Blue Star: The indomitable spirit of unity that triumps over oppression (2024)

[00:00:00] A bunch of cricket crazy youngsters in a village is completely swayed by the sports that their

[00:00:19] ultimate aim every day in their lives is playing in a field sprawling in the heart of rustic

[00:00:25] hamlet in the outskirts of Chennai. The underdog street players have to rise to the occasion

[00:00:32] whenever their honour is at stake. That's the premise of the Tamil movie Blue Star.

[00:00:39] Hi, welcome to Onmanorama Movie Podcast, Start, Action, Cut and today Swati and Ashwin are

[00:00:47] here to discuss the film directed by S Jayakumar and starring Ashok Selvan, Shantanu Bagraj

[00:00:53] and Kirti Pandyan in the lead. Now coming to the subject of the movie, it's cricket and

[00:01:00] we have seen a number of movies with cricket as the backdrop and most often they have worked

[00:01:06] here too. It's the game that consumes most part of the movie and how do you view cricket

[00:01:12] in this movie? Ashwin. Well Patmukumar, thanks for having

[00:01:16] me. I thought this was a well-meaning film but for me it fails to connect at

[00:01:22] certain levels because we have had so many movies using sports as a central theme trying

[00:01:27] to tell the story of this underdogs, how they achieve the glory in the end and how we pitch

[00:01:32] for them. But in this film somehow it doesn't work. We have a mix of cricket, cast differences,

[00:01:40] social inequalities, there is an infatuated romance and of course the inevitable final

[00:01:46] heart-swelling moment of glory of the underprivileged. But I wish the film was shorter

[00:01:51] and we always have this applauding feeling about the film. And for me it was mainly because

[00:01:58] of the narrative technique. In many scenes involving two or more characters, we see lengthy

[00:02:04] expositions of past incidents more like a voiceover in a radio play when a more engaging

[00:02:10] visualization or choice of storytelling would have helped those scenes leave a deeper

[00:02:15] impact. I can give an example, there is this scene between Dhanjitha and Anandhi where he

[00:02:21] tells about the rivalry between two clubs and what happened on a cricket ground six years ago.

[00:02:25] We get the gravity of what he says but the connection I'm not sure. Also the characters

[00:02:32] were more like caricatures especially the coach of the elite club, the players. All they do

[00:02:37] is talk, walk and behave with us all purpose of being hated. They could have been more human

[00:02:43] with shades. And the final scenes where the players are presented like animated figures

[00:02:48] kind of completes the mess. It looks so out of place. And I was also surprised to see

[00:02:54] the reaction of Anandhi when she's watching a cricket match because we are told she has been

[00:02:59] watching crickets in childhood and she knows Chris Keynes because she loves all around us.

[00:03:04] But the one visual we see is of an Indian player getting bowled and from what we see

[00:03:11] on her face it is pure joy. I mean in a film with cricket as a central theme, I wonder how

[00:03:17] you can be so casual about such scenes. And S J Kumar this is his debut film, he has written

[00:03:23] this film even in that final game. They kind of discuss about the strategy minutes away

[00:03:31] from the start of the game. How often you do that especially when you say that

[00:03:35] this cricket and victory is a matropoeur prestige. But having said that, I love the setting where

[00:03:43] the story takes place. Even the choice of names of those clubs, I found it very interesting.

[00:03:48] Blue Star and Alpha Boys. We always know that the blue stars are considered to be

[00:03:57] hotter than red stars. And this club includes a set of hot headed youths bristling with

[00:04:02] frustration of being mistreated all through their lives. And Alpha Boys obviously the dominant

[00:04:08] richer fragment of the society within the same village. So those are some aspects I loved

[00:04:14] about the film. Yeah, in fact, I could well connect with the movie, especially the cricket

[00:04:20] theme, just because at the moments, the exciting moments were far removed far away from those

[00:04:30] in other films on the same team. So what was that for you? How did you enjoy the movie?

