There are Kollywood movies I keep re-watching every now and then. Ayan is easily the most rewatched one - by now, I have seen the Telugu version and Hindi version (both dubbed and both available on YouTube) besides having memorized almost all dialogues and background scores, and even vocalized some of the instruments to bad results. Then, there is Sivaji, the last complete collaboration between director Shankar and writer Sujatha. The Hindi version of Sivaji makes for a good watch; I particularly like how Sivaji becomes MGR in the Tamil version, while the Hindi contextualization reincarnates the character as 'Bachchan'. The recent addiction has been Meiyazhagan. The score, the dialogues, the little nuances all make that a memorable rewatch always.
Now, these movies have their own unique quirks make them stand-out for various reasons. Ayan shoulders the idea of a smuggler, but without going into the morality around the practice of smuggling, it goes into the nitty-gritty of such acts. There is a separate piece to be written about Ayan and the master K V Anand, for sure. Sivaji is the idea of towering cinematic minds coming together to create a magnum opus within the realms of a 'typical' Shankar film. Meiyazhagan is a class apart and creates its own identity within the pages of Kollywood film encyclopedia.
In contrast, Paiyaa as a movie has nothing novel. It is the same old rinsed-and-repeated-a-million-times commercial shtick with tendencies of exhibitive machismo pretty much thrown around all through the narrative. Don't agree? Let me list out some of the tried-and-tested tropes:
- A man gets mesmerized at the first sight of his dream woman and falls for her
- The woman is being chased by goons towards getting her married off
- The man saves her and she falls in love with him
Up until this point, there is nothing unique at all. But, a quick question. When does #3 happen in typical commercial movies? During the first half? Perhaps, at around the interval point? Maybe, slightly after the intermission towards the first few minutes of the second half? That is where Paiyaa starts getting more interesting.
My friend who works in films says, "What differentiates a mediocre commercial film from a good one, at least in the various -woods of India, is how far the story can elasticize itself before contracting back to the typical commercial elements and conflict resolutions inherent to any film." I consider this quip to be an important one in highlighting the 'elasticisation' efforts that Paiyaa does to good effect.
Say, the ending is fixed. It has been decided that only towards the very end will the woman realize and reciprocate the man's love for her. What is the plot point that can stretch this reciprocation up until the very end of the movie? Voila, a road journey!
Fair enough. But what leads to the road journey?
The set up to the beginning of the road journey is a stretch I always like about Paiyaa. The woman tries to escape the goon gang by attempting to board a flight to Mumbai, but that does not materialize because the flight already departs by the time she reaches. Then, there is a last-ditch effort to board a train to Mumbai; the attempt fails because the railway station is filled with henchmen hunting for her presence.
At this point, given that the chauffeur is the main lead, a 'typical' ("mediocre", in my friend's words) commercial film will automatically give a heroic moment to the lead. Somehow, the woman will have the courage to go with him on a road journey to Mumbai. That is where Paiyaa stands tall. The woman is crestfallen because of her plight, and remarks in a whim to the driver that it would be better to take her to the highest altitude around the city so that she can jump off the cliff and end her life. There is still an option now for the man to park the car, lecture the woman about life, and there is a hug - possibly a kiss - and then they fall for each other. Right? Right?
Nope, Paiyaa takes a different route (pun unintended). The man actually parks the car at the highest point and asks her to step out. Now, she thinks he is a maniac because she only said she wanted to commit suicide for the sake of it, in the heat of the moment. The man insists and she steps out, and the lecture happens at this point (not earlier). This is important, and though Meiyazhagan and Paiyaa - two of my favourite films - belong to different genres (quite a co-incidence that Karthi starrs in both of them), the idea is powerful. Be it repentance, introspection, or nostalgia, the results are more powerful when the act of reflecting happens at the place where the emotional remains are going to hit the hardest.
Brindha Sarathy's dialogues are sharp, and although cliched (or 'cringe', in line with the catchphrase of these days), informs what the woman wants to hear at the right time at the right place. "Just like the entire city that looks tiny when looked at from afar, the problems in life are also negligible when thought through from an (emotional) distance", says the man. He says he understands something is off and would be happy to help if she thinks he could be of assistance. And, at that point, the woman gets a sense of trust and safety around him - NOT love or romance yet. There is a stare from the woman that captures it so beautifully. It is not a blank stare, it is one of gratitude, it is one of her being thankful for THAT piece of advice she got from a random stranger who has known her only for a few hours, it is the feeling of a ray of hope in an otherwise dismal state of affairs within her life, it is the first trace of confidence she acquires to ask her what she is about to ask him then.
But, she still does not speak up. There is a pause. The hill, the altitude, the car, the two people, the ringing words of wisdom. The man then says what becomes the core attribute of the film - Trust. "Let me know if I could be of assistance...." (pause) "... only if you trust me." Even at this point, she does not speak up. There was every possibility to include a tight embrace and already let the love fly high in the air, but there is an air of realness within the contours of this fantasy. He goes one step further and states wittily, "Looks like I have not earned your trust yet?"
