Roja

Roja
I am going to start with the climax! I love the climax and the location where it was shot too. Perfect choice! Madhubala runs down the steps and Arvind Samy too runs towards her. The first time he slips and falls, she hurries down the steps. Then, when he rolls down the steps, she lets out a cry and rushes towards him. Now, they are just a few feet away from each other. Unlike other movies where the heroine will run towards the hero immediately to help him, here, she herself becomes so weak with joy on seeing her husband after a long time that she is unable to even stand! Then, when he finally reaches her, they let their eyes and tears do the talking, he then calls her ‘Pattikkaadu’ and they both hug! No unnecessary dialogue between the couple. Their eyes and actions do all the talking! Wow!

A few other scenes that left a deep impression on me are the one where Madhubala asks Nasser if his reply would have been the same had the abducted person been someone related to a Minister and the one where Nasser tells her that the Govt. has agreed to release Wasim Khan and then, tells how the efforts and sacrifice of the army men have now gone wasted since the Govt. has agreed to release a dangerous terrorist whom the Army men had arrested with great difficulty. This scene is sure to make you offer a salute to our great Army Men. But, for them, can you and I enjoy our lives happily like this?
The scene where Pankaj Kapoor tells Arvind Samy ‘Nee oru theeviravadhiya maatthitta’ Wish it was this easy to change a terrorist’s mind! Sigh!

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There is nothing to say about the romantic scenes between Madhubala and Arvind Samy as those are Mani Ratnamโ€™s forteยด and he excels in it in this movie too!

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I didn’t know that many parts of ‘Roja’ were shot in Ooty until I saw during my college tour, some of the locations at which it was shot. So, seeing those scenes now brings back fond memories of the tour. ๐Ÿ™‚
How can I even write something about Roja without mentioning about A.R.Rahman’s music! The day my Dad got the cassette of Roja and how everyone in our house including my grandfather (Chinna Chinna Aasai was his all-time favourite!) became crazy about the music still remains afresh in my memory. See the power of Rahmanโ€™s music. It made everyone from a person in his 70s to a 7-year old kid go crazy over it! ๐Ÿ˜‰ It is another fact that his music still manages to make everyone go crazy over it.
Some of the BGMs in Roja that I like are the BGM that comes when Roja talks to her sister over the phone, the BGM during the climax and then, of course ‘Telephone Manipol’ as a BGM. Listen to one of my favourite BGM here:

[audio:http://www.mediamax.com/music_music_fan/Hosted/Roja_Reasseses_her_Relationship_with_Rishi.mp3]

Chinna Chinna Aasai, Pudhu Vellai Mazhai and Kadhal Rojave โ€“ no words to describe these 3 songs!

P.S.: Why donโ€™t you all share your favourite scenes from this movie?
P.S.1: I am writing about Mani Ratnamโ€™s films in a random order. The next post may be on any movie from Nayagan to Aayitha Ezhuthu. Will be back with the next post soon.

30 thoughts on “Roja

  1. F e r r a r i

    Good Series ๐Ÿ™‚
    The BGM’s are not playing for me ๐Ÿ™ Maybe the same problem, I faced in Sonata’s blog

    I liked the vellai paniyaaram scene, police running in when they break open a coconut. And also the scene, where they call her to identify a body!

    Reply
  2. Hell's Angel

    Awesome movie!! One of my most favorite one.. And it reminds u of our college trip huh??thts bad..hehe.. u remember tht guide telling us the climax was shot near paikara dam???i hope they let us see tht place at least once..

    My fave scene is where madhubala apologizes to arvind swamy.. she says sorry… S O R R Y.. Enna paatha paavama illa.. Na romba kettava illa konjam nallava thaan.. hehehe.. i just love this dialogue.. i keep telling this whenever i ask sorry to some1.. ๐Ÿ˜›

    Arvind swamy was too good in this movie… ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Music??needless to talk about it..it speaks for itself..

    Reply
  3. sreekrishnan

    nothing – even, maniratnam’s creations cannot beat his own master piece – IRUVAR

    GOd level and mind blowing !!

    I had enough talking abt it and i could still ramble on and on …write on that, lets see if you have something more to say abt the movie ..anything finer, am sure should have caught your eyes, which mine didnt !!

    Reply
  4. adiya

    ya . Best thing in Manis movie is his cinematography inspite his movie songs are deadly.. ๐Ÿ˜‰ either its Onru or Pallavi anu Pallaiv or Pagal Nilavu or Guru.. it has its own flavours.

    ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  5. Aparna

    Ferrari,
    Thank you.
    I too like the scene where they call her to identify the body.

    Hell’s Angel,
    But, I don’t think people will believe you if you say enna paattha paavama illa ๐Ÿ˜›
    Arvind Samy yes! But, look at how he is now ๐Ÿ™ It would be apt if he says ‘Eppadi irundha naan ippadi aaittaen!’ ๐Ÿ™‚

    Sreekrishnan,
    Welcome to my blog! Will write about Iruvar sometime soon.

    Adiya,
    That’s true. And, you seem to have watched all his movies!

    Sathej,
    Thanks.

    Reply
  6. Adiya

    :).. enna pannurathu. .:) konjam konjam padam parpeyan.. esp that he paired up with Balamahendra for one movie. ๐Ÿ™‚ nice camera. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  7. yuva

    unforgettable movie experience.. one scene just on top of my mind now– Roja acts in the temple in Kashmir, the way she addresses the โ€™โ€™God of Kashmirโ€™โ€™ and tells him to tell something to her deity at home. This is a somewhat simple & nice relaxed way of treating a God.

    also not sure, many know that — this movie’s story was adapted from writer, Sujatha’s novella 14 Natkal.The story is based on a real story of abduction of an IOC official from the south by Kashmiri terrorists.

