Kabali- movie review

Going by the reviews of Twitteratis & some hard core Rajini fans who watched the Film on First day, when I went to watch, I thought Kabali Daaa...Neruppu Daaa...!!! gonna be like Thala Vali Daaa....Veruppu daaa. seeing the hype & Frenzy, I was already kind of irked & was feeling Koduma Daaa...Thangala Daaa...Thamizhanukku vandha Kashta galam daaaa (the people were going frenzy not even realising that they were being exploited for the sake of publicity mmmm...anyways...)😜😜😜

But then, the movie was a pleasant surprise. For once, I was engrossed & really liked the film. I have always opined that the film/character shud be the hero & the hero of the film shudnt overcast the film/character as such. This is one such movie.

I have never been a fan of Rajinikanth (RK) in the demigod/ larger than life portrayals that we see in his present day formula movies. I have only liked his films from the yester years (late 70's & early 80's) - the realistic roles he did with KB & the great Director Mahendran. It brought out the true actor in him.

This Kabali too is kinda the same - Rajini reminded me of his Mullum Malarum days.   The Rajini I grew up with. No repetitive punch dialogues but for the sole 'Kabali Daa' dialogue...no frenzy opening song, or dance sequence, no gimmicks/fancy stunts, no silly comedy tracks. RK has carried it off so well. Stylish (as always) with Panache (minus the hype that usually surrounds him). Ranjith known for his realistic touch has superbly carried along RK too & with ease. No wonder, the film institute/KB/Mahendran product was so happy with his new age director (it is said he hugged & kissed Ranjith after watching the preview) 😉😀

RK has powerful eyes that emotes so well & was best used by KB & Mahendran. Now, Pa.Ranjith seemed to have well capitalised on that. For most part of the film, Rajini emotes through his eyes only & speaks very little. Especially, The pensiveness in the opening scenes & the restlessness that RK shows when he thinks about the reunion with his wife, is a class apart. RK is known for his fast stylish walks..but here Ranjith has used it as a subtle one & it actually worked. 👍👌

Even Ranjith, who is usually known to play his Rascist/Dalit cards, has used it subtly in this film. Of late, I have been of the opinion that the Kollywood shud do away with song sequences & to my delight Ranjith has picturized the songs as Montages. Slow claps to Ranjith.

Given RK's age & fragile health, the character was apt & even the cameo as younger age Kabali, he seem to have pulled it off well. His poor health has taken a toll on him & is blatantly visible.

Gotta mention that the screenplay could have been handled in a better way. Further, too many unwanted characters in many scenes, plays a spoil sport making the screen over crowded. And, Ranjith hasn't also dwelled deep into the problems of Malaysian Tamils. He seemed to be overpowered with the obsession of the animosity between the two rival teams. But then, I feel given the slow pace of the film, dwelling more in to the past would have made the film seem like a documentary. Though slow paced, it isn't boring.

Santosh Narayanan has proved that you don't always need a Deva or ARR to score a powerful BG for the Superstar. He has done an excellent job creating the exact mood. He cud have handled the reunion scene with a more finesse but then he is no Ilayaraja. 😉😛😀 IMHO, Till date there's None to match Raja's Re-recording.

As expected, being Ranjith's movie, this film has its share of violence but not as violent that we have been a witness to in many of the recent films. Kishore, Dhansika & Radhika Apte have carried off their bit very well. I have read a lot about Radhika Apte's acting skills & was pleased to see it was no hype.

To summarise : Kabali - can be termed A come back for the Actor Rajini of Late 70's & early 80's. For once, he has shed his Superstar tag & has gone back in age. Really nice to see that. I enjoyed. When you step in to the theatre, Don't expect the stereotyped Rajinikanth. Just sit back & Enjoy the real actor/Film institute product that he really is.

I, for one, is not disappointed And definitely it is not just a one time watch. Watchable 2nd time as well & FYI, yours truly will be watching it again on Tuesday even though I am a true Ulaganayagan fan.

Ahobilam Trip

Lord has been very kind to me for the last couple of weeks bestowing unexpected Bulawas to seek his blessings.

It all started during the last week of June with a trip to Tirupathi. We were blessed with some quick & wonderful Darshan cum Divine Vibrations both at Tirumala & Tiruchanur.