[00:04:36] Swati? Well, Patma Kumar for me, I felt like even though the movie is based on cricket and

[00:04:44] the sort of cast politics that it talks about, cricket is a theme that was sort of like in

[00:04:49] the backdrop of the movie because there is a sort of rush or adrenaline rush that you'd

[00:04:54] feel while you watch sports movies. But that was completely absent from the movie, I feel,

[00:04:59] because you don't really root for anybody in this movie. Of course, there are two teams and

[00:05:04] these teams, both the teams come together and they have and they fight against all the oddities.

[00:05:10] But I never felt like, okay, this is a team that I have to be with or I should cheer for

[00:05:15] this team because I couldn't feel any sportsmanship entirely in this movie. Of course,

[00:05:20] since it's a bar and production, I think most of the focus was on the class or cast politics

[00:05:26] that the movie talks about. But even that, I feel like there was nothing to feel closely

[00:05:32] or feel that we could relate to on a deeper level. Of course, the theme that they're talking

[00:05:36] about is very important. But at the same time, I feel like they couldn't really get into it,

[00:05:41] like the detailing of it, that wasn't much to capture our attention. And I think that

[00:05:46] was not enough for us to keep hooked to the movie. Yeah, I'm not sure. As you said, there is cast

[00:05:52] politics, but it's actually what we see is a team led by the protagonist that's Rangit.

[00:05:58] He's at war with the rival group in the same village, which is placed slightly above the

[00:06:05] social strata. And what happens when they join hands in a face of with the professionally

[00:06:11] trained giants of a cricket team in the town? And there, I think the disgraceful absence of equity

[00:06:19] just makes a presence in the movie. I don't think it's a dominant factor. There is a presence that

[00:06:25] that's what I feel. So what do you say, Sati? That is true, Patmoham, because like I said

[00:06:30] before, if you look at it, the movie doesn't really go into the details. Like when these

[00:06:35] two teams come together and they play against the other team, both the teams are at receiving

[00:06:40] end of the discrimination. That is clear. And of course, Shantanu's character, while he understands

[00:06:46] that, okay, even though he's, he's steam and himself are just showing discrimination towards

[00:06:52] Ranjit and his team, there's a whole world out there or people out there who are going to

[00:06:57] show the same kind of discrimination against them. And that changes his sort of outlook

[00:07:02] towards everything. And he changes, but, but do they really go get into it and

[00:07:08] talk about the real politics or the real discrimination that everybody is facing? No.

[00:07:12] For them, it's like if they win this match or if they go against that team, that is,

[00:07:17] that for them is the winning element. Probably I think the director might have

[00:07:21] meant it that way. But like the, like you said, it's just a press, it's just a factor there.

[00:07:25] It's not like a complete full-fledged, it's not like a complete full-fledged research thing

[00:07:30] that went behind everything, all the scenes that are happening. So it's just present in the

[00:07:35] background, I'd say. Every, every factor that the movie is talking about is just present in the

[00:07:39] background. Yeah. I think rather than exploring the casteism or, or the class divide, I think

[00:07:47] it's the social exclusion that, that's being portrayed. What do you think, Ashwin?

[00:07:52] Yeah, I totally agree with Swati when she said that there is a sense of shallowness about

[00:07:57] the way the film is treated. I mean, often it is said that you can say more with less.

[00:08:03] But in this film, I think Jay Kumar has a problem of plenty, but he's unable to focus. I mean,

[00:08:10] there is too much of cricket, but whether we are getting that excitement out of that game,

[00:08:16] we are not so sure. But again, if are we going deeper into these characters? For example,

[00:08:21] we have this mother, we have this father who kind of dreams that his son will have a bright

[00:08:28] future playing this game. And there is a changing shades of bond between Renjit and Rajesh.

