Why should you watch 'Orgasm'?

This is about the play 'ORGASM,' an original play staged by Cult Entertainment. And, my opinion on why should one watch it.

An Original Play by a Bangalore based group

Orgasm is be staged (again) 5th & 6th and 13th of November 2011. I could not watch their previous performance because I was not in town. I had heard good review about it but, as always, I like to keep my opinions/thoughts until I have watched it for myself. I got an opportunity to catch their rehearsal 2 days ago and I was bowled over. I suddenly realized Bangalore needs to watch this. It is a brilliant play and it deserves to be watched. More importantly, in the days of silly mind-less plays, Bangalore deserves a play like this.

What is the play about?

The play is all about a couple, starting from their teens till their old-age. In this time-span, how the couple discover themselves, discover love, discover responsibility, discover relationship, discover compromise, discover priorities in life. How the couple do the balancing act. How the couple endures the trouble-days. How the couple follow their heart but their loved ones close to their heart. Its journey that need to be watched and understood. 3 stages of the couple's life has been depicted in the 90 mins, viz.,

• Youth days of pre-marital love.
• Post-marriage midlife crisis struggles & rediscovery.
• Old-age joy of living for each other and reminiscence of the past gone by.

Each of these stages are represented by 3 different pairs and they are shown simultaneously (almost). The ease and smoothness with which the play moves between these couples (obviously, representing each of the stages) is fascinating. The script is beautifully crafted to assist this transitions. No jerky transitions or unfinished parts.

Genre of the play

This play is not heavy on emotion it is a realistic comedy based on what happens between a couple (ideally) within the four walls. So the genre is realistic comical drama. ;-p

Reason to watch the play
A realistic play is always exciting because it provides something to take back after the 90mins. And, Orgasm also promises a sure take-away for any age-group. It is a play about relationships and one is most-likely to go back thinking about their own relationship(s) for sure.

Perfect Beginning, middle & end

All the best scripts follow the mandate strictly: "Every play should have a beginning, middle and an end". Well, so does this script. Makes you wonder, if the script-writer is an experienced old-timer bettered by his past! Sorry to disappoint you, No, the script writer is an amateur 23-yr old (or 24?) & technically this is his debut script. It is fascinating to even note that every scene had a beginning, a middle and an end. I haven't watched 1000s of plays but of the few I have watched I rarely found any following the mandate for each n every scene. What it does to the audience is immense, when the scene takes a logical closure it makes a lot of sense. You don't wonder what did that scene mean? In the same line, not a single scene seem to have been wasted. Since each scene has a logical begin & a logical end, it is far easier to understand the flow of the script. From an actors' perspective, it is easy to throw in your personal graphs in a complete scene. Its an actors' delight to work in a technically tight script.

Reason to watch the play
Watch a very technical play, which follows the mandate scrupulously. Bangalore theater scene does not, often, offer such a technical play. More so over, an original play by an amateur Bangalorean is such a rarity. Hats off to the debut script-writer & a long-time actor Avinash Daniel. If you are an upcoming aspiring actor or part of a upcoming theater group, you _MUST_ watch this to learn. Learn the art of script-writing.

Graphs in scenes, characters & play over all

What is the one thing that keeps the audience gripped on with the flow of any play or any movie? The drama. The graph the play/movie provides. The varied emotions the audience goes through. Having graphs in play/movie has its own advantages; every segment of the audience has something they connect to + they are not bored with only one emotion. Now, Orgasm provides a good range of emotions in the script. Each scene, apart from being complete, also makes sure the graph within is well defined. The highs & lows are clear yet the audience tagging along with the actors' emotions/sentiments/thoughts are not drained. To repeat, this play is not heavy on emotion it is a realistic comedy based on what happens between a couple (ideally) within the four walls. So, the emotions are not heavy but it is real. Anybody who had had a meaningful relationship will be able to relate to the emotions.
The graph is not only evident in each of the scenes but also the character that decorates the scenes. Firstly, for a debut writer, Avinash Daniel has ensured that the characters' basic trait has not been lost with the age yet the age/maturity ensures the basic traits do not take control. Very well drawn characters. As you watch the play, you will realize the couple are equals and this equality will definitely lead to power-control drama. Obviously, this drama ensures the characters has their own graph. I am struggling to put into words what I have in my mind. In short, the characters have got a great well-define graph.

