre actor when he’s demonstrated his talent several times?
Of course, no one’s denying that there are better actors.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. When I started watching films, they were mostly Hindi films. Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, Dharmendra etc. I was spellbound by them.
The point is we think something is good only until we see something far better.
If I’ve described Kamal Haasan or Amitabh Bachchan as good at some point in the past, it was purely my lack of exposure to better stuff at that time.
Over the last 10-years, I’ve seen a good number of foreign/Hollywood movies in theatres and at home and now I feel 99% of our Indian movies is utter junk. And when they are not junk, you realize belatedly and sadly they’re stringed together from several other foreign movies (Barfi).
2. Mainstream American exhibitors don’t screen Kamal Haasan movies likely because they think it’s drivel. Even now, only Anil Ambani’s Big Cinemas is screening it.
To a degree, exhibitors here are appreciative of talent no matter where it hails from. Hence, the screening of Korean, Chinese, Russian etc movies. They don’t give a f*ck for Indian filmmakers unless it’s Mira Nair or Deepa Mehta.
As I’ve said on countless occasions, only Indians here watch the Bollywood/Tamil/Telugu films.
3. Aishwarya Rai is not famous here.
Nobody knows her here or has heard of her. Let’s stop kidding ourselves.
She’s a nonentity as far as movies here. An average moviegoer in the U.S. would be clueless if you mentioned her name.
“How can a man who delivered an electrifying performance in some movies be mediocre in many others? Because he’s an average actor? Do you think that makes any sense?”
I too agree with vinith’s point. Kamal has some acting gene inherent which is evident from his first few films like this aval oru thodarkathai, varumaiyin nirm sigappu etc.I strongly believe that acting is not cultivable and the artist should have some natural gene to exhibit in his first movie itself. If only he was mediocre in many other films, it’s probably becoz of the shoddy scripts.He is certainly one among the greatest Indian actors as per the link below:
http://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-readers-choice-the-finest-indian-actors-of-all-time/20110627.htm
Even though,acting was his forte, he has somehow managed to be a decent filmmaker,doing experiments,feeding his artistic creativity, by turning into a responsible producer and director.He has somehow managed to balance the inner conflict between a creator and financier to travel in both commercial and artistic paths. A good creator would take initiative and invest to pay back what he has earnt from the industry itself.He had proved that by venturing into viswaroopam, similar to the likes of mel Gibson as a responsible film maker. By no means,kamal is equivalent to mel gibson nor viswaroopam is apocalypyo.He definitely comes ahead of the other cash rich and investment risk averse indian superstars like SRK,AB,Salman etc. Shall we say Indian mel gibson?
I doubt the acting capabilities of other actors like vijay, surya,karthi etc.Surya especially who claims that he is the greatest among the current bunch, himself said in an interview that he was clueless about acting in his first movie ” nerukku ner”. i feel that he even now has not improved that much after acted in 25 odd films.He simply has not that acting gene.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
1. Great artistes ought not to steal the way Ulaga Madayan brazenly does.
2. As we’ve explained in the past, when we’ve used words like “electrifying” to describe Kamal Haasan or Soman Maasan in the past, it’s because we hadn’t seen better.
3. The survival of Vijay, Surya, Simbhu, Vombhu, Kombhu etc in films is a testament to the presence of many idiots in Tamil Nadu who patronize these jokers. Kamal Haasan, undoubtedly, is way beyond these buffoons.
I’ve seen Kamal Haasan’s first film Kalathoor Kanamma and as you said he did demonstrate the presence of the natural acting gene. The movie was junk but that’s a different story.
4. Regarding your link, it’s hard to accept that Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapoor are inferior to Kamal Haasan in the acting domiain.
These polls are highly suspect and there’s considerable amount of “booth capturing” by “fans.”
@ Prasath.j: By no means,kamal is equivalent to mel gibson nor viswaroopam is apocalypyo.
“Apocalypto” is a lift from 1966 classic called “The Naked Prey”.
SI said: “Aishwarya Rai is not famous here.
Nobody knows her here or has heard of her. Let’s stop kidding ourselves.”
Hmm…. I am not sure… Long ago, I think I read in IMDB or something that Will Smith wanted Aishwarya Rai to play a small role in Hitch…… Well, this may be a trivial info, but it does show that Americans are not absolutely clueless about Aishwarya Rai…..
Kindly correct me if I am wrong.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
For the last time, let me tell you. Just because dumb-shit Indians wet their jetties and panties over Aishwarya Rai, it does not mean the civilized world does the same
The only Indian an average American has likely heard of is Gandhi.
The only foreign actors familiar to Americans are Javier Bardem and, to a lesser extent Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds and Django).
Just because Will Smith blah blah blahs something in India means nothing!
