Favorite Rajni Performances - III
Parattai - 16 Vayadhinile
While earlier Tamil Cinema villains(created by actors like Nambiar, P.S.Veerappa, etc.) were hated by the viewers, Rajnikanth, I think, was the actor who created villains who people actually liked. In that sense, he was truly a trendsetter. Nowhere is this more in evidence than in Parattai, the character he played in 16 Vayadhinile. Doing so, he created one of the most memorable and charismatic bad guys to ever grace our screens.
In 16 Vayadhinile, Rajni plays the bad guy casually and effortlessly. Dispelling the notion that a villain needs to stare and shout out threats to be threatening, he almost underplays the villainy and ends up being more effective. Even when he is joking around with his friends or commenting about Kanthimathi (with the legendary "Idheppadi Irukku?" thrown in for good effect), we can see that evil is lurking just beneath the surface and could come out any minute. Note the scene where he repeatedly calls out to Kamal when Kamal ignores him to see how expressions, body language and voice modulation help transform him from casual villain to scarily evil right before our eyes.
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8 Comments:
My favorite scene of Parattai is the one where he ruins a prospective match for Sridevi by speaking ill of her...this is the scene when the guy asks him for a beedi...the cunning nature of the character comes out in full force and the scene ends in a hilarious way:
Counds: Paththa vechuttiye Paratta...
Rajni: Idhu Epdi Irukku?
Counds: Nalla ille! (and receives a slap on his head!)
Parattai is indeed a milestone. But that doctor's negativeness overshadows Rajini's for some reason in that movie. Performancewise, ofcourse thalaivar stands miles ahead.
Talking of villainy, actually I missed out "Johnny" in my list. The barber role that he played oozed lots of style and class.. That would rank certainly high but not sure where :)
This movie will always be remembered for the 4 star billings who went on to rule Kollywood :
Kamal, Rajni, Sri Devi, Ilayaraja
bb,
your love for Rajni is well known but don't you think that the original in this respect - villains whom people loved- is and can only be M R Radha. He was the first to blend comedy and villany into a potent mix and run away with the claps in film after film.( sivaji's magnonimity also helped!!)
Yes Rajni played the best negative character in Avargal.
But to really see the villain winning over the audience - I could remember one scene where Satyaraj was trying to molest Deepa and Mohan as is the hero's wont interferes. The whole theatre shouted out" dai vellila poda" movie I don;t remember- sujata cine arts remake. But the crowd reaction stays on forever.
anon, that may not be