Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture
Nov 19, 2022 13 tweets 7 min read Read on X
Thirukural is smartly used in these 5 films to either further the story or to explain the film's core theme or to foreshadow what is coming.

Tamil Cinema & Thirukural: a short thread.

#Thirukural Image
1. Mudhalvan (1999)

In the iconic interview scene from this film, the CM is cornered by the interviewer with facts.

To save his dignity, the CM challenges the interviewer to take up his job for one day.

The hero panics at this unexpected twist.

The CM then utters Kural 691. ImageImage
"With fire,
Go too far & it doesn't warm you.
Come too close & it might burn you.
So, keep a safe distance with fire and kings"
- Kural 691

The interviewer had come too close to fire & is now facing the wrath of the king (CM).

An apt usage by dialogue writer Sujatha. Image
2. Super Deluxe (2019)

This hyperlink film uses Thirukural in a subtle way.

In the lift scene with Fahadh and Samantha,
the husband is furious with his wife's adultery.

Power goes off in the lift and Samantha reassures Fahadh that it would be back soon. ImageImage
Fahadh insultingly asks her: "Are you a pathini (faithful) for power to come back if you say so?"

But it is back the next second!

This is adapted from Kural:55:
"If a devout wife says "let it rain," it will rain."

Samantha's faithfulness in the climax is foreshadowed here! Image
3. Ghilli (2004)

Thalapathy wants to secretly go to Madurai for his Kabbadi semis.

He uses Kural 314 to convince his mom to attend a relative's function.

If not for this Kural, Thalapathy would not have met Dhanalakshmi / Muthupandi to give us the blockbuster of the decade. ImageImageImage
4. Ko (2011)

Two journalists hide the truth about the CM's character to save an otherwise well qualified government.

In fact, they blatantly lie & report him as a martyr instead of an opportunist. All for the greater good.

This is justified using Kural 292 in the end card. ImageImageImageImage
"Even falsehood has the nature of truth, if it can confer a benefit that is free from fault."

- Kural 292

Both the journalists are reinstated, their resignations aren't accepted, as their choice to lie is defended by Thiruvalluvar himself. Image
5. VTV (2010)

This film uses 3 Kurals in the song Mannipaaya and one of it summarises the core theme of the film.

The Kural 1259 states:

"My pride filled mind wanted to quarrel with him.
But the moment I saw him, my heart decided to embrace him instead." Image
This Kural states Jessie's psyche precisely in 7 words.

Jessie has an internal conflict - fighting constant battles between her mind & her heart.

Her mind says "This will never work out, I should stop it" but her heart falls in love despite all this!

The film's core theme! Image
Bonus: "Iru Dhuruvam" series in SonyLiv uses Thirukural as a plot device.

This is a cat & mouse game between a psychô and a cop.
The psychô drops in Thirukural clues after every murdër he commits.
Each relating to eyes, ears, smell, mouth etc.

Watch the show to find out more. ImageImageImageImage
Thirukural from 2000 years ago is relevant till date.

Smart film makers use it for its literary merit.

What other films have you seen Thirukural being aptly used?

Drop in your comments.

If you liked this content, follow @labstamil for more!
RT the first tweet in the thread to spread the word.

May the love for Thirukural increase!

Link:

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Tamil Labs 2.0

Tamil Labs 2.0 Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @labstamil

Jul 9
What does the strategist and writer Cho have to say about the recent Ramayana dating controversy?

Although Cho isn't alive today, he has shared his opinion on this topic in the preface to his immortal work 'Hindu Maha Samudhram'.

And he does take a clear side. A thread (1/8)
Image
Image
Cho starts his 6 volume compendium of Hindu Maha Samudhram with the traditional mantra for Sankalpa, & proceeds to explain the math behind Brahma's 1 day equaling 4.32 lakh human years.

He contrasts the western date 14/1/2005 with the Sankalpa date as per Sveta Varaha Kalpa. Image
He says that this traditional dating of lakhs of years may seem untenable to the civilized mind which limits all of recorded human history based on Greek and Chinese civilizations to 3000 BCE.

