Raja Paarvai - Revisiting Tamil Films 8

The film starts with unusual titling; it just lists the names of the people who worked in the film, without mentioning their line of work.

Raja Paarvai stands tall from the first scene, considering that was the period when the likes of the Mahendrans, Balumahendras and Bharathirajas were making waves in Tamil cinema. Kamal would have thought that he shouldn’t be left behind; roped with his mentors Ananthu and RC Shakthi to make this film. This was the first of the many films he had to work with Sangeetham Srinivasa Rao.

Sans Kamal’s visually impaired characterization, the story will be the same old love story, which has been tried and tested formula. Technically this film should stand apart from the early 1980’s films, especially in film editing. Split cuts were widely used- the audio of the next scene starts before the current scene actually cuts away. This gives a fastness to the film, which is otherwise a little slow paced or no masala elements.

There are few scenes in which the audio of the current scene and the next scene is matched or same. Example, after Ragu finishes his first instrumental in the school stage, the indistinct muttering sound of the theater audience is overlapped by the similar gabbling noise in the market on the next scene as Ragu walks to his room.

To illustrate the same technique, there is a scene when Cheenu (Y. G. Mahendran) and his friend’s sniffs (like a dog) at the whisky bottle and the next scene start with a dog panting.

Cutting into darkness is another technique which is used here; this is widely used in Hitchcock’s Rope. Example- When Nancy (Madhavi) meets Ragu in his room for the first, at the end of the scene the power goes off and it becomes dark, cut to next scene, the camera starts with the Nancy’s black hair as she walks off from the camera to reveal it as another location.

Another example, when Raghu explains his past life to Nancy as they walk into the darkness of the Woodlands hotel lounge and next scene starts with the flashback- camera facing Ragu (Kid) head.

There is a moment when the slow-motion is used in a unique way. When Nancy is waiting for her father to leave the home, she is very anxious, so that she can leave to see Ragu, but from her point of view, her father is taking more time to do his routines. We see all his actions in slow-motion, whereas on the same shot on the other end, Nancy movements are normal. 

Initial days of Thota Tharani, he started to change the urban home interiors- big ball shaped lights, mattress without the cot, Ragu room- a wall made up of windows.

Not to forget the music by Illayaraja. For me Andhi Mazai Pozhigiradu is a neck-and-neck race between Illayaraja and Vairamuthu. Whereas Azage Azagu was a lyrict’ film song. 

I read somewhere the final church scene looks similar from the Hollywood film The Graduate (1967), even if it is so, it doesn’t matter as the end was apt. Somehow it also reminded Goutham Vasudev Menon’ Minnale (2001).

**Above is the fan-made poster. Photoshoped from original poster by this blogger.

Other Tamil films you might be interested from this "Revisiting" series- Manal Kayaru, May Madham, Taj Mahal, Baasha, MMKR, Hey Ram, Sabapathy.