5th Mar 2015.
Do you like seeing ‘comedy’ films or ‘tragedy’ films impress you
!
We
have all seen this story .... a feudal lord's son, falling in love with a poor
girl - not able to marry .... ends up
spending life in frustration in the company of liquor. Heart-broken he dies in front of her house
singing as a destitute seated near a dustbin with a stray dog in company – the
song ‘ulage mayam vazhve mayam’ of Ghantasala remains evergreen hit.... the film ‘Devadas’ – 1953 released in Telegu
starring A Nageswarara Rao, made in Tamil too – based on the Sharat Chandra
Chattopadhyay's Devdas. Samudrala Raghavacharya wrote the dialog and screen
adaptation. The film is listed among CNN-IBN's list of hundred greatest Indian
films of all time.
William
Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ is considered one of his darkest and most powerful
works. Set in Scotland, the play dramatizes the corrosive psychological and
political effects produced when evil is chosen as a way to fulfill the ambition
for power. Macbeth most clearly reflects
the playwright's relationship with the sovereign, narrating the story of a
brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from a trio of
witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and
spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the throne
for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia, and he soon becomes a
tyrannical ruler as he is forced to commit more and more murders to protect
himself from enmity and suspicion. The bloodbath and consequent civil war
swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of arrogance, madness,
and death.
Kamal
– Sridevi – Sripriya starrer ‘Vazhvey Maayam’ released in 1982 was a hit with
the music of Gangai Amaran and lyrics of Vaali – it was a remake of Telugu film
Premabhishekam. The 1970 Malayalam movie
of the same name directed by KS Sethumadhavan left a lasting impact on
Malayalam cinema. This is no post on
movies but the physical impact it could have on its viewers !!
An
article in the Science section of MailOnline states that people watching sad
movies could become more fat. Next time
you sit down to watch sad film, leave the snacks in the cupboard. Research
shows that we eat up to 55 per cent more when watching a weepy movie than a
happy one. It is thought that we comfort eat to make us feel better. With
popcorn and ice cream among the favorite foods of film-goers, the phenomenon
spells bad news for dieters.
People ate up to 55
per cent more snacks when they watched a sad film compared to a funny one
! US researchers offered a group of
office workers range of snacks while they watched the epic Ryan O’Neal and Ali
MacGraw weepy Love Story and Sweet Home Alabama, an upbeat, funny film. Researcher
Brian Wansink, of Cornell University, said: ‘After the movies were over and the
tears were wiped away, those who had watched Love Story had eaten 36 per cent
more popcorn.’ A second experiment involved collecting popcorn boxes from the
floors and bins of cinemas and working out which films led to people finishing
the carton. Those who watched the George Clooney tear-jerker Solaris munched
their way through 55 per cent more popcorn than those who chuckled their way
through My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
And
it is not just weepies that are bad by the waistline. In a previous study,
Professor Wansink showed action films also whet appetite.
Away
from these – comedians are not fat and infact have had tragic lives
sometimes. Few decades ago, the Tamil
tinseldom was dominated by Sivaji
Ganesan and MG Ramachandran – a comedian commanded salary on a par with them
and, on a few occasions, even received more. He had the distinction of singing in his first
film Dhana Amaravathi (1947). He was a dancer and singing-actor, who introduced
yodelling in playback singing. But J.P.
Chandrababu’s life was a tragedy and he died a pauper in 1974, befitting the
title of the film Maadi Veettu Yezhai that he directed.
According
to his biography, he led a royal lifestyle, bought a 20-ground plot on
Greenways Road; designed it in such a way that he could drive the car straight
to the first floor. But Maadi Veettu Yezhai put paid to his hopes and he
plunged neck-deep into crisis. The property was attached by the court, and he
died in penury !
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
5th Mar 2015.
5th Mar 2015.