Then, unexpectedly I got an opportunity to visit Injimedu on the eve of Samprokshanam & seek blessings of both the Lord & Acharyan. When my husband & I had earlier visited Injimedu in Jan 2016, we were informed that the Samprokshanam was likely to be held in Chithirai masam. I sincerely wanted to attend, but In the preparations leading to my daughter's Arangetram, we forgot to follow it up. And I  was feeling bad that we had completely missed. Little did I know, the Samprokshanam got postponed due to some delay in completion of construction work. But, with the divine intervention & mercy of the Lord, I was bestowed with the opportunity to set foot on the Yagnamedu 'Injimedu' on the eve of Samprokshanam.

And now to add to these beautiful experience, I yet again got an unexpected call & this time to seek blessings of Lord Narasimha at Sri Ahobilam, one of the most venerated Vaishnava Shrine.  Thank you Sujatha Guruvayurappan Manni & Guru Sundara Anna for this wonderful opportunity & memorable trip.

As one must be aware of, it isn't easy to get Bulawa to visit Ahobilam unless the Lord desires so. The trip is arduous & treacherous as one needs to trek deep into the forest (4 temples among the Nine) with virtually no proper road. But with the blessings of the Lord, It was a fantastic trip and we were able to get some wonderful & close darshan of the Lord in all the 9 Shrines that comprises Ahobilam.

We covered 7 Temples (Jwala, Varaha (Kroda), Malola, Ahobila, Karanja, Chatravata & Yogananda) and the Prahlada Varadan Temple on the first day  & reserved the most difficult one (ie) Pavana Narasimha & the Bhargava Narasimha for the second day.

I had earlier visited Ahobilam about 10 yrs back but at the time the archakas weren't available in most of the Sannidhis but this time we were able to see the lord leisurely at close quarters & also perform Archana  in all the temples.

Few facts about Sri Ahobilam :

Ahobilam is one among the 108 Divyadesams of Sri Vaishnavism. It is the place where Lord Vishnu taking the avatar of Narasimha (Nar+Simha = Man+lion)  killed Hiranyakasipu and saved his Prime devotee Bhaktha Prahalada. Goddess Mahalakshmi took avathar as Senjulakshmi among the Senju, tribal hunters of the hills, and married the Lord.

It is located in Karnool district of Andhra Pradesh in the Nallamalai hills of the eastern ghats, about 400 KM northwest of Chennai, 112 kms from Kadappa & 65 kms from Nandyal District, Andhra Pradesh.

The temple consists of nine shrines to Lord Nrisimha. In addition to the nine shrines, there is a temple for Prahaladavarada Varadhan in the foothills of the mountain. Due to security reasons and the difficulty in performing daily worship, many of the utsava vigrahas of the nine shrines are kept in this temple.

Sri Ahobila Muth, one of the most important Sri Vaishnava religious institutions in India, was established by Sri Athivan Satakopan at the instructions of Lord Lakshmi Nrisimha of Ahobilam. In fact, the utsava moorthy of the Malola Nrisimha temple, one of the nine shrines of Ahobilam, is the presiding deity of Sri Ahobila Mutham. Sri Malolan accompanies Srimad Azhagiya Singar, the spiritual and titular head of Sri Ahobila Mutham, on his travels.

Garuda wished for a vision of Lord Nrisimha in the form of the Avathara. To fulfill his wish, the Lord settled in the hills around Ahobilam in the midst of dense forests in nine different forms. For this reason this hill came to be known as Garudadri, Garudachalam, and Garudasailam.

The Nine Narasimhasthalas are :- 1. Jwala Narasimha 2. Ahobila Narasimha 3. Malola Narasimha 4. Kroda Narasimha 5. Karanja Narasimha 6. Bhargava Narasimha 7. Yogananda Narasimha 8. Kshatravata Narasimha and 9. Pavana or holy Narasimha.

Sri Thirumangai Azhvaar has sung ten verses about this temple in Periya Thirumozhi. Thirumangai Azhwar describes the place as very hard to visit (sendru kandarkku ariya kovil, kavvu naayum kazhugum, deivamallal sella vonna), and that Singavel Kunram (Ahobilam) was accessible to none but Gods. But due to the efforts of the 45th Azhagiyasingar, this place has transformed into "sendru kaandarku eliya (easy) kovil. Now Many devotees visit ahobilam frequently and the place is well connected with a guest house and access to trains from Chennai, Bangalore and Bombay. In addition, several tourist operators also frequently arrange religious trips to Ahobilam from major cities.