[00:08:34] But to what extent it takes root? And I don't know, I mean, we kind of yearn for a much deeper

[00:08:41] treatment of each character and the issues that plague their lives, which is solely missing

[00:08:45] in this film. And that also affects the performance. Because when we, when we talk

[00:08:51] about performances, it depends heavily on, on emotional depth of a character and the arc

[00:08:56] they assume. In this film, there is a lack of totality, a sense of incompleteness about the

[00:09:03] characters and of course the theme. I was reading in an interview when Jay Kumar says that

[00:09:09] this is very much drawn from his personal experiences at Harakonam. To an extent, it is

[00:09:14] true because there is a true rawness about the characters. But even for the leads,

[00:09:18] except for the fact that their faces are sun beaten, you don't actually establish a growing

[00:09:23] bond with the characters so that you can feel for them or pitch for them. And that's what Swati

[00:09:28] was also saying. Yeah, I think performance wise, almost all of them say true to their character.

[00:09:34] Like, I mean, if you pick each one of them, they actually went deeper into the skin of the

[00:09:42] characters. What do you say? That's where I beg to differ. See, in this kind of underdog

[00:09:47] story, you know, progressing towards that ultimate moment of success because of a game or because of

[00:09:53] some other ability they have. We always have this central character who acts as the guiding force,

[00:09:58] as the shining light of wisdom. We have this character played by Bhagavati Perumali Manuel.

[00:10:03] I mean, right from the first scene when he's shown, he guides a young boy who has been

[00:10:10] scolded by his coach and he passes on some words of wisdom and suddenly there is magic.

[00:10:17] And this happens throughout the film. And that unidimensional factor or aspect about this character,

[00:10:24] it kind of sticks out. Even when he was hacked in his foot and he comes out of hospital to

[00:10:31] seek revenge and then he sees the man who has attacked him is having a family. He has his

[00:10:37] second thoughts about seeking revenge on him. All these kind of give him a godly sense of

[00:10:44] hallow. I mean, that's where I thought the characters were more or less unidimensional.

[00:10:49] Even for the lead characters, Anandhi suddenly goes missing from the entire narrative. Rajesh,

[00:10:55] played by Shantanu, suddenly establishes a friendship with him. But to what extent,

[00:11:00] we never know. I mean, there are moments I wish there were scenes which dealt more closely,

[00:11:06] more intimately into the inner workings of these characters, the beat, the mother,

[00:11:11] beat the father, beat even the brother. So that's what I felt.

[00:11:14] True. But I think when you talk about the character of Anandhi, I think that romance part,

[00:11:21] that was how that character, Anandhi's character has been sculpted and her innocent affection

[00:11:27] and love has been portrayed was I think a magnificent. What do you say, Swati?

[00:11:33] What about the characters and their performance?

[00:11:36] So Patmukh Kumar, about the characters, I think the actors, let me talk about the actors first.

[00:11:41] So we all know Ashok Selvam, Shantanu Phagiraj and of course,

[00:11:45] Kibli Pandeya, I think all of them are really good performers. But when it comes to the

[00:11:50] characters, Anandhi was really good. I think she was a breath of fresh air and she brings

[00:11:55] a sort of freshness to the movie. She's very bubbly and she's kind of a support source

[00:12:01] for Ranjit. But when it comes to, and also Shantanu's character, I think after your

[00:12:07] self-struggle, Shantanu has finally got a decent character that could perform well because

[00:12:12] his character, I think, was the most complicated and maybe they could have done

[00:12:16] something better with the character. But whatever that was given in the movie,

[00:12:20] Shantanu's character goes through a lot of ups and downs. And I think he was able to pull

[00:12:25] it off to an extent too because his character has a certain inhibition towards the team blue star.

[00:12:32] But then he goes through this whole revelation process where he understands that,

[00:12:38] like a lot of people are discriminated not just in sports but in a lot of other fields as well.

