Nanban and The Remake Debate- All is definitely Well!

First things first. Sample of a list of remakes in filmdom- Thillu Mullu, Unnai Pol Oruvan, Perazhagan, Majaa, Billa, Ghajini, Italian Job, True Grit, Departed etc. etc.  The originals were classics. What harm did it do those who acted in/directed the new versions? 

Gemini Films did not make a mistake by remaking this movie in Tamil. Of all the states in India, Tamil Nadu is by far the isolated one. How many people from the villages or housing board would have watched 3 Idiots? The manner in which the story unfolds without any fights, twitched dialogues or cheesy visuals, it had to be taken beyond the Hindi speaking public/ DVD viewers. After spending a crore for the remake rights, why should anyone change anything from the original perfect feel-good drama? It is double the responsibility for the  director to be loyal to the soul of the source and also reestablish the magic of the original. Shankar has given Nanban as a whiff of fresh air to the commercially polluted Kollywood. 

A wise man once said imitation is the best form of flattery. Smart people remake.
Imitation is the creation of an already existent form in a new manner. There has been enough noise created by few sections of the society about the non requirement of Shankar to do a remake; '3 Idiots is a blockbuster'- hence Nanban in Tamil should also become a hit yaada yaada.. The reasons given have surpassed one can give for the Indian team's pathetic show Down Under. The main point which remains oblivious to most is that, a remake of a successful movie doesn't necessarily mean the one remade is necessarily a hit. STR's Osthe (remake of Dabanng) is a stand out example. You need the right director, script, and actors.  Everything fell in place for Nanban. It was bound to. 

You have the censor board certification, production banner introduction, the title rolls and the next thing that unfolds on the screen is the movie. No flamboyant 'Illayathalapathy Vijay' title accompanied by thunder or drum rolls. His name comes as a part of the rest of the cast. His entry is a good 30 minutes into the movie. It was a delight to see Vijay shed the heroism cloak and the non-superhero introduction reaffirms his position as a director's actor. Oh yeah! Oh yeah! This is the Vijay I loved in the late 90s and in the early part of the last decade. This is the Vijay everyone wants. Nanban is the perfect gift to all the people who believed in him. Loved his portrayal of Panjavan Parivendhan. He completely rocked. Jeeva and Srikanth were the perfect play makers for our center-forward Vijay. Jeeva was a revelation. His dialect and ability to handle comic timing has us in splits. Srikanth was more than sufficient. The cast scores big. Ileana had very little to do-hence she was apt. Re-recording of Harris worked better than Shanthanu Moitra's in 3 Idiots. One needs to thank Harris for composing the music of 7am arivu. It makes the highly average score of Nanban seem better. Shankar's touch is evident in the romantic scenes of Pari and Ria. It has to be noted that the dreamy number Asku Laska is visualized by Ria as a Shankar directed song and hence we have the 3 stanzas choreographed similar to Kannum Kannum Nokia, Sahara and Andangaaka from Shankar's earlier flicks. This movie will be a corner stone for Sathyan. He makes us laugh at the drop of a hat with his antics and American-tamil slang, however forced it maybe. 

The plot has been detailed out in Wikipedia. One can always look at it. 

I am pretty sure there will be a sect who cannot digest the fact that Vijay has performed well, and the movie has been drawing rave reviews from one and all. All flaws that were overlooked or those which seemed trivial will now take a gigantic form amongst the audience when watching the movie in their own language, especially after watching the original. Cinema is a medium where one can associate the term 'creative liberty'. If one searches for logic in regional cinema, no cinema can be classified as a sane one. From the inception of Tamil films, good triumphs over evil. Why should good only triumph? why not evil? Mathematically speaking, both have 50% chances of winning. Seeing the winning streak of good beating evil in Tamil cinema, laws of average, probability theories should be flushed in the toilet. In 3 Idiots it is no surprise that Amir will eventually win the bet that his friends will be successful in life. It is the treatment which makes the film a cut above the rest. The running time of over 3 hours shouldn't be a problem. Everyone of us have paid hundreds of rupees to watch two hour crap shots, I don't think spending fifteen more minutes in a movie that entertains us is that big a deal. Easy there people!
Ajith has gone for a makeover, Vikram digresses rarely to the commercial genre. Vijay proved that he can do something different within the commercial domain with Velayudham and has proved that he can do character oriented roles like Paari. It is high time that Vijay experiments within his scope for the sake of everyone.  

Comparisons are an integral part of our life. In a remake, comparisons will eventually be made for sure. I am not a big fan of comparisons because it has no standard base of reference and is highly relative. Let us think of a situation where you travel on Mount Road. If you travel via Honda Activa, you will complain about the cars and autos that cut across the road out of nowhere; if travelling inside a car, you will complain the guy who sneaks in between the gaps in a traffic jam. What is the point in comparison? It is just to satisfy one's personal ego. After watching Nanban, I doubt if anyone else could have recreated the magic of Rancho. Maybe because of the age or whatever, Vijay seemed more convincing than Amir as Rancho/Pari. Vijay has given the perfect tribute to Amir.

Nanban is colorful. Nanban is pure unadulterated fun. Nanban is the loyal tribute to Hirani's 3 Idiots. Vijay is back king size. It is a win-win situation for all.

All Is Well!