Reason to watch the play
The graphs ensure that you are never bored. Also, the graphs are as close to being real as possible. In plain English, each characters are real and the emotions/drama that goes in their lives and into their head is (obviously) very realistic. You are sure to relate to, at least, one character (or one trait of one character) before the end of the play. And, the drama that the script promises you is straight out of your lives. The discussions between the husband & wife need not be as it is portrayed here and need not even be about what is being portrayed here but it could be anything generic and you will realize what is depicted there is what happens when 2 equals are tied together by matrimony.

To sum it up, my 3 reasons on why you should watch this play this weekend are:

• Realistic comedy based on the drama of a couple over their entire duration of relationship starting from courtship to marriage to old-age
• Technically good script written by a Bangalore based amateur 24-year old. Do I need to give you better reason? :-)
• Each scene. Each character. Everything promises to entice you and you are bound to take back something when you return.

The tickets for the play can be bought from buzzintown.

"7-am arivu" - an worthless offering

Saw 2 very different movies by very different directors who have attained great fame in very short time. One relatively old. One brand new. One @ cinema hall. One in the movie channel @ home. One costed me. One free. One having a silly actor in the lead. The other got a much superior talent in the lead. One super success. One is a sure flop!

7-am arivu

Wow! I went to watch this movie with shit loads of expectation and excitement. The name sounds fantastic. A possible good tamil movie in the offing. That apart, you can't blame me for all the enthusiasm, check out the combination:

The quartet that wasted my evening

• Wonderfully talented, hard-working & super-handsome Suriya.
• Extremely capable, critically acclaimed & innovative director AR Murugadoss.
• Super gorgeous & yummy Shruti Hasan.
• Well established, supremely melodies & recipient of many awards Harris Jayaraj.

Well, with this combo I dare anybody to question the outcome. This combo could be an atomic bomb waiting to burst out loud in the box-office. If you thought so too like I did then you are not very wrong. Just a slight difference would be: It was indeed an atom bomb waiting to burst but it did not blow away the other releases with its explosion but it imploded under its own expectation & weight. What a hotch-potch work from the team!!! Can't believe 3 out of this 4 were involved in one of the brilliant forward thinking movie like Ghajini! Law of averages, I suppose! :-(

The highlights first.

Bodhi Dharman

Nice educative start. Keeps the audience in rapt attention with the information about Bodhi Dharman.

Bodhi Dharman

I was fascinated by the information and Suriya has done a good job as the 5th Century monk. His eyes spoke. His presence was powerful. His appearance rustic. His face had the rugged but calm charm. The director handled these scenes with finesse and to the point. In fact, when the movie FINALLY ended we felt these parts should have been given more proportion in the movie time. These were nice patriotic scenes. Makes you feel proud to be an Indian & more so a Tamilian. Suddenly the name of the movie 7-am arivu (i.e., seventh sense) kinda made a lot of sense. It set the expectation quite high up and also gave an insight onto what is about to come. The Kalaripayattu stunt scenes are brilliantly taken. The raising dust & the body-language of Suriya is a treat to watch. Also these scenes gave a very ethereal feel to Suriya's role & what to expect from the modern-day Suriya's character. When this sequence ends, the movie stops to make sense. But the audience are unaware until a lot into the rest of the movie.

Lights & Camera

The very thin & heavy built
look not very different!

You gotta give it to Ravi K. Chandran for a very technical work. Nice work. The lights and the angle has been typical of his work. Very right. He has shown Shruti Hasan extremely beautiful. There are moments/scenes in the movie where you will blown over by the gorgeous beauty and the pretty face of Shruti Hasan. All thanks to Ravi Chandran to have captured it that way. She is a very very thin slim svelte gal and Suriya is hard & very masculine. Also Shruti Hasan is, at least, 2~3 inches taller than Suriya. But, on screen, when they are together you never find the difference in height & hardly figure out the difference in their size. The angles Ravi Chandran has chosen should go into the textbooks of cinematographers as reference on how to counter-act the physical difference between the lead with technology & acute sense and understanding of camera angles.