Is this 3000 BCE dating free of errors - Cho asks.
And he answers it quite clearly. Image
Read 10 tweets
Jul 4
Did Rama live in Treta Yuga lakhs of years ago, or in 5114 BCE?

Is there an element of truth in the astro-logical/nomical analysis that date Ramayana to our history?

Is there merit to this intellectual exercise of chronologizing an Itihasa or is it pointless?

A thread (1/8)
Image
Image
Every book must first know its audience and their intellectual context.

There's an Indic mind that's capable of visualizing one Brahma's day as 4.32 billion human years.

There's also a western educated skeptic mind that relies on scientific method to comprehend the world.
And we have both these minds.

Our cultural context helps us with the Indic mode of thinking, and Macaulay education mode trains us to byheart "21 Apr 1526" as the date for Battle of Panipat in exam.

History thus becomes 'If there is a date to it, it must really have happened'
Read 12 tweets
Jun 23
Might be hard to believe today, but once upon a time, in 1971, Tamilnadu was one of the two states within the country, to have total prohibition of alcohol in force. Along with Gujarat.

This is the story of who implemented Prohibition in TN and who lifted it, and why : (1/8) Image
Again, it might be hard to believe today, but TN was once the bastion of Congress.

In the 1st Madras legislative assembly election in 1937, Congress won 159/215 seats - its most impressive electoral performance across all provinces.

Led by Satyamurthy and Kamaraj initially.
But Rajaji evinced interest at the last minute and took over the leadership.

He perhaps thought of this as a godsent opportunity to implement his ideas on prohibition in Madras Presidency.

Despite winning the elections, Congress was reluctant to form the government. Why?
Read 15 tweets
Jun 20
According to sources, Film Companion is shutting down, as Anupama Chopra is moving on to Hollywood Reporter.

For those who don't know, what TNM is for "journalism", FC is for film reviews.

You couldn't find a more w0ke, biased film site even if you tried. A 🧵of their reviews: Image
FC Review#1:

The Kerala Story is not even a film since it is all propaganda based on "Whatsapp Forwards"

The film featured interviews of real victims of radicalization, grooming and LJ, and who were jailed in Afghanistan. Image
FC Review #2:
The Kashmir Files is a dishonest dive into the past that is a living room debate parading as a movie.

Yeah right, Kashmiri Pandits wanted to mass emigrate simply because Kashmir was too beautiful and
their pains aren't real unless a w0ke reviewer sitting in his air conditioned room at Worli acknowledges it.Image
Read 10 tweets
Jun 9
Today is Thirunaaraiyoor Nambiyaandar Nambi's guru poojai (Vaikasi Punarapoosam).

The story of how Nambi was asked by Rajaraja to discover and compile the Shaivite Thirumurais is fascinating.

A thread on this miraculous Sthala Puranam (1/9): Image
Thirunaaraiyoor, a small village 20 km Southwest to Chidambaram houses a Paadal Petra Sthalam, Soundareswarar Temple.

In this temple, the son is more famous than his father – and goes by the name Pollaa Pillayaar.

It is not பொல்லாப் பிள்ளையார் as is commonly misspelt, but பொள்ளாப் பிள்ளையார் meaning “unsculpted”. This is because this Pillayar murthy here is believed to be a swayambhu murthy.Image
Image
This temple’s priest from an Adishaivite family was blessed with a son and he was named Nambiyaandar Nambi.

The young Nambi grew to be devout and accompanied his father for his temple duties. One day, Nambi’s father had to go to a neighboring village and delegated the temple duties to Nambi.Image
Read 15 tweets
May 28
How on earth did the educated, civilized and God fearing people of Tamilnadu allow this malicious, unfair harassment of TBs to continue for a century now?

Nobody desires evil Thanos, yet this vicious harassment has not gone away for generations, so what gives?

A thread (1/9)
Image
Image
Because this targetted harassment has an utility, it has a benefit for the society at large.

For as long as this one community remains the punching bag, the spotlight is taken away from all other communities and they are shielded.
This explains why mostly only TBs suffer from "ancestral guilt", and why most w0kes from TN are TBs who overcompensate.

Nobody else is made to feel guilt or shame the way the TBs are subjected to, and this is the real win of D narrative: it consolidates the other 97%, psychologically.
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(