Injimedu, Kodanagar - Ecstatic Visit

Little did I know that Lord would bestow us with such a blessed day, when i started on a trip to our native, Kodanagar, Cheyyar with my parents on Sunday.  We had set on trip to visit our ancestral village to extend our support for the renovation work of our village temple which was recently damaged due to thunder strike.But there was a divine intervention & We were in for a sweet surprise.

Upon arriving @Kodanagar, we came to know from our neighbor that the Maha Samprokshanam of Injimedu Temple (my Husband's ancestral place) was to take place the next day (11.07.2016) & that His Holiness the 46th Azhagiyasingar has taken abode at Injimedu. Immediately we decided to take a detour & visit Injimedu. We were doubtful if the temple would be open as it was almost Noon & Injimedu being a remote village about 25 kms away from our Native. But then, we decided we make an attempt & to atleast see the yagasala if the temple was closed.

But to our pleasant surprise, Injimedu was brimming with activity when reached there around 1:30 pm. Not only we were bestowed with a lovely darshan of the prime deity & Thirumanjanam, but we were also able to meet privately His Holiness the 46th Srimad Azhagiya Singar of Sri Ahobila Mutt & get his Blessings. Incidentally we also had a spare set of Saree& Dhoti, Coconuts (mother had taken them for our native deity) which we were able to place at the Lotus Feet of the Lord of Injimedu temple.

When we had set out on our trip yday Morng, Injimedu wasn't even was on Itinerary. But with the divine Intervention, We could seek the blessings of the Lord & the Acharyan on such an auspicious occasion.

I would like to enlighten the readers about the History of Injimedu. Do read below :

Injimedu – Yagnamedu Injimedu which as known as "Yagnamedu", as the days progressed, this sthalam is called as "Injimedu". This sthalam is also called as "Yagna vedhikai", as lots of yagnams (Yagams / Homams) are performed in this sthalam for the world peace and for human community.
Sri Yagna Samrakshana Ramar: The Ramar, Lakshmana, Seetha,  Garuder and Hanumar were sculpted 2000 years back.  Then the purvikaas of this village, now known as Madabhushi Bharadwaja Gotras performed many yaagar round the year 365 days continuously.

 In that process Sri Ramar along with Lakshmanar Seetha, Garuder and Hanumar appeared in the sky and blessed the villages who were conducting the yagnam, that he will stay in this village for the Yagna Samrakshanam. From then the Ramar was known as “Yagna Samrakshana Kalyana Ramar”. To symbolize this the Bow top head is molded with “Narasimhar’s face” (Lion face).  This is unique in India, no where else the Sri Ramar and Lakshman’s bow top head is with “Lion’s face”. The Hanumar here is famous for solving the marriage problems,  Puthra Bhagyam, etc.

Srimath Aadhivan Sadagopan Yatheendra Mahaadesikan and Injimedu: Srimath Ahobila mutt was started by Srimath Aadhivan Sadagopa yateendra mahaadesikan swamy, who was born almost 630 years back, has came forward in constructing lots of temples. In this aacharya parampara, Sri Sashta Parankusha yateendra mahaadesikan swamy, who was the sixth Azhagiyasingar  has constructed and helped almost 60 temples and has put in lots of great scholars who are well versed in vedams to maintain those temples. Then at that time Sri Sashta Parankusha Yatheendra Maha Desikan who were doing their “Sancharam” visited this village. By knowing the history of this village, HH renovated and reconstructed this village and temple along with constructing “Sri Lakshmi Narasimhar Sannathi”, and gave another name as “Narasimha Puram”.  After many rulers and lots of Invaders, these temples were destroyed and only the Ramar temple was left.

This is the birth place of two of the most important Jeeyars of Sri Ahobila Math: the 34th Pontiff Sri Satakopa Ramanuja Yatheendra Mahadesikan and the 42nd Pontiff Sri Sriranga Satakopa Yateendra Mahadesikan.

Later again HH 42nd Azhagiyasingar  of Sri Ahobila Mutt, Sri SriRangaSadagopa Yatendra Mahadesikan renovated the existing temple by constructing new temple for Sri Perundevi Nayika Sameta Sri Varadarajar in 1950s.

With a contended heart & wondering about the mysteries of such Divine Interventions, we returned back home & enroute visited Thennangur temple & Uthiramerur Perumal Temple.