Posted:
10 years ago
I was a kid growing up in the 90's when K. Balachander movies were all the rage.. That's where my admiration for Prithvi the actor began, though perhaps I was too young to realise it then.. The turning point for me was this K. Balachander serial in the early 2000's.. Prithvi played the role of a crippled politician / social worker / community leader named Kapilan.. I don't even remember the name of the serial or anything about what the story was or who the actors were who starred in it.. But Prithvi as Kapilan for me stills stands as one of the most memorable characters portrayed by a man in any serial to date.. After that, each time I re-watch any KB movie, my affection for the actor just grows, to the point that each time I watch Vaaranam Aayiram, I make it a point to skip the kidnap portions because I don't want to watch a villainous Prithvi.. Perhaps this affection is childish, because after all, it does colour my opinion of post-separation Swami.. But the combination of Prithvi the actor and pre-separation Swami just makes it sooo hard for me to truly dislike post-separation Swami.. If anything, what I feel is a deep sense of disappointment for the way the character has shaped up.. In some ways, I even feel cheated.. Here is an actor of good calibre who can do justice to any role he plays, come on writers, make the shouting and the lame excuses stop.. Do Prithvi justice and give Swami a decent redemption.. We don't want a senseless, ungrateful, screaming Swami.. Give us back the Swami that was promised to us at the start, give us the intelligent, caring, grateful, down-to-earth, loving, simple, naive, lovable Swami.. We miss him..
