Trickling Thoughts - Innocence Lost Ignorance Regained

While watching Ramany Vs Ramany, the first thing that stuck me was the lifestyle portrayed. Right from the house to every person characterised, it takes one right back to those times. A typical, urban middle class, chennai household, with a lengthyyyyy hall connecting one entrance to another with rooms spanning about like train compartments. A mandatory tree or atleast a sampling of a plant at the entrance with a scooter rusting near the gate, with girls tying cloth peice as hair bands, their modern style statement of that time ala simran and square specs competing with googles..the list is endless. It seems like the original feel good series. You can even realise the infamous chennai mid afternoon peak summer heat with most of the actors seen wearing sweat stained costumes.

The series has two parts. In the first part the lead pair are Prithviraj and Vasuki. The story setup revolves around the troubles and travails of newly married couple. Especially when both of them are working and career oriented. Prithivraj being himself, is dumb and boring and tries his best to look funny. But the lady of the show steals the thunder with her performance. She is so very natural as a modern day girl who flirts effortlessly on screen and carries the show with her stellar performances episode after episode. The supporting cast Poovilangu Mohan and the lady who comes as his wife, she was a permanent fixture those days for villi characters, they do a commendable job. The way she merattifies Mohan with mere "hmmmm" and the way he responds meekly with another "hmmm" is really funny how much ever number of times they repeat it. Saying all this, the first part of the show was dry to say the least.

Its the second part of the series featuring Devadarshini and Ramji in lead that is rollickingly funny. The story moves around the theme of upper middle class married couple with a school going kid. Its so real and full of obvious situations from day to day life that, it hooks you right in from episode 1. Wonder who the writer is. She is BRILLIANT. The way she brings in humour into day to day situations is simply amazing. Devadarshini...WOW..what can i say. I've become a big time fan of her performances. She reminds a lot of Madhuram (NSK's wife) in her dialog delivery and acting style. Simply awesome she is. Even normal lines, she makes them into killer punchlines. She has been the soul of the series and deserves all the accolades. Suprising packet is Ramji. Never really liked his dances or his acting. But in this series he plays an able sidekick to Darshini. All the episodes are based on real life situations like how housewives handle sales person, voter id data mismatch conundrums, husband complaining on how unimaginative is the wife's cooking and her responses, issues surrounding festivals and their real worth...every single one of them is spot on. My favourite one being the episode where they go house hunting only to realise, they had been searching for the same house where they were living everywhere. It was so very apt and funny at the same time. Another one being their housewarming ceremony where everyone gifts wall clocks and how the new house echoes without any furnishings being done. Total ROFL epsiodes. The best part being, more than the humour, its the way in which one can easily relate to those episodes. Kandippa everyone would've witnessed such incidents in their own life and seeing the funny side of it rocks big time.

I always felt that tamil series lack seriously good comedies on the lines of F.R.I.E.N.D.S or like so many other witty series abundant in English. The so called laughathons are drabs and in a way its not fair to expect them to churn out day after day top class stuff. During the era of weekly series, the quality of writing and the creativity was at its best. With the advent of daily soap cryathons, guess writers in general have become script spitting machines and very rarely one hits upon a decent episode or a portion of it at best. Which is missed in the ocean of crap they produce every day. The concept of never ending tv has killed creativity and
gone are the days when there wud be no program after 11.45. The circling symbol of DD used to spell end of the day and also the dawn of new day. Azhagan padathula kaatra mathiri ...samachar followed by static symbolically meant rest for everything. 24hours news venumnaalo illa ethachum story solanumnaalo..how the heck is it possible?!! Even the real brains behind those series would've become bored by now. The disease has grown beyond the description of over kill. And eventually the bubble will burst.

The series that came in before the dawn of the daily soap, seem to have a genuineness about them, how much ever one criticises the tuesday single set dramas of DD, they had real variety in content and performances were awesome. No wonder, so many of the senior movie artistes owe their alleigance to DD.
In a matter of a decade and half, satellite television has effectively ruined the drama industry.

RIP creativity.

Comments

golmaalgopal said…
Aah...phashtu again ! This post brings back lot of memories. I used to love most of DD's comedy series...even the Hindi ones like Dekh Bhai Dekh, Jaspal Bhatti's show etc. Tamil was even more awesome with some of Mouli's show (esp. Flight...) and Y.G. Mahendran's dramas. After the advent of mega serials (even in those times of Junoon, Chandrakantha [yuck] and all) TV has lost its sheen.

I'm quite a sucker for amriki sitcoms and I used to watch almost all the shows (some even now)...comedy is the main TV fodder there and these ratings and stuff is decided mostly by these shows.

