Comedy in Tamil movies

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Comedy in Tamil movies Comedy in Tamil movies

Topic suggested by Bhoori on Tue Apr 27 02:30:14 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

A typical tamil film is supposed to hv comedy, pathos, dance, songs - the gamut of human emotion. Whether we actually laugh in the comedy scenes or the pathos scenes is a different matter.

I would like to discuss comedy movies and comedy in movies. Why is that we never see a My Cousin Vinny in Tamil? Do we lack a comic vein in general? Forget My Cousin Vinny, we never even see a Naram Garam or Jane Do Bhi Yaron.

Balachander attempted to make feel good comedy films in the late sixties and early seventies. Some of them were OK e.g. Edhir Neechal, Poova Thalaiya etc.

The best ones that I know are - Kadhalikka Neramillai, Kasedhan Kadavulada, Thillumullu ( of course, not original ), Manal Kayiru and MMKR. Even though Thillumullu is not original, I consider it superior to Golmaal. Occasionally the comedy track has produced some gems - like Nagesh/Sivaji/APN in Thiruvilaiyadal, Baliah in Thillana M, Thangavelu in Kalyanap Parisu, Chandrababu in Sabash Meena, Nagesh in Padagotti, Cho in Annapurani, Gowndamani/Senthil in Vaidhei Katthirundhal etc. But as a rule, this is the comedy track. The relationship of this track to the main story is at best, tangential.

Even more rarely we get comedy based on the characters e.g. SVR/Savithri in Maya Bazar, Rajinikanth in Thambikku Endha Ooru etc. As a rule, this is only one part. In TEO, Rajini has to become less humourous and more dishum-dishum in the second half; SVR/Savithri come probably in the last 1/3 of the Maya Bazar. Comedy as the theme, as the sustaining life force of the movie, is quite rare in Tamil movies. Even MMKR has quite a few unnecessary fights and duets - more comic than the norm, but not really a full fledged comedy.

Why? Is there a chance that we will ever see a Monty Python in Tamil?

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Responses:

From: CM (@ athm-209-219-xxx-66.home.net) on: Tue Apr 27 16:02:10

Bhoori ,
The last full length comedy that I saw in tamizh cinema was kadhaanayagan. How did u miss it. That was the last movie that could be anywhere near a full length comedy. But my fav and the movie I considered the best full length comedy is ofcourse "KaasEdhaan kadavulada". The reason why there arent full length comedy is that comedy is a very diffcult thing to do, both scripts and scenes/situations. If u had given it a thought, the full length comedies like Jaane be do yaaron even, come once in a blue moon. I guess this is the case everywhere, so TF is no exception to this. Even S.Ve.Shekars dramas are getting a little boring these days. There are a couple of other movies that u should see, though they may not be really full length comedy but they are definetly good to watch. Poikkaal kudirai is one good movie ( actually adaptation of Marraige made in Saloon ). The other is Bommalaattam( I think that was a comedy too, Im not sure paathu romba naal aachu so marandhu pOchchu ).
From: Bhoori (@ sji-ca5-80.ix.netcom.com) on: Wed Apr 28 02:48:10

Kathanayagan: Kelvipatthadhillai.
Poikkal Gudirai: Yep, its a perfect comedy movie. I wish the Kamal scenes and Ravinder romance scenes, and the climax scene werent there, though. Unnecessary!
Bommalattam: A so called comedy movie in the lines of Poova Thalaiya etc. Cho was good, though.

Its true that JBDY comes once in a blue moon only. But in the seventies there was practically a movement towards light comedies - to wit, Baton Baton Mein, Chupke Chupke, Choti si Baat, Angoor, Naram garam, Golmal, Pasand Apni Apni and so on. Even Anand is quite funny at times. The comedy is not tangential to the main story line, the comedy is the sustaining force in all these movies. Wheras even in Kadalikka Neramillai, Nagesh is extraneous to the main story. This is the trend that I find quite puzzling. Why is that we dont make movies in which comedy is the movie?

