Thoughts inspired by Aaha Kalyanam

I meant my ancestors, I will call into the past, far back to the beginning of time and beg them to come and help me at the judgment. I will reach back and draw them into me, and they must come, for at this moment I am the whole reason they have existed at all….from the movie “Amistad.’

I watched this movie about 15 years ago and for some reason the sentiment attached to this line stuck with me. Over this weekend, I found myself searching for this line. Finally after 30-45 minutes of searching on the internet, I found it.

Why now? Over the past 36 hours, since I watched Gokul’s ‘Aaha Kalyanam’ many thoughts have been crisscrossing my mind. Let me just dive in and try and put these in the written word. Important note here – I am writing this piece purely for myself and hence don’t expect you to read this really. But just sharing all the same.

First, the powerful sentiment that we are just an extension of the ancestors is increasingly starting to sink into me. This thought allows one to pause and make sure we don’t take ourselves that seriously. After all, if one is to agree with this line of thinking, then our success or failures is governed only to a small extent by what we as individuals do, but is rather shaped by all that took place to bring us to that particular point of time. This is humbling and in a sense liberating on one hand while risking fatalism on the other.

In this instance, I asked the question – What has contributed to Gokul’s success in his directorial debut? Lets start with what I know. Clearly, the guy is talented and dedicated. This was obvious from the words of his mentor. Plus he is epitome of humility. So, all the important elements of success are truly there. But are those enough?

A few weeks ago, Chitti made a point as he asked the question “What did Revathi feed her kids?” (Chitti quoted a question asked about the mother of a famous US president). At the heart of this question was the sentiment that the role played by her and AGK to create a terrific environment for their children has to be understood and appreciated. But clearly it does not stop there…..

I have never across a set of siblings (and that too 3 boys) who are that close to each other. They form a pact that Kunti would have been proud off. The amazing strength that they must all derive from this powerful link must be fantastic!

AGK, Revathi Athai and Vijay provided the environment for Gokul to find his feet in the crazy and unstable world of films. Plus, surely Vijay’s passion for acting and his movie played an important role in influencing Gokul. But does the support/influence end there? I don’t think so…

I found myself thinking of the many others from the family and beyond who might have played a role in influencing Gokul. I use the word ‘might’ as this is only my conjecture. Mani Mama’s success on the stage and his forays into the film world (not to mention Lalli Atha’s ad films prowess),  Revathi Atha’s work with the Film Review Board, Gopal’s music which led to his success both as a singer and composer and Biju’s popular lead roles in ads and in TV serials surely played  a role in shaping Gokul. I am sure there are many others like Ramani (Dharani) who played a part. Further, how can one discount the large family gatherings full of song. Is it a coincidence that Gokul’s first film is a lot about music and loud gatherings??? Somehow I think not.

So, back to the current – I loved the movie. The ‘not my scene dude’ still has me laughing!!!! I found myself humming the tune of the ‘punch’ song over and over again as well and have now watched it on youtube a half dozen times. I was discussing the original Hindi version (BBB) with Gopal earlier today. I had not seen it until 4 hours ago. I genuinely expected to like the Hindi version better – I understand and relate to Hindi more than I do Tamil and also expected the Anouska Sharma would take the movie to a different level. But to my surprise, I found that I actually liked Aaha Kalyanam better. I guess, I preferred the ending of BBB where they show the couple getting married. Look forward to discussing with Gokul why they changed it in the Tamil version. But, in so many ways, Aaha improved upon BBB.

So, this brings my long piece to a close. As I have noted above, I have written this piece mainly for myself and don’t expect you to read it. Still sharing in case you would like to.