[00:12:43] But then the one thing that was not really convincing was that so after he understands

[00:12:47] that they're also at the receiving end of the discrimination, his character completely

[00:12:52] changes. And we are not shown much details of what happens because he's shown coming to

[00:12:58] Ranjit's house and talking to them and acting like a brother. But that kind of the shift

[00:13:04] between his character before and whatever that is happening later, I felt like there is no

[00:13:10] connection. They did not show any connection. And when it comes to Ashok Selvin, I think

[00:13:16] he did a very decent okay performance. There was nothing really great about it. It was not bad

[00:13:22] also. And I can't comment on the cricket aspects of the movie because I'm not really well

[00:13:29] voiced with cricket. But one thing I did not like and I was talking to you about this before

[00:13:34] was the fact that they're all really not really fair, but they're fairly fair.

[00:13:39] But for this movie, they were all made darker. And I don't know why. What is it with people

[00:13:44] casting fair actors and making them dark so that they look like people from the lower stata?

[00:13:50] They could have just casted some people who have a darker skin tone. They did not do that.

[00:13:55] And I think we've seen this for so many other movies as well where the villains,

[00:13:59] the people from backward community are all made black or their skin is made darker.

[00:14:05] I don't understand why they do that. For Anand, they had not feel like they did much

[00:14:09] changes. But for Ashok Selvin and Shantanu, I did not like the whole dynamics because it was

[00:14:14] just very off putting and because we've seen them in there like we've seen them in other movies,

[00:14:19] it just did not feel very real or genuine. It did not feel like okay, they've gotten darker

[00:14:24] because of all this force. It was just very unpleasant to look at.

[00:14:30] Swathi was making a very relevant observation regarding the skin tone of these characters.

[00:14:34] But as I said earlier, I was reading an interview in which Jay Kumar was specifically asked this

[00:14:40] question. Why the stark tone? Why the stereotyping? And one probable explanation he gave was that

[00:14:46] this film is set in Arakonam, which is one of the hottest places in Tamil Nadu.

[00:14:49] And he also comes from the very same place. So this film is heavily drawn on his personal

[00:14:55] experiences. In fact, he was saying that this character played by Ashok Selvin is based

[00:15:02] on his elder brother, his own elder brother. So what he says is that when people spend so

[00:15:10] much time playing in under the sun on those grounds, naturally they assume the stand.

[00:15:16] That's the explanation he gave. He was saying that he wasn't going for the stereotyping, but

[00:15:21] it just happened. I don't know. But again, Ashok Selvin, maybe because we are used to

[00:15:26] seeing him in all those urban roles, I think he did a good performance, but it didn't register for me.

[00:15:34] But I think Ashok Selvin, maybe because we haven't seen him in that avatar that,

[00:15:40] but I think he did well in this film. It kind of felt like Ashok Selvin could actually see

[00:15:45] Ashok Selvin not Ranjith. Very true.

[00:15:49] It was like Selvin playing a character. You could actually feel that.

[00:15:52] That was very true. I think the stream of raw and beautiful romance that runs side by side along

[00:15:59] the main plot was a bit of a breather, I think in this film. How do you say?

[00:16:05] Yeah. The romance was well told, especially the way it was told. We have these beautiful cross-cuts

[00:16:11] of these two characters talking to each other, getting to know each other

[00:16:15] in railway stations on Overbridge. All that looked very nice. But again,

[00:16:20] you are left wondering with too many questions. I mean, the director has quoted a famous Hong Kong

[00:16:26] screenwriter and director, Wong Kar-Wai to say that the job of a screenwriter is to ask questions

[00:16:32] and not leave answers. It is up to the audience to find answers. But I beg to differ. When you

[00:16:39] choose to tell a story with so many characters, it is only natural that their appearances

[00:16:44] and disappearances are properly answered. But having said that, there were some scenes which stood

[00:16:50] out like Ranjith taking her to a playground when she tells him that she wants to hold a bath

[00:16:56] and play. It was a beautiful scene. And there was another scene. Two brothers

[00:17:01] both head over heels in love in their own romances. They are shown lost in a world of

[00:17:08] their own. One stalking his cheek where his girl planted a kiss in haste. And another

[00:17:14] brother, pressuring a currency knot and dotting over her with a corny poem.