Please dont bring SV Sekar in this. His comedy is quite trivial. You cant string jokes together and make a movie out of it. Except Monty Python, nobody else has made a quality movie out of that.

MMKR, Poikkal G, Thillumullu, Kasedhan Kadavulada etc. the comedy is inherent in the story. Such movies seem to be quite rare in Tamil.

In some cases like Thambikku EO, Thiruvilaiyadal etc. the treatment makes the situation quite funny. Aan Pavam, Kanni Rasi, some Bhagyaraj movies also fall in this category. Such movies also seem to be vanishing.

I mean, the average Tamilian would like to see a funny movie too. The average teenager, collegian would like to hv some cult movies. In my days, for want of a better movie, TEO served as our cult movie. Think about it, we hv a cult movie because the first half was funny. When I first saw Monty Python, my first reaction was that I wish I had seen this movie with my college gang! I mean, imagine, seeing this movie with 10-15 fellow students in a theater! The enjoyment would hv been multifold! There is a market, even if it is a niche market. The producers seem to tend to produce a greatest common multiple kind of movie - a bit of comedy, a dash of pathos...
From: Shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Wed Apr 28 04:45:09

partnerrrrr,

kadhAnAyagan is a ulta of "nAdOdi kAtru" a mohanlal & srinivasan starrer.It was better than KN in many aspects.

It had it's sequels in pattaNa pravEsam and akkarE..akkarE..akkarE, all good movies.
From: Shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Wed Apr 28 10:40:53

How about Inru pOi nALai vA ???
From: he..he..hee.. (@ global25.citicorp.com) on: Thu Apr 29 12:18:27

1. Sabapathy
2. Aduttha veettu penn
3. uthiravindri ullae vaa
4. soapu, seepu, kannadi
5. Mr. Sampath (in fact Cho's almost all movies)
6. avvai shanmugi
7. vilayaattu pillai (does this qualify ???)
8. enga mama
9. paati sollai thattathae
From: Ramamurthy (@ 207.252.246.203) on: Thu Apr 29 17:50:04

Another excellent comedy is Balachandar's Bhama vijayam.
Kalyanam panniyum bramhachari is another comedy.
Yar paiyan although not an original Tamail story is a good light hearted film.
The only dialogue writer-director team with real flair for comedy used to be Sridhar-Gopu.
Galatta kalyanam,ooty varai uravu and Sumathi en sundari can be included in comedy films.
Ramamurthy
From: smtspgnanasekar (@ m31.pppmad.vsnl.net.in) on: Thu May 20 07:23:43

hellooo,
how r u?we r fine here.what r u thinking about us.fill this ___________________________________________________________________________________________________.and tell to us
From: manish sharma (@ crism.stanford.edu) on: Thu May 20 17:15:55

Hello,

Surprisingly, a friend and I have been
thinking along very similar lines recently. We
started a webpage to address a very similar issue,
though our scope was all Indian films.

We will surely include the suggestions from
here on our webpage. If you would like to
take a look, its at

http://www.stanford.edu/~manish/incomsearch.html

Thanks,
Manish.
From: Vasu (@ gup-101-dpm3.cia-g.com) on: Fri May 21 15:56:47

Guys

One more to the list

* Á½Á¸ý §¾¨Å *

"maNamakan theevai" starring Chandrababu,Sivaji,Bhanumathi,
T.K.Ramachandran,Karunanidhi,Thevika and a funny
guy as Bhanumathi's dad :-))
From: senthil (@ ras216002.qad.com) on: Sat Jul 24 11:52:13

Friends,

how about "kalatta kalyanam". My favourite comedy movie of all times is "Bama Vijayam".

senthil
From: mubarak (@ brf-cache10.jaring.my) on: Sun Sep 26 09:21:39

I LIKE TAMIL MOVIES
CAN U SEND SOME GALEERY FILEM TO ME?
From: aruLarasan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Sun Sep 26 11:02:36
From: Menaka (@ gil-r1-p249.cybertrails.com) on: Mon Sep 27 09:17:48