Then comes the one-liner that starts the road journey (with the most amazing Poongaatrey Poongaatrey; Yuvan is in sublime form, and it is evident in the songs as well as the scores). "Can you drop me in Bombay?", she asks. Now, there is a bit of a pause from the man, as opposed to an immediate, "Yes, of course". He gets taken aback for a second because he was not prepared for it. He processes the idea, takes a moment, and then for a moment, he transitions from "Eh?" to "Yay!". And, the car door opens.
And then, and only then, she starts narrating her story - why she is being chased, why she is trying to flee to Mumbai, what she had been doing in Bangalore, yada yada. Not when she was rushing from airport to railway station. Not when she was taken to the hilltop, and when the man delivers a mini-lecture. It would have been easier to set the stage at the hill itself and make her vent out with melancholic background scores. In a regular commercial flick, she vents out (think about the montages in Arjunaru Villu in Ghilli - another film that works like magic every single time - where the woman is narrating how her brothers were murdered by the antagonist) there, and then the man gets all angry. The scene becomes one of HIS reaction. Not here. I keep saying why Paiyaa is different, and this is just one of the examples.
Though the man is a kinda-sorta spoilt brat, as could be seen in him being lackluster in job interviews, him being the rent-seeker with friends providing for him, he is otherwise a decent man. Not a loafer who gets wasted by drinking all day. Not an ogler who drools at girls at bus stops and public places - a classic 'heroism' trope in the Indian -woods. And, though there is an inexplicable sense of him falling for the woman, he aims to earn her TRUST more than anything else.
Gradually, there are mutual elements of trust that develop as they travel together. None of these are big moments, though. Neither of them is heard saying verbatim, "I feel safe around you", "I trust your company", but the theme of trustworthiness keeps showing up every now and then. He stops at a highway temple for her to pray to the God noticing the smallest of details, and helps her cross the road when she gets a bit frenetic. None of this is glorified as a heroic moment. The most striking of them all is at the fuel station. "I don't have money for the level of fuel that is being refilled", she utters. "We cannot reach Bombay with the money you have", he responds - but again in the most casual, matter-of-fact way so that it lands soft and not as a statement that would make her feel inferior. (Sidenote : Karthi gets this matter-of-factness pitch perfectly in all his characters. Think Naan Mahaan Alla, Meiyazhagan, Thozhaa - he nails that dude who is casual, does not take too much pressure in life, and can say the most straightforward things in the most non-offensive manner)
The trust works the other way, too. There is a 'mass' moment for the woman. Yes, she cannot fight and knock off 200 hooligans in one go, she cannot think through clearly during crunch moments - those are still superpowers vested in only the man as is the case with the 'usual' commercial cinema. But, she can drive. When I state it like that, it seems like a very normal attribute being over-glorified. Right? Again, that is where Paiyaa creates micro-magic.
The front wheels get stuck in a hole, and the man is trying to revive the car out. The woman, seemingly unaffected, is playing slingshots with a bunch of kids. He asks for help, and she volunteers - still seeming a bit too unamused by all of it. Just to improve traction, he asks her to bring some rough materials like wood. And, she is asked to push the vehicle from behind as he tries to accelerate the car out. The effort proves to be futile. He asks her to take the steer while he pushes from behind. Up until this point, one is still expecting a 'hero' moment - of him demonstrating his muscle power as the car gets back on track. But, it goes slightly different here.
When she takes the driver seat, he tries to explain her how to drive. The ABC (Accelerator, Brake, Clutch) taxonomy and operation are being explained just like in the first day of driving classes, only that here the B is not articulated. The car comes out but thanks to the acceleration, it veers away and goes haywire into the highway from the sidelines. There is a brief moment of perceived disaster. The car has gone beyond the visible stretch of highway, and the man stands there - all alone, deserted, and helpless. Silence. Then, at a distance, the car approaches. A normal, perfectly accelerated, smooth drive. As he is looking - all smiles - at the approaching car that he thought met with some untoward accident, the car speeds, and before he has time to process what is happening, nears him at full throttle. Then, it halts - just a hairline between him and the car. The scene ends. As a continuation, he is seen expressing, "I got scared when you sped towards me the way you did" and she casually drops her counter - "Once I fix the mark, the calculations (around acceleration and braking) never fail". Possibly the second best heroic moment of the entire movie, trailing after the hilltop scene. And then, the fact that she can drive becomes the core of a brief escapade idea they hatch together en route.
I am not saying Paiyaa is some extraordinary film, not even vouching that this is a flawless one. The action sequences get repetitive, the final act feels a bit rushed as if the makers did not realize there was too much footage and had to find ways to quicken the ending, and there is too much leeway the audience need to provide for the level of unrealism there is. But, as is the case with some of the other movies of Lingusamy that I have come to like (notably Run), Paiyaa has his signatures dispersed all through the screenplay. Amidst all the fanfare and playing-to-the-gallery, it still manages to have superb moments where affection, hope, dignity, trust, consent, chance, and choice become the protagonists more than the characters themselves.
YouTube link to the full movie (published in the official channel of the producers, so no piracy concerns) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QkDdt1xjl4.
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