THAT VAZHAPPAZHAM SCENE 
times of india 01.04.2018

Ask any Tamilian what the most famous Tamil cinema joke of all time is and invariably there will be only one answer — the ‘Vazhappazham scene’ from Karagattakkaran. I heard of this scene much before I saw it. A friend from school had seen the film and he narrated it to a bunch of us. He could barely contain himself. He would start laughing uncontrollably in the middle, he would wipe the tears from his eyes. We thought he was crazy! Where was the joke? What was funny about one guy repeating a sentence again and again?

Ah! Therein lies the magic of cinema. How we hooted with laughter when we saw it ourselves. I personally got hiccups that would not go away for hours.

That scene is at the heart of the Goundamani-Senthil partnership. They may have acted together before, but this defined their shtick, established the roles each would play and set them up for posterity.

It has been duplicated, remade and recast so many times by generations of comedians that it might well be a genre by itself. The most notable example, Vadivelu’s “Kaiya pudichi izhuthiya?”

Key to the joke is, of course, the performance of both of them, but let’s dig deeper.

Karagattakkaran might well be inspired by the classic Thillana Mohanambal, Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini’s tour de force. As established there and in countless concert halls, the guy playing the melody, whichever instrument, is usually the leader, with the rhythm section cast as his sidekicks. It is interesting to see that Gangai Amaran reverses the roles here — with Goundamani playing the thavil and yet lording it over the nadaswaram-playing Senthil. I have a feeling that the director was making a point.

Now, the joke itself. One of the things that makes Karagattakkaran a classic is how beautifully it nails the rural milieu, which is why I was surprised to hear that the entire sequence was shot in AVM Studios.

Real care has been taken to present the situation authentically. Note the deft touches in the setup scene where Goundamani asks Senthil to get him the two bananas. You know that Goundamani has just had lunch because it’s a very Tamil thing to have a banana after, but also note the toothpick he has in his mouth (Pic 1). The rest of the music troupe is playing cards in the background, again typical (Pic 2). When Goundamani asks Senthil to get him the bananas, Senthil asks “Rasthaliya Poovam pazhama?” Anybody who has ever got bananas from a bunk-shop will know that these are the two breeds always readily available but Rasthali is the more expensive one so one needs to know which is preferred. Even in the bunk-shop, there is a guy working on a maavaatra kal in the background (Pic 4). All these factors contribute to the immersive nature of the film.

Only midway into the scene, after Senthil buys the bananas does Ilaiyaraaja play his iconic BGM (ta ra tatara ta ra ra….not to be confused with Vikram Vedha’s tharara rararara…). If you observe closely, it coincides with the flashpoint of the scene. After buying the banana, Senthil shrugs and starts eating one. That shrug is the smokinggun (Pic 4). Senthil knows the consequences that will come; the crime is premeditated! Much like in the recent balltampering episode this is the important point. Maybe Bancroft should just have persisted with that black cloth he showed the umpires by saying “Adhaan saar ithu!”

What follows is, of course, the stuff of legend. Senthil’s wide-eyed innocence and Goundamni’s slowly escalating fury is outright hilarious (Pic 5). Junior Baliah, who is stunt-cast to reprise the role of his dad in Thillana Mohanambal, tries to intervene (Pic 6), so does Kovai Sarala, to no avail (Pic 7). Like a guilty character in an American courtroom drama that keeps saying “I plead the fifth amendment” Senthil has only one thing to say.

Go ahead, make your Sunday much better by resurrecting your memories of this scene on YouTube.


THE WORD VIEW

CS AMUDHAN

CS Amudhan has a background in advertising and is the director of Tamil cinema’s first spoof film, Tamizh Padam


THE SCENE HAS BEEN DUPLICATED, REMADE AND RECAST SO MANY TIMES BY GENERATIONS OF COMEDIANS THAT IT MIGHT WELL BE A GENRE BY ITSELF. THE MOST NOTABLE EXAMPLE, VADIVELU’S “KAIYA PUDICHI IZHUTHIYA?”