I've not watched any mokka mega serial in the last 4 years...but still I'm confident that I can just catch up with the entireeee story (if there is any) in a day !! Maybe the thing with seasons et al and short crisp story lines (and something which ENDS) will start in India which can bring life back to the television.
golmaalgopal said…
One more commentikaren...Ramany vs Ramany was hilarious...thinkin back about it..some of the plot I felt was ahead of its time....the Balachandar trademark !!

Do you remember the Tamil serial with a futuristic plot?
Charuhasan played some supreme leader of some alien race and sriranjani or sivaranjani (some poonai kann lady) was the main character...that was a good one too.
gils said…
Guess that one is meendum juno...sujatha novel..sibi..nila.u mean that one right? charuhasan wl be the hologram in the end.
golmaalgopal said…
Yes ! adhey adhey...they'll have one robotic dog as well...cheenu !

And Ramany vs Ramany is on youtube :)
RS said…
With your repeated mentioning of R Vs R- PII, we have started watching it-one episode a day before we sleep :P. Total riot this one is!

I am also wondering what is this generation pushing ourselves to, when life was so easy and needs limited in the previous generation. Our parents generation were less greedy, I suppose. Theriyala! :D

Some of other KB serials were also good those days- rail sneham, kaasalavu nesam, kaialavu manasu, kadhal pagadai, jannal....
gils said…
@gg:

yup..utube it is..


@athivasi:

whoa...i jus said ramany vs ramany...u've mentioned..raMANY!!!! mr.athivasi reminds me a lot of mr.ramany :d :D
Asha said…
Awwwwwwww.............such a sweet post, gils :)....Often i travel back to the past... indha madiri postellam padiccha innum kekkavay vendam.

Romba naal varaikkum Bangalorela where i grew up TV station kidaiyadu... MAdras'la leavukku vandha daan engalukku tv. oru programme vida matten. ellam paapen... vazhalum vazhvum lerndu nannan tamizh varaikkum.

Andha signature tune varumay DDdu.. adukku munnadi oru color screen varum appovay naanum en cousinsum tvkku munnadi aajar aidovum.apprum delhi DD lerndu namastay sonnadaan tv off pannuvom.

Bangalorela tv vanda podhu, madras DD daan relay aagum. Kaanadakarangalukku adhukku daan nalla thamizh varum (other than Cantonment and labour class influence.

Ippo kooda u will find many kannadigas watching Sun and other Tamil channels than kannada channels.

oh my memories are flooding like an open dam.


Progress has not just simplified our lives it has complicated our lives too.




Vincy Joseph said…
I do remember some fleeting moments of these shows. One thing that struck me was how you are able to recollect those plots and scenes that was aired long ago. Gils I didnt realise u are watching it in Youtube now. but i guess when it comes to movies / serials, you do have a keenly observant mind and a good memory.

With my son in the 12th grade, we are off TV this year and figured out how much quality time we are left with for the "Family". BTW, the decision to cut off TV, was taken with my sons consent. :-) We are contemplating on continuing without a TV for more time. We arent losing much are we?
gils said…
@asha:

aaha..vayalum vaazhvhumama :D ithe kaetay evlo nalachu :D enga veetla tv cable connection kudukka naanum en jisterum undergraduation clear panna vendi irunthichi :D sonna namba maateenga...PG sem examsappo kooda roomuku velila thalli kathava saathituduvaanga... avanga tv paapanga...naan kathavu iduku vazhia vedikka paapen.. :D hehe
gils said…
@vincy:

hmmm..contentwise u wl never loose as some or other puniyavaan wl upload it in net..aanaa antha moments..hmm..terila..kandipa its not worth it considering the future...but dont we trade every time our present for future? :D kozhapitena? semma formla iruken nenakren
Ramesh said…
Gilsu, everything acceptable, but to long for Doordarshan .......... Grrrrrr
gils said…
@thala:

heheheh
of course, ramany Vs ramany is having many re-runs at our house since I couldnt watch it as school going kid back then! :) now we both are proficient enough to use their liens in our daily lives!
Devdarshini and Ramji both are adorable to say the least. I will keep watching them as long as they are up online..

Wonder how/where to get the DVD, I willw ant my kid to see it too!
gils said…
hey kedi... :) nice to c u around :)) ramani vs ramani apdiye ur life story mathiri irukanumay :D:D:D lol
:D more or less apdi thaan iruku real life!!! oru velai illama poiduchunna, naangaale andha scene madhri maathiduvom! "ramya" vandhanna ava paadu thaan bayama irukku :)
gils said…
:)) lady calvin she wl be :))

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