"Over with yet another novel", was the feeling after i finished reading "The Godfather" last night. I have not liked a single book as much as i liked "The Da Vinci Code" ever since i read the DVC. Maybe, only books like the DVC are for me. Started off with "Windmills of the Gods" today and the opening pages seem to suggest a story similar to "Deception Point" or something like that in store. Chances are that i'll like this book better than the GF.
GF was not bad- i can never call any book bad, more so because i choose to read only widely acclaimed authors/books. My reading habit started pretty late, only after i was 21...so i need to finish reading the good books first! Coming back...the GF could have been written a lot better, i felt. It had a very strong story, but somehow the screenplay(am yet to figure out if this is the right word to be used!) seemed to drift a lot. Shifting the story back n forth did not help either. Thankfully, i haven't seen any of the GF movies and i got the feeling that helped me to not hate the book. I heard that there's more story in the movie than is in the book- that the entire third part was made-up for cinema. I chose not to see the movie until i read the book and the i'll be seeing them soon, during the next chance i get. Honestly, i dont have a lot of positive things to say about the book. Quite possibly the first and last book of Puzo's that i'll be reading.
This book sure has inspired the making of "Nayagan". But then, "Nayagan" was very well made, keeping in mind the Indian public. Not to mention the genius(es) of the actor Kamal Hassan and the director Maniratnam and in my opinion, to top it all, Raja's BGM. Movies like that aren't made every day...
Today's Song: Malarndhum Malaraadha from Paasa Malar.
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11 comments:
Nayagan ofcourse is an ultimate movie Ram!
dude
havent read this book, and also havent read many.... but I thought "Nayagan" was an allusion to "Varadaraja Mudaliar" from bombay.
Please correct me if I am wrong...
c'ya
Ram, the book did not inspire Nayagan, it was the movie which did. Kamal's hairstyle, the way he speaks after he gets old, etc were direct ripoffs from Marlon Brando in the movie. Kamal is supposedly a big fan of Francis Ford Coppola, the director of Godfather.
The Godfather movie is damn damn slow...parts of it are great and parts that are plain boring.
Nayagan was much better in pace.
Velu Naicker: Varadharaja Mudaliar!
I have seen a pic on the last page of India Today where MR and Kamal are sitting with him in his house in Chennai (where he died just before Nayagan released).
But ya, Kamal's actions were kinda inspired by Brando - i.e. The pan, the gruff voice etc.
Arun n Anti- yeah...what u said is all there in the link i had given for "Nayagan". But Godfather was a big inspiration for the way the movie was made but the story was that of VM's.
K7 n Anti- yeah u r right. I have seen a few scenes from GF and Kamal's gestures were a lot like Brando...true. Mani n Kamal might have not even read the book for all we know...
Though a lot like Brando....kamal gave the role an identity of its own....a distinct identity.....not to forget the directorial genius of Mani.....
Godfather the book isnt the greatest book written...but it addresses the all important issue of the morality(or the lack of it)of the good old Robin Hood case, in a manner that never has been done ealier.And a newly concieved idea always deserves extra praise as does this novel.As for the movie Nayagan,it is normal for most tamilians to think of it as one of the greatest movies made in history...but in all fairness the comparison with the Godfather does not exist-definitely!!!.
Look at the story line--Don vito escapes from Sicily to reach America when he is a boy...Velu runs from tuthukodi to Bombay...Don Vito is taken care of by this old man who has a store called "Genco abadando"...and to Velu, it is "Bhaai"...Don vito rises to fame after kiling a troublesome person(a police officer i think)...and so it is in nayagan...Vito invades the local gambling market and earns many enemies(barzini, tataglia and so on)...so it is nayagan(reddigaaru and the others)...Don loses a son..so does Velu naayagar....and there's a scene in the book where Kay adams questions Michael as to how society could function if people took law into their hands...this scene has been neatly done in naayagan where his daughter questions him...and she slaps janakaraj..and u know wat im talking about.then of course, the manner in which the reddis are killed is exactly the same as the killings in the movie Godfather are shown.wats more????As these killings are going on , Michael corleone is shown in a ceremony in church, accepting Santino's son as a god-son(after having planned the killings to take place at the same time)...and in naayagan there's a scene where Kamal, after his wife is killed, tells Janakaraj on the beach "nee la asthi karaiyumbodhu reddi kudumbathula yendha aambalaiyum uyiroda iruka koodaadhu" --so much so for Varadaraja Mudaliar's life and what it has come to inspire...those who talk about the Godfather either havent read the book or havent watched it 2 or 3 times....and dude, i have watched The Godfather over 5 times and naayagan atleast 50 times. i know wat im talking about.
Mr Kamal's affair with the Godfather continues into Devar Magan too...The similarities--Sivaji is a headman...Kamal is a foriegn maapialai not interested in the FAMILY BUSINESS...There's a girl from outside of the community whom the father is not too amused to see...circumstances compel Kamal to stay back...and then take over after his father dies--and the scene where si=vaaji dies, singing "potri paaradi kanney" with his grand children, is a blatant take-off on the way Don vito dies while playing with his grand child in the park....i could go on u know....
born too soon- absolutely
sub ven - am not sure what point u r trying to prove here. I have myself stated at various points in the post and in the comments that GF was an inspiration for Nayagan. That doesnt take anything away from Nayagan. Nayagan is a great movie and u started the comparison with Godfather and i did not! I did not like the book- is it that big a fault? I don't think so, cos i probably am a "masala" man, expecting a murder and a suspense plot! Godfather failed to keep me interested and no denying that. But as i said earlier, it aint the book that lacks quality- it's me!
Thanks for dropping by...:)
Dude, if you compare Da Vinci Code and Godfather I am forced to say that your taste and sensibilities are misplaced. Godfather had deeper emotions and different lelvels of story plot, whereas the Da Vinci Code was a commercial novel. If you want something more special than Da Vinci Code, read some of David Morrell's books.
stoned- I DID NOT COMPARE those two books. You should probably reread my post. Thanks for suggesting Morrell. I'll surely read his books when i find time.
Thx for dropping by :)
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