Wanted to know just how true the above statement is “Aishwarya Rai is not famous here. ”
So off I went to Google Trends and searched for Aishwarya Rai and looked at the search queries originating in US.
http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Aishwarya%20Rai&geo=US&cmpt=q
Most of the queries ‘MIGHT’ have been from Indian diaspora, but cannot rule out Americans too.
Now decide for yourself 🙂
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Since the “search” graphs are not for absolute numbers, I don’t suppose they mean anything beyond highlighting peaks and troughs of interest in that woman over time.
A better proxy might be to compare the number of “News Headlines” in India vs USA by checking the box in the top right. I can’t do that comparison now because I have reached my “quota limit.” 🙁
SI said: “For the last time, let me tell you. Just because dumb-shit Indians wet their jetties and panties over Aishwarya Rai, it does not mean the civilized world does the same”.
And for the last time, Mr.Smartass, not every Indian cares or thinks about Aishwarya Rai here…. I was just trying to point out that some of the American Actors, especially Will Smith are aware of Aishwarya Rai…….. Please read my statements before you come to conclusions….
And for heaven’s sake, sire, please stop calling the US a civilized nation….. US may be a super power, war-monger nation, country which loves the brand “apple” than the fruit with the same name, but definitely not a civilized nation….
Only in US can we find a state that has more guns than humans….Please correct your facts first. Thank you.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: I was just trying to point out that some of the American Actors, especially Will Smith are aware of Aishwarya Rai.
I suppose Einstein was aware of Newton’s laws!
The point is people in a particular line of activity are familiar with others in the same line.
So it’s not surprising Will Smith may have heard of Aishwarya.
I’m talking of the average American.
Oh god, people should not confuse aishwarya rai to be in line with newton after reading this.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
I have not the slightest doubt that tens of millions in India already believe Aishwarya and her former boyfriend Salman are superior to Newton and Galileo! 🙁
SI said: “I have not the slightest doubt that tens of millions in India already believe Aishwarya and her former boyfriend Salman are superior to Newton and Galileo!”
My god, where do you keep coming with these numbers? Tens of millions of Indians??? Really…. Didn’t you ever know that 70% of Indians live in villages and that not even 70-80% of them now who or what Aishwarya Rai is?
As for Newton and Einstein, at least 50% of the kids in Villages are aware. Primarly because of the reason that Newton’s law of Gravity and Einstein’s law of relativity are mandatory questions in their SSLC (10th standard exams)….. Stop equating the city buffoons with the villagers….. And just for the record, many of the Indians have hated Aishwarya Rai for one reason or the other….
SI said: “The point is people in a particular line of activity are familiar with others in the same line.
So it’s not surprising Will Smith may have heard of Aishwarya.
I’m talking of the average American.”
Aswin: Point taken. I don’t live in US, so I don’t want to make baseless statements without knowing the local population… Apologies… I would appreciate if you would do the same. Thank you.
What are the other balachander’s movies you saw?
I liked Edhir Neechal with nagesh on the lead role, and Sindhu Bhairavi with sivakumar acting as a legendary classic singer.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
The ones I can think of quickly – Ninaithale Inikkum, Thappu Thalangal and Manmadha Leelai.
SI loves Sivakumar more when he is dancing.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Ha ha ha!
Whenever I’m depressed, I click on the following video and the sight of Sivakumar out-monkeying all monkeys never fails to lift my spirits:
http://www.searchindia.com/2009/04/05/jillu-jillu-gullu-gulluwho-is-suryas-dance-master/
Don’t miss the scene at 3:17 in the video when Sivakumar does a weird running-saree-pulling dance and gets walloped on the face by Jayachitra with the saree! 😉
As I’ve said often, the above video is the best proof that Man descended from Monkeys.
Tamil cinema has not produced a chimp like Sivakumar! 😉
I think 3:17 has something to do with Sivakumar. Here is another “beetipul” facial expression. Between 3:14 and 3:20.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL1_bP2xIdQ
I remember being grossed out with that reaction as it felt too long at that time. Just noticed that it wasn’t way too long actually. Just 5 or 6 secs.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
Gawd! That was beyond horrible. 🙁
If I were to guess, I’d say Sivakumar was on Ganja or the heroine was squeezing his nuts hard with her right hand. 😉
Ha ha. I was looking where her right hand was.
Man, poor Sivakumar. 🙁
WTF?
The second video is terrible. No one will hail him as a seasoned actor if they watch this.
Did someone tell him he should act like a heroine? Good that he did not moan as well.
SearchIndia.com Responds:
You write: Did someone tell him he should act like a heroine?
Is it Sivakumar or Sivakumari? 😉
I got reminded that varumaiyin niram sigappu was by balachander as well.
Sarcasm is dead, folks!