‘Are you
a good person or a bad person?’- நீங்க
நல்லவரா! .. .. .. கெட்டவரா! - sure
you all know the context !! .. .. today,
waiting at some place – happened to glean The Hindu newspaper that carried an
advt – stating the Centenary celebrations of Varadharaja
Mudaliyar.
No attempt to eulogise anyone hailed as Don though there have been so many movies on Underworld .. .. and every reference would start with ‘God Father’.
The Godfather, an iconic movie is set in the 1940s and takes place entirely within the world of the Corleones, a fictional New York Mafia family. It opens inside the dark office of the family patriarch, Don Vito Corleone (also known as the Godfather and played by Brando), on the wedding day of his daughter, Connie (Talia Shire). Vito’s youngest son, Michael (Pacino), who has distanced himself from the family business, attends the festivities with his non-Italian girlfriend, Kay (Diane Keaton).
A few months later, Vito is nearly killed by gunmen sent by a rival family, and Michael saves him from another attempt while he is recovering in the hospital. Michael then takes revenge, killing a corrupt police captain as well as the man who ordered the hit on Vito, after which he flees to Sicily as a gang war breaks out. Vito’s eldest son, Sonny (James Caan), is gunned down, and the violence eventually reaches Michael when his Sicilian wife is killed during an attempt on his life.
Adapted from Mario Puzo's bestselling novel, Francis Ford Coppola's gangster saga came second in BBC Culture's 2015 critics poll to find the 100 greatest American films. More than 60 years on from its release in March 1972, it stands as the defining US artwork not just on organised crime, but on immigration, capitalism and corruption. Even people who aren't familiar with the film quote or misquote its most memorable lines
• “A man who doesn't spend time with his
family can never be a real man.”
• “Leave the gun, take the cannoli.”
• “Blood is a big expense.”
• “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
• "Luca Brasi sleeps with the
fishes" (This is a chilling way to say someone has been killed).
Nayakan the Kamal starrer directed by Mani Ratnam, released in 1987 was a grand hit. The film inspired by The Godfather started a new trend of glorifying underworld activities. In the movie, the hero "Velu" Naicker, runs to Bombay, gets raised in the slums of Dharavi, gets into smuggling. As his popularity and clout increases, he starts eliminating rival gangs and kills a Police Officer too [shown as corrupt to justify the killing]. Once when nobody is able to bring a contraband parcel out of a ship, Velu brings it ashore with Selva's help by hoodwinking the Custom officials. ‘nila athu vaanathu mela’ song and Kuyilee dance !! years later, Velu becomes the biggest mafia leader of the city with a large number of followers. No post on the movie but on the area – ‘Dharavi’.
Nayakan was released on 21.10.1987 – a Diwali day ! – the man acclaimed to be behind – Vardha Bhai – was born in Sathuvachari in Vellore and Wikipedia shows – Sathuvachari Varadharajan Mudaliar [9.10.1926 – 2.1.1988] – but the advt in Hindu of date, put it to be his centenary year !!
Web searches reveal that his daughter was dead in an Airconditioner incident a few years and his son Mohan Mudaliar passed away in Mumbai recently at age 72.
The photo at the start is that of Sofia Coppola , American film director, producer, screenwriter, and fashion designer known best for her films The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003). In 2004 she was the first American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award in the category of best director.
Coppola is the daughter of film director Francis Ford Coppola and artist and documentary filmmaker Eleanor Coppola. Sofia was born in New York City while her father was filming The Godfather. She grew up in northern California and played small parts in her father’s films, often under the stage name “Domino Coppola.” Sofia Coppola had multiple uncredited and credited appearances across The Godfather trilogy, starting as an infant in The Godfather (1972), playing a child on a ship in The Godfather Part II (1974), and taking the significant role of Mary Corleone in The Godfather Part III (1990) after Winona Ryder withdrew.
9.10.2025
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