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Vani Rani - 400 episodes and going strong.
It seems only yesterday I had written an article on Vani Rani hitting its 300th episode. How fast time has flown! New stories, new characters, conclusion of old stories, disappearance of old characters, more issues for viewers to discuss, debate and argue over. Controversies. Bombshells. Well done VR team. It is not easy to maintain the interest of the viewers - ask some of the other serials whose number of viewers has dropped. (I personally have stopped watching at least two of them.) But you have. It is due to your hard work and that two extra ingredients you have - intelligence and respect for your viewers. Intelligent directing, plots that have been thought out at length and characters that you have really worked on to the extent that they are not just characters that are fictitious but almost real life characters that we can relate to.
Each character in Vani Rani has something that we can identify with, or we have come across or we have experienced. Relationships between siblings, between parents and children, between husbands and wives. Making wrong choices and having to live with them with regret but knowing that once that choice has been made, there is no turning back. Conflicts. Within ourselves and with others - whether family or friends or strangers. How we deal with those issues - sensibly like Vani, charitably like Rani, angrily like Swamy, guiltily like Bhoomi, uncaringly like Arumugam, seriously like Selvi, with panic like Saravanan or as-it-comes like Rajesh. No character in VR is shallow. I would say Arumugam is the nearest to a shallow person that we have come across but he too has a role to play. The storylines and the development of those stories - from an atom into a full bodied saga - have kept us on our toes. Some of us may not like a particular story, some of us may not like a particular character but we all have to acknowledge that Life is like that, there are things and people we like and we do not like
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Acting. I have said this before and I do not mind saying it again. VR has a fine strong ensemble. I am not going to talk about the protagonist/s at the moment as that is a pretty foregone conclusion (still I am not going to ignore her). But I want to focus on the other characters. The biggest stand out for me is Maha Lakshmi. I have seen her in other serials but frankly I wasn't interested. The characters that she played - whether it was in Chellame or Uthiri Pookal - did not have an impact on me. But in VR, oh my God, she just exploded on our screen. The range of emotions she showed, the depth and intensity of getting under the skin of Poongodi are just remarkable. From a feisty, happy-go-lucky girl to a determined and committed lover to a suffering daughter/granddaughter/wife, Maha portrayed all the requisite emotions to those different aspects admirably. We felt her happiness, her pain, her agony, her anger, her turmoil, her sadness, her confusion. Coupled with the brilliant background music, the effect she had on the audience was stupendous. Hearts melted. Tissues came out.
The second revelation is Prithivee Raj.Again, in my write-up on the 300th episode, I wrote at length how to me personally he has shown a side to his acting skills that I never expected. When he acted as the cold-eyed cruel villain, he sent shivers down my spine...but when he acted as the lovable, kind, decent Swamy, he made me smile. Contrasting roles, but both executed beautifully and effectively. We all hated him as an ingrate, when he went through a temporary madness - and that only proves the stupendous acting skills that he has, that he was able to make so many people angry at him and hate him. There are characters in other serials that make us laugh at them. Unintentionally. Or couldn't be bothered. But with Swamy, people bothered. It is a difficult task to maintain that pace, to get responses from viewers, but Swamy did. And The Redemption of Swaminathan was beautifully done, with the emotions being exquisitely expressed by Swamy or rather Prithivee. Hearts melted. Tissues came out. Smiles broke out again. We expect more from you sir.
Venu Arvind. Venu has progressed so much since Selvi days. I thought there he was not that impressive but he has really come onto his own here. And I like it when he plays the good guy. Although for me his best performance was in the hospital where he quietly and effectively portrayed his pain, regret and love for his wife, his skills have not lessened at all - the issues he has had with Karuppu, the agony he is going through, and even the little mention of if he was the old Bhoomi, how he would have handled the situation - came across very well. Everyone was wondering what was he thinking, what would his next action be? The intimate moments with his family, the love he has shown for his children AND his brother's children (when he comes home late at night and Sara is still up). Hearts melted. Tissues came out.
Arun Kumar Rajan is the third revelation. We have been missing Rani ma's comedies (please bring them back) but Surya has compensated to an extent. The comedic expressions, the change in the voice, the dialogue delivery. We are still talking about the hilarious moments - when he fell down in shock as Gautham slapped Pooja or when he was shivering under a blanket (reminded me of the actor of yesteryears Ravichandran) or his polambals with God had us rocking with laughter. And his "We love you Chitappa" as the boys hugged their uncle tugged our heartstrings. But we are also wondering when this guy is going to go to court. HAHAHAHA.