    It was a ground breaking for it heralded a new age in Indian cinema & music.

    for me, this Movie has 2noticable take-aways:*) In violence we forget who we are and *) Love is often gentle, desire always a rage.

    Reply
  8. Aparna

    Yuva,
    Apart from Sujatha’s novel and the abduction of an official, it is also based on the mythological story of Satyavan and Savithri.

    Reply
  9. Bharath

    Difficult to say which is his best ever… Everytime you watch his movie (Ive seen each one at least 5 times) you realize something new… And you marvel at the man… Like theres this scene in Guru, part of the song “Tere Bina” where Aishwarya’s back is to the camera and you can feel her sobbing…

    My best scenes from Mani movies, in order:

    – Nayagan – His son dying, Inspector Kerkar’s son as a kid saying “Baba mar gaya”, Nayagan wanting to see his grandson… Oh I can go on and on about Nayagan, easily his best work

    – Kannathil Mutthamittal – Everyone seated at the dining table and Keerthana asks Madhavan if he picked her up from the “Kuppai Thotti”, Of course the final scene with Nandita Das

    – Anjali – The final scene makes me cry every time I see the movie, Anjali calling out to her mother the night before she dies…

    – Guru – Abhishek Bachchan in hospital and his daughters singing “Jaage” to him… Of course the most talked about court scene…

    – Bombay – All the songs!

    One can just go on and on… He is UNARGUABLY the best person in India for picturizing music… The only person who’ll do justice to Rahmans songs… The only person who can get the best out of all his cast and crew – Rajeev Menon cant bring out the magic even in his own films! Kamal’s best was unarguably Nayagan… Abhishek – Unarguably his best films were Yuva and Guru… Rahman makes his classiest tunes for Mani Ratnam – be it Dil Se, Bombay, Guru or Iruvar! And how he can make kids act – whether its Keerthana in Kannathil or Shyamilee in Anjali!

    Reply
  10. Aparna

    Bharath,
    Welcome to my blog!
    You seem to be one BIG fan of Mani Ratnam! All the scenes you have mentioned are my favourites too. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  11. dawdler

    Mani’s at his best down the streets of Madras… however snazzy his cross country films mite be… he’s just about unbeatable capturing the heart warming mischief, making even the mundane middle class life activities seem inspirational and elicit a smirk outta any1…
    case @ point agni natchathiram (just abt every damn scene in the movie), anjali and alaipayuthey…..

    Reply
  12. Ashok choutry

    Idhayathai Thirudathe-The all time Favourite of ManiRatnam
    Top 10 of ManiRatnam
    1.Idhayathai Thirudathe
    2.Kannathil Muthamittal
    2.Bombay
    2.Roja
    2.Anjali
    3.Thiruda Thiruda
    3.AlaiPayuthey
    4.MounaRagam
    4.Uyire
    5.Thalapathy
    6.Aayitha Ezhuthu
    7.Nayagan

    Reply
  13. Ashok choutry

    Idhayathai Thirudathe-The all time Favourite of ManiRatnam
    Top 10 of ManiRatnam
    1.Idhayathai Thirudathe
    2.Kannathil Muthamittal
    2.Bombay
    2.Roja
    2.Anjali
    3.Thiruda Thiruda
    3.AlaiPayuthey
    4.MounaRagam
    4.Uyire
    5.Thalapathy
    6.Aayitha Ezhuthu
    7.Nayagan

    Idhayathai Thirudathe-
    I see it 100 times.Even now it looks like a new one.ExtraOrdinary performance by Nagarjuna,Kirija,Neena and the Grandma.ExtraOrdinary dialogs and Location
    Brilliant Cinematography,Ooty is the best place for picturisation.
    Superb Background Music.Oh Pappa Laly is the IlayaRaja touch.
    Worst comedy.

    Reply
  14. Ashok choutry

    Thiruda Thiruda-A best comedy thriller never seen by Tamilnadu.Outstanding performance by Anand,Prasanth,Heera.Attractive Locations.UnImaginative Lightings.Wonderful Songs and Lovable Background Score.Well defined Dialogs,Fast Screenplay.

    Reply
  15. Ashok choutry

    Don’t laugh.
    If I was the judge for Oscar,Surely I will select the best film as
    Idhayathai Thirudathe-
    The all time Favourite of ManiRatnam and the lifetime film of him.
    Please see this film.Enjoy that feeling.

    Reply
  16. Aparna

    Ashok Choutry,
    Welcome to my blog!
    I have seen Idhayatthai thirudaadhe and I like it too ๐Ÿ™‚
    As for worst comedy in that movie, I couldn’t agree with you more on that.

    Reply
  17. Pingback: From just another Rahman fan to a Rahmaniac โ€“ The journey « Aparna’s Blog

  18. Ramya

    can’t really pick out the best……..
    if mani n ARR pair up,everything abt the movie rocks….
    in Roja, i noticed that in the engagement scene, (bt. aravindsamy n roja’s sis.), background music was the song “telephone manipol” frm indian…..
    i noticed tat very well…i dun know how many of u hv noticed…..pl. do reply….
    kannathil muthamittal…..oh God, fabulous movie……..a real classic…….salaam to ARR for all his tribute n dedication to music………
    ARR

    Reply
  19. Ramya

    oh gr8, u have noticed it, huh??? so, how r u, aparna????
    thanx 4 replying…..nice write up…..njoyed reading every bit of it…….

    Reply
  20. Vidhya

    I think so the best scene of mine is the scene in which roja apologises Rhishi and says sorry to him..in that scene arvind looked too good.

    Reply

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