Visuals were at its best

Also his lights was on spot. I liked a few nice touches like when Suriya is on the bike he had lit his face and just about the right amount. Also the blue serial lights to light up the insides of the SUV driven by Jhonny Tri Nguyen, the villian, was fascinating and beautiful to watch. Well, after all he has been around for nearly 20 years and he has given the world of cinematography some fantabulous scintillating work in the recent past, so nothing unexpected from him. All said, this definitely deserves mention, there is a particular song (a slow sad song after the break-up) which is a visual treat. Watch out for that song. Brilliant settings. Great lights. Awesome costume (simple). That song's visuals were, for me, the best moments of the movie. Classy. Colorful. Soulful. Experimental. That song was a photographers' delight. One can learn still photography by just watching that song. :-)

Subtitles

The movie has subtitles all through the movie. It sounded a bit optimistic. Were AR & team thinking of releasing this movie to English speaking audience? Really? Has Indian films (esp Tamil movies) grown up to that? Hmm.. I wonder.

Shoes

I loved the different variants of shoes Suriya wore. Very colorful and vibrant. I wish I could own a few of those pairs. :-)

I guess that's it. I can't think of any more good points for the movie.

The pain points.

Suriya's performance

You should have got an idea when I listed subtitles & shoes in the highlight of the film! :-) The performance was not great. Suriya did NOT do a BAD job! But I have seen far better performances from him.

Forgettable performance from Shruti
Not his best by Surya

He is one actor who gives his best in ANY film but I wonder why he did not here. For one he did not receive much support (or any support, I should say) from his lead-lady (Shruti Hasan) but that has not stopped him from performing in the past. He is, typically, a one-man machine that churns out brilliant performance. But he failed me miserably; went with a lot of hope of watching this bugger spew out another classic performance. His role did not have the depth other than Bodhi Dharman part. A very shallow role & he could not add colors to it either. A guy who has been cheated by the gal he thought loved him too just 2 days ago would not go spending his entire day with her however serious the pretext be! But Suriya's character does! How?! Unbelievable! No wonder Suriya could not do justice to his role. Ever since that scene Suriya never looked his powerful self on screen. Probably he never believed in that part but did it anyways. He probably lost belief in character. Never the less, his performance was NOT forgetful but not worth mentioning either.

Shruti Hassan

Bloody hell! What is wrong with her? Has she ever seen her pa acting or her mother's work or even her pa's current muse's (Gouthami) performance?

Gorgeous but at unease

At least, her ex-live-in-boy-friend's acting prowess would have been enough for her to do a decent job in this movie. The theme of the movie was about tapping ancestral talents and benefiting from it. If only Shruti Hasan can tap her father's talent she would be burning the screen with her scorching presence and brilliant acting. This is my first film of hers and I was mightily disappointed. She looked so uneasy in the first half. She was slightly okay in the 2nd half but by which time we were bored of her. She can't act for nuts. And, her voice! Oh, please! You are in a movie that promotes being a Tamilian & in fact, proud of being one and her tamil is forgettable to say the least. She should have asked for a dubbing or at least the director should have enforced it. She is hot, I give that to her. She should try & get comfortable in her own skin and be confident of her presence on screen. In his hero-centric industry, unless the heroine has a strong screen presence she has no chance of a future. And, yeah, sit with your papa & learn some skills. If you have already then put it to some use. We love your papa and do justice to his fans like us.

Songs & love story

Boy! Boy! Another great let down. As I am typing this I am listening to Vaseegara song from Minnale movie. The killer song. In my opinion his best best so far. And, I can't believe it is the same music director who has composed songs for this movie too.

No songs stood in mind & timing was terrible
More over, non-existent love story

Harris Jayraj has not given any such numbers in this movie. I had not heard any song from this movie prior to watching the movie and I came out of the cinema hall without remembering even one song from the movie!

That apart, except for the introduction song of Suriya not a single song made any sense in its timing. The songs came in randomly. They are running away from a killer hot on their pursuit and they are having a romantic song!!! For christ sake, AR get your reins together and put a practical jigsaw puzzle together. Also the love story was very very very very shallow is what I would say if I am very generous & extremely nice to the director. If I have to put my actual thoughts my blogger id would be blocked for ever! Giving partial importance to the love story, the director lost the track of the original intention of the movie. The worst part is he hasn't done justice to the love story either. In essence, it is a mesh of mess created by a very unclear director. Why did he get confused by the non-existent love-story is unclear to me. When such talented directors go hay-wire & confused the state of the future tamil movies is not consistent! Unless consistent these talented young directors can never fill up the void left by the yesteryear's trio - Balachander, Bharatirajaa & Balu Mahendra. Waiting for such talents to revitalize tamil film industry. We need no flash in the pan. We need consistent folks.