Of all the others Vicky Krish, Maanas Chavali Rajkumar Manoharan Guhan Shanmugam are all beginning to shine. Each one of them have their strengths and they are beginning to show their talents. Vicky got us bawling with his interaction with his father. It was one highly-charged moment - when these two strong men who rarely show their emotional side - broke down and bonded. Hearts melted. Tissues came out. And I cant wait for the future episodes for these actors to show what they are capable of.
Then there is the little gem called Neha Prasanna Rajesh. She is a wonderful child actress and shows the cheeky and intelligent Thenu very well. She makes us laugh and she asks questions that we think of. Her attempt to get hold of her father was very touching and everyone detested Swamy for being a coward and hiding from her.
New faces - 6Face. What a character. We dislike him and yet we laugh at him. It is a detestable character but we somehow begin to look forward to his entries. This is largely due to Murali Krish, who injects his role with the right amount of cheekiness and humour. I have always said it is difficult to play the comedic role and I am sure Murali thought about his character carefully for him to be able to make a good impression on us.
Now we come to the protagonist. In the past few months I went to her Twitter account in the wee hours of the morning to leave not one but several messages. Awesome. Fabulous. Brilliant. These were just a few of the superlatives I used until I ran out of words - and that is nearly impossible. She made us cry, she made us laugh, she made us think, she made us question. Whether it was Vani who was crying with joy and love as she holds Saravanan's hand or whether she was a philosophical Rani who painfully refuses Bhoomi's invitation for them to come back to their house, Radhikaa madam was just amazing. So powerful is her acting that we are able to differentiate both characters. The facial expressions, the tones of the voices, the way they cry, the way they laugh - one is restrained and the other is exuberant. See, I am using "they" as if they are two different people. Truly, words fail me. She reminds me why I watch Vani Rani. As interesting as Swamy and Bhoomi are, as tiresome as the love stories are, as funny as Surya and Arumugam are, it is the twins who carry the show, the mainstay, the flagship of the show. Everyone else pales in comparison, although they valiantly try and keep up. She deserves the MFA award and more. It is with great conviction that I say, there is no one in South India right now who can hold a candle to her. In fact I would go one step further and say no one in India right now who can do that.
Of course, all these positive attributes are due to the director, the story team, the dialogues writer. ONR has the ability to think ahead and think carefully not just the stories but the characters too. I suggested to him why doesn't Kali come out and be Vani's right hand man? His reply was "That amma would never agree". She is a highly principled lawyer and she will never accept Kali. I did not think about that. The fact that he was talking to me as if Vani was a real person showed me the commitment he has towards his characters, created and moulded lovingly, each with their strengths, each with their flaws. He, together with RC Ramcamroon (the director of the second unit) were able to tap the talents of the actors in an effective and impressive way.
Pa Raghavan I have waxed lyrical about the dialogues before. A BIG and I mean BIG plus point of VR. Brilliant, just brilliant. I love words. I love how they can be used to portray so much emotion. I love that they can be poetic. To put it simply, I love Pa Raghavan sir's work. There are at least two or three gems in each episode. I am thinking of doing a collection of popular lines from Vani Rani.
I must mention storywriter Kumaresan sir. He is not on Facebook or Twitter so it is difficult to interact with him, but I must acknowledge his wonderful work. No matter how much we do not like a story, to our astonishment it changes into a story that is interesting, provocative, controversial or just entertaining.
Suku Kochappan Ramesh Lal.R.M. Ravikumar Sai Suresh Finally the backbone of VR. The wonderful, generous, kind, lovable Suku sir. Frendliness personified. A true treasure of Radaan team. The hardworking and accommodating Ramesh Lal, the boys from Radaan Media who upload the episodes on youtube, the cameraman, the music director, the make up artist (I noticed the different ways in which Vani and Rani were made up). To every one of you, thank you, nandri, merci beaucoup, shukria.
And the three wonderful things that Vani Rani team/Radaan Media have done that no one else have done - Cross Talk, Bloopers and Athiradi 20. Fantastic. Really thinking out of the box, making the viewers feel special. I especially love Bloopers - they make me laugh and I have downloaded them onto my phone. Every time I am depressed or stressed, I watch them and feel so much better. More please!!
Here's to another 600. 500th episode is around the corner. I need to reserve my words.
I like to dedicate this song to you all. It is called We are the Champions by English band Queen. I am a hardcore fan. I play this song every time I have a hard task to do. I play this song for my students before they go for their exams. Now I dedicate this song to you. 👏
We are the champions, my friends,
And we'll keep on fighting 'til the end.
We are the champions.
We are the champions.
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions of the world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSTivVclQQ0
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