Has anyone checked out "Malabar Police" with sathyaraj , kushboo, gaoundamani, abbas and mumtaj. Comedy is just great in this movie if you can understand malayalam. Sathyaraj has done a great job mixing both langs conversing. Great one indeed!!
From: aruLarasan (@ psiphi.umsl.edu) on: Mon Sep 27 10:16:45

anyone remember ninaivil ninRavaL? nAgEsh, chO, manarOma and KRV ?!? at their best with ravichchandhran adding a little bit. is this available in video cassettes?
From: Mani (@ spider-wm024.proxy.aol.com) on: Mon Sep 27 19:32:28

Menaka,

I'm anxious to see "Malabar Police" myself, did Satyaraj speak good Malayalam?
From: Mani (@ spider-wm024.proxy.aol.com) on: Mon Sep 27 19:33:53

I think the best comedians in Tamil cinema today are Senthil, Vadivelu, Manivannan, and Gowndamani, anybody else have a favorite comedian?
From: Kamesh (@ hlr-42-165.tm.net.my) on: Mon Sep 27 23:11:37

Vivek is my choice. Of late he is even doing the comedy scripts.
From: chandrabose (@ bkj-cache80.jaring.my) on: Tue Sep 28 07:11:00

One scene in Vaali where where Vivek will be
talking to a guy who is having kind of sickness
was funny.
My choice for current movies will be Chinni Jeyanth, Vivek, Paandu, Vennira Aadai Murthi.

Vadivelu,Goundar,Senthil not in the list.Sorry.
From: ponniyin selvan (@ trivalleygrowers.com) on: Tue Sep 28 18:57:56

I like SV Sekar's comedy in MANAL KAYIRU, SAHADEVAN MAHADEVAN AND KATHANAYAKAN.
From: Pala (@ proxy.primus.com.au) on: Sat Oct 2 20:27:32

Suprise to see no one has mentioned Bakyaraaj movies.There were a few comedy movies from him in the 80's.
How about AASAI 60 NAAL MOGAM 30 NAAL!-Kamal movie.
From: Menaka (@ gil-r1-p241.cybertrails.com) on: Mon Oct 4 08:40:55

Mani,
Check it out "malabar police"
you will like it. Goundamani and sathyaraj are great together.
From: chandrrrrrranuma (@ 202.188.127.2) on: Thu Oct 14 01:58:41

the ongoing tv serial drama by mr.k. balachander kasalvu nesam is a superb comedy. suitable for all range ages.no double meaning in the comedy.
From: genius (@ 02-098.005.popsite.net) on: Sat Dec 4 20:59:38

is there a website where i can hear some tamil comedy tranks on Real Audio???
From: Kamesh (@ hlr-81-216.tm.net.my) on: Sat Dec 4 22:47:14

You can listen to SVSekars tracks (some of them only) in www.chennai.com I think so.

Crazy Mohan is available in the net at www.crazymohan.com

I saw other sites where they hosted complete plays b4. Let me find out later.
From: bb (@ farm1-cache2.gw.uiuc.edu) on: Mon Dec 6 20:16:51

by Vimal (@ enpc2559.eas.asu.edu) on Mon Dec 6 19:26:55 EST 1999.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Hello everyone,
I think every TFM fan will join me to thank TFM fans like Rex, Shibu, Balaji, Suresh, Ravi, Vels, MPR, R.Gireesan, Sujatha Chandru, S.Kavitha. and all those who uplink many TFM songs on the web.

Let me come straight to the point. I am a DHF fan of Gaundamani. Me and my friends call him "Gaunds" affectionately. If anybody argues if he has talent or not, I don't care.. just with his style and dialogue delivery...he makes me laugh no matter when I listen.

I would like to know if any of the TFM fans visiting this have audio collections of his comedies and if they can be encoded into Real Audio.

Rex, Shibu, everybody......What do you say?

I shall be really thankful to any positive response to my query.

ps: I always type fast..please don't mind any of the typos...

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