Stunts

What a let down this was! What makes the stunts team to think a badly done graphic sequence would convince the audience or even have an impact on the audience? Esp when the cars were flying like pigeons one-after another for over 10 minutes? The stunts were lame! The flying cars. The hypnotized strangers having an expression like one of the zombies from Resident Evil series. When you got somebody like Johnny Tri Nguyen use him. Sweat him out. Don't just parade him. He is supremely talented and extremely flexible. The stunts could have been beyond belief of Indian cinema if only they has used him. What a waste of talent. Any unknown Chinese guy roaming on the Indian streets could have done what he did in this movie. Finally when he gets his due chance to fist-fight it out with Suriya the fight sequence was... to say the best... worthless of even Suriya's stature let alone a Hollywood stunt double's stature. All Johnny Tri Nguyen was doing was ramp-walking. Staring at people with a slight tilted head. Walk with an expression as if he is God. Man, he is a stunt double, if you ask him to jump of a cliff without a shute he would do and still be intact to do further stunts. Grr... Couldn't stand him staring people in the name of hypnotism. Can't believe this is the same stunt director who choreographed super awesome stunts in Ghajini not far in the past! Peter Hein dude, what's wrong with you??

In other words, folks please please please keep off this movie. Not worth the money. You can watch it once. Sitting at home. Definitely not worth going to the cinema hall.

If you are wondering what was the other movie I saw & mentioned in the header? It is 7/G Rainbow Colony. I loved it. It was perfect. Not much of mess by the director Selvaraghavan. He knew what he is doing. Not a single wasted song. Not a single useless scene. Perfect. Despite very bad acting by the leads (arguably, the lead actor did a great job bcoz the character was such) yet the director gave his best. Needless to say, Yuvan Shankar Raja gave his best in that movie. So, as compared to 7-am arivu, 7/G Rainbow Colony was a killer watch.

Shoulder my cry

Contrary to popular belief, every man, however macho or otherwise, has every emotions that are considered feminine. We cry. We need support. We love. We miss. We are what we are. Here I am throwing in my growing frustration into words & hoping it would cure me and 'man' me up! :-)

This ain't a take on any one nor a sarcastic hit on my ex(s) but just words to my current flow of thoughts. Appreciate if you can but I ain't taking anything negative on this one! Not in a mood, you see!

---

Silent as tears rolls the inner abyss deepens

At times in life, we pause the run, look back and realize

its more chaotic & unpredictable than a pair of rolling dice;

Every aspect of my life has seen its share of low & high

But love is the pain that leaves me empty, parched & dry...

        ...can someone share a shoulder for me to cry?!!

I am creative, sensitive, funny n jolly to be around

well... but that's not good enough is what I just found

my care, understanding is needed when you down, out n sour

but when it comes to loving me I am just shown the door.

        ...is there anyone who can love me & shoulder my cry?

Need an understanding shoulder to feel human

"Thanks for being born" I was told after years together

"Naah! This is not working" I was slapped 3 days later;

without warning my best birthday turned into worst nightmare

a cold eerie darkness loomed over me as stood alone here...

        ...waiting for some generous one to lend & shoulder my cry.

For a real long time loneliness has been my only partner

so much so that when people come next to me I shudder.

Ain't easy to look normal when the abyss inside tears you

It doesn't help when people who like you are less than a few

        ...wondering if my destiny includes a gal who shoulder my cry?!

Lonely as I walk through the desert of my life.

In deep sleep, I suddenly heard GOD say: Sins of the past!

I woke up with tears mixing with sweat to say: End it fast.

He vanished with a smile that said: No end to your loneliness!

Suddenly some clarity about my destiny, more or less.

        Realized there ain't none who can love & shoulder my cry!

This I am penning to tend my deepest heart-felt apologies

to all those "Sorry-can't-love-even-when-forced" lovely ladies.

I fought with you for not loving me bcoz I thought I had a chance

Stupid me! I just learned that I am legless moron wanting to dance!

        Thanks for not agreeing to shoulder my cry!