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Story of Paalai
We have very high and valued opinions about the Sangam period. However, people who lived in those times were small kings who owned very small area of land.Ma. Senthamilan takes us through the lives of those small kings and the rivalry among them. It is this rivalry that is inculcated as battles against Tamil people that are prevalent even today.
The People who lived in Mullai lands were driven to Paalai lands by another group of people, ‘Aaayar’. The people come as refugees to Paalai, but they are Mullais in heart. They name their land as ‘Mullai Kaadu’ and start their life there. Their war against ‘Aaayar’ group is not over. They continue to try to establish a peaceful relationship, but the ‘Aaayar’ people kill every Mullai person who comes to talk about peace. The people of Mullai Kaadu can't take it anymore and they decide to fight back. The movie unfolds whether the battles of Mullai Kaadu people benefited them.
 The long and lonely Palm tree and yellow and red colored scenes in the movie clearly indicate the contemporary situation. The head of Paalai people directly compares them to tigers and their enemies to lions. This comparison evokes applause from the audience.
There is a very strong emotional scene in the movie where the Paalai head dies near a water source and this scene is sufficient to say that this is not just another historical movie. This movie is a political movie as well and this is evident from the subtlety of various scenes. More than picturization, a lot of importance is given to movie scenes and dialogues.
In some of the scenes in the movie, the actors show body language that looks very artificial and staged. Movies like these demand a huge budget and the directors are trying to justify the production cost with such scenes. However, this movie should be certainly appreciated for portraying the life of Sangam Tamil people as it was without adding anything heroic.
Debuting actor Sunil and Shammu are lovers in the movie and they are lovers of the ancient Tamil period. Shammu shines as an actor in romantic scenes and battle sequences.
Ma. Senthamilan shows in every frame that he researched a lot for this movie. The ancient Tamil practices like stealing and hunting of animals, sex life before marriage, entertainment, drinking of ancient Tamil wine called Kallu, prayer practices, divine conversation in the name of future telling, belief in numbers and letters are all painstakingly depicted beautifully in this movie. The technicians in the movie have also tried their best to do justice to the movie’s theme.
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Behind The Screen - Paalai
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Paalai is a movie by a team of youngsters. Technicians of the movie like director, cinematographer, editor and music director are all youngsters in the age group of 22 to 32.
The director Ma. Senthamilan worked as Balu Mahendra’s assistant as well as Ram’s assistant in Kattradu Tamil. As this was a movie about the ancient Tamil Nadu tribes, the director cast several native village people in this movie. To make the movie as close to reality as possible, the director has tried to bring out the acting talents among the Irular people who still lead their lives in forests.
Cinematographer Abinandhan Ramanujam won best cinematographer in the reality show ‘Naalaya Iyakkunar’ telecasted in Kalaingar TV. |
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