THAGUDU THAGUDU – THE KAAKKI CHATTAI CHRONICLES – PART I

“Dei Jana – Thagudu Engadaa ?”  “Huh ?” “Thagudu Thagudu” 

 

Dedicated to my CA articleship buddy John Sudeep Koleth for all those lovely memories of the countless arguments we had on which movie to go to after bunking the client’s audit 

 

PROLOGUE  –  THE  INTERVIEW

Shippies are restless people. And my father was no different.

Shippie is slang for someone who works in the Merchant Navy.

Once they get home from the high seas they’re not sure what to do from dawn to dusk. Even reading a newspaper is done in a restless fashion. And in the meantime they drive everyone at home crazy.

One evening before dinner, the TV was blaring away and my father was restlessly  rifling through the day’s paper, hoping to find something interesting. It was in one such restless moment that suddenly, the next program announced, was an interview with actor Sathyaraj.

This took me unawares.

In 1985, this was a BIG DEAL. There was No way I could have NOT  known about this. Film based programs were announced donkey’s years in advance by our sadistic Doordarshan programmers.

There were no other entertainment options at home, even in 1985.

Even 4 years later, when it was announced that the Sunday evening movie to be shown would be ‘Mouna Ragam’,  the streets took on a different hue in the run up to that lovely Sunday – something like the run up to Deepavali.

Now, my father had never heard of Sathyaraj and since he was at sea for long periods of time, he was cut off from Tamil movies. So, his rapt attention over the next half hour was a tribute to our “hero”s charisma and attention drawing power.

I remember the interviewer well. He wouldn’t get a job in television today. He looked like a Theni district “button man”  from the land of the Thevars, only he had a trimmed moustache and shirt (untucked) and his eyes glowed with admiration as he conducted the interview.

{Definition of  Button Man : When the boss wants someone “out of the way” and asks you to “push the button” on a guy, you “push the button”. The button man is the guy who does the “button pushing”.}

 

(Interviewer) : “How did you get into movies ?”

(Sathyaraj) : “After college I tried my hand at different ways of making money. Being a scrap merchant was a sure ticket to getting rich but it looks like I was the ONLY one who didn’t !”

 

{My father’s attention went up a notch. He met up every week with two buddies of his, who were scrap merchants. }

 

(Sathyaraj) “ I even opened an ice cream parlour but even that lost money. Luckily my father paid most of the bills. Somewhere along the way I drifted into acting”

(Interviewer) : “Where the hell did you stumble upon this  ‘Thagudu Thagudu’ (a famous punchline from the movie ‘Kaakki Chattai’ ) and how did it become so famous ?”

(Sathyaraj) : “Indha ‘Thagudu Thagudu’ onnumay illeenga.  Adhu casualaa spontaneousaathaan vandhudhu.”

{He went on to elaborate}

“The actor who played my henchman, Jana, was mentally elsewhere while the scene was being played. So when I spoke my line “Dei Jana,  Thagudu yengadaa ?”  he was taken unawares “Huh ?”

“I carried on without pausing for the Director’s “Cut” by reminding him, “Thagudu Thagudu” and  that’s how that line came to be !”

“Kamal (Kamalahasan) reacted immediately and said “Lets keep this take. Its sounds perfect”

Adhu yennavo bayangarama famous aaiduchchu”

(Now the googly) “But  adhuvay Click aagalanaa yenna bayangaramaa vaariruppeenga”

 

{His sense of perspective and utter lack of airs was stupefying. He didn’t behave like any star did at that time in Tamil cinema}

 

 

(Interviewer) “Why is it that you do everything casually ? Even when killing someone you don’t show emotion”

 

(Sathyaraj) “Now, If you have to stab someone it involves a lot of effort, so you definitely have to show emotion, right ?.”

“But shooting someone with a  pistol is a lot different. You don’t have to get emotional and worked up.”

“ Sirichchikkittay Sudalaamay ! “

 

{This was interesting. It could as well been a movie punch line delivered in his inimitable style. After a long time here was an actor with a mind of his own and with immense talent and ability to boot.}

 

{A clip from Nooravadhu Naal was shown next, with the popular catchphrase “Yennoada characterayay purinjukka maattayngiriyay !”}

 

(Interviewer) “Throughout the movie, you keep repeating,’Yennoada characterayay purinjikka maattayngiriyay !’.”

“Unga character thaan yenna ? Unga latchiyamthaan yenna ?”

 

(Violent reaction from Sathyaraj) : “KUDIPAZHAKKATHTHA OZHIKKANUM !!…………, VANMURAIYA OZHIKKANUM !!…………. VARUMAIYA OZHIKKANUM !!.……….………………………………………………….. Indha maadhiriyellaam latchiyam illeenga.”

 

This got us floored – the Sathyaraj persona was taking root and ready to fly.

For a few days thereafter my father was so tickled by that line ‘Yennoada characterayay purinjikka maattayngiriyay’ that he kept muttering it and smiling to himself at odd moments.

 

The next week, the Sunday movie telecast was an unusual one for a Rajnikanth flick ‘Sri Raghavendrar’ where he did the role of the eponymous saint.

Sathyaraj did a micro cameo – that is to say he appeared in one scene as a villainous Nawab and promptly stole the show. After a long time, here was an actor whose strength was his formidable dialogue delivery i.e an actor who could deliver long dialogues in Senthamizh  effortlessly and  (more important) without sounding funny !

He caught the imagination by ending each sentence with an expression of fake surprise : “Ha !  Vaarayvaa !!”

 

Again, my father , dropped everything and was all eyes and ears.

That interview on Doordarshan  was a sell out and did more for the movie than any amount of advertising.

There was this  very entertaining Madras centric magazine called ‘Aside’ which featured Sathyaraj on the cover, after Kaakki Chattai’s release.

Aside magazine movie reviews catered to the educated (but struggling) middle class. The movie reviews were much like the stuff you read in The Hindu Metroplus or countless blogs nowadays and therefore far ahead of its time, but the magazine required capital and also Madras was still a hic town with lack of glitz and a social scene so the magazine found it heavy going and folded up.

The  interview with Sathyaraj in Aside, among other things, described the food cooked at his  home as STRICTLY non-vegetarian (sic).

Like the Kamalahasan of the ‘70s he’d managed to intersect the masses and classes.

 

(To be concluded)

Next Part :  Marlon Travolta – The Under-rated Comedian