Thread by @rajamanirajesh

A thread on @beemji's 'Sarpatta Parambarai'.

'Sarpatta Parambarai' was a delightful film and is probably Pa Ranjith's best.

It was unbelievable how the films works well on so many levels - boxing drama, socio-cultural documentation, commentary on Tamilnadu politics during emergency and in-between all this, Ranjith also manages to infuse his own metaphorical take on the Dravidian politics.

'Sarpatta Parambarai' could easily be the most cohesive Tamil film where so many characters with contradicting motives remain remarkable irrespective of their screen time.

It is extraordinary how the few dozen memorable characters and the lovely North Madras Tamil they speak stays with us.

While the film claims to follow the ups and downs of Kabilan, I somehow felt that Ranjith was more obsessed with Rangan Vaathiyar (played by the fucking sexy Pasupathy), to an extent I think he might be the film's protagonist.

Which is why the film is terrific and almost flawless until Rangan Vaathiyaar is arrested. Because till then, we follow his emotional curve and Kabilan is still only in Rangan's shadows.

After Rangan's arrest, the film follows the fall and rise of Kabilan and I felt this was probably the weakest part of the film. Because Rangan has now disappeared and the film is also told to us through a series of factual news details.

At best, we only see this phase through Mariamma's emotional turmoil.

But once Rangan returns, the film gets back to form. And it now balances the emotional graphs of both Rangan and Kabilan. And takes us to the climatic high.

It was also interesting to see how Ranjith's filmmaking style in 'Sarpatta Parambarai' is a lot different from his earlier works. For the first time, he allows the cinematography of Murali to be a little flamboyant unlike the restrain shown in the previous ones.

While the art design and costumes impeccably capture the North Madras of the 70s, they are also dramatically colourful here. But the big surprise was how Santosh Narayanan has been asked to take the back seat. The music is only sparingly used.

And I have no doubts about the fact that Ranjith might have struggled working with Arya. Because while the actor's body might be perfect for the onstage action performances, his acting skills offstage weren't helping much.

His poor acting is closely followed by Anupama Kumar playing his mother's character. These two choices were slightly surprising because Ranjith's casting is generally flawless. Which we witness here as well in the other two dozen characters.

But the film works well in spite of these issues because of the brilliant writing and the dramatic staging. And Tamil Prabha's writing adds ample strength to Ranjith's cinematic world.

I hope it would be appropriate to repeat Beedi thatha's lines here - 'Vetrindradhu oru aattam gelikaradhu illai. Aaditey irukaradhula dhan irukku' (Victory is not about winning once. But about continuously fighting!) Because Ranjith marubadiyum gelichitaaru!