[00:17:18] It was a nice cute scene in that film. Patukumar, yes. I'd like to add to what Ashwin said. The

[00:17:24] chemistry between Ashok Selvon and Kirti Pandian was really palpable. I think the fact that

[00:17:30] they were in their courtship period while the movie's shooting was going on and they got

[00:17:35] married soon after. I think that also the fact that you know that and then you were watching it,

[00:17:39] I think it's fresh or like it's actually seeing them being in love and things like that was really

[00:17:45] nice to see. But the thing is that like I said, Anandhi was really bringing a sort of

[00:17:49] bubbliness to the whole narrative but she was like written off. She was like her character

[00:17:53] was just killed off. Like for a person to be, she's shown us different, she's somebody with

[00:17:58] a different character. She's not like the regular girl. She likes to play sports and she

[00:18:02] observes sports and she even tells Ashok Selvon's character that she doesn't have much interest in

[00:18:08] jewelry and stuff like that. And she wants to go to the playground and hold a bat and do batting.

[00:18:12] But then again, after some time there is no news of her. She's also telling Ashok Selvon's character

[00:18:17] that she is not going to get married, that she'll try to resist it. But then the next

[00:18:22] scene is of her you know just being there and not even responding. And I think that was

[00:18:26] a little bit odd. I think the filmmakers could have done something you know to complete the

[00:18:31] circle. So that kind of was a little bit disappointing.

[00:18:36] And as regards on the backdrop, I think the locale like the whole bustle of the Rastik

[00:18:43] area and the passing of trains which add life to the whole ambience. The trains were making,

[00:18:51] I mean their presence at intervals like a leitmotif in a beautiful song. So all those things

[00:18:57] made the ambience very rich. Do you have anything to say about this Ashwin?

[00:19:02] Yeah, I love the way they made use of these trains. Train is more than a backdrop in this film.

[00:19:09] I don't know whether it was deliberate or not but we see whenever Renjith is stuck or

[00:19:15] burdened with some emotions, you see him talking to Ananthi on an over bridge sitting or standing

[00:19:21] and there is complete lack of motion you know just like the character is stuck.

[00:19:24] And when he talks about his dream, his romance or something that drives him ahead,

[00:19:30] we see them talking in a moving train. It is as though the characters draw some momentum from

[00:19:35] the train. The film does that in a beautiful way. So what do you say about the music by Govind

[00:19:40] Vasundha and the camera by Tamil Yagam? Yeah, talking about the cinematography,

[00:19:45] I thought it was mostly handheld. It gives that unpolished no-frill kind of texture which

[00:19:51] is so crucial to this entire film given the settings in which the narrative is told.

[00:19:56] Even the romantic scenes are short and edited in cross cuts which in a way signify the uncertainty

[00:20:02] and the unpredictability about the romance they have. The high angle shots of the patched ground,

[00:20:08] the sun-dried grass with train chugging along in the background from a distance,

[00:20:13] it kind of captured the mood of the film. Then as for music, it was by Govind Vasundha

[00:20:19] right from the opening song sequence that it has a kind of a raokish high energy

[00:20:26] number. Then we move on to have this more slow-paced melodious, romantic songs. I think

[00:20:33] music was really good in this film. So I think Swathi can tell us more about it.

[00:20:38] Nothing really important to say but I really like the song Rail in Olegal. I think that

[00:20:44] really gave the whole movie a different vibe and a very peaceful vibe. Otherwise intense or at least

[00:20:51] a little bit intense movie. So what I feel is the movie Blue Star is a less intense film but

[00:20:59] it engages you throughout. So that brings us to the end of this episode. Thanks for listening

[00:21:05] to Star Action Cut produced and hosted by me Patmugmar with technical production by

[00:21:09] Aedia Brew Studios. Follow www.onmanurama.com for more podcasts and movies

[00:21:15] and be sure to come back for the next episode of Star Action Cut that will be out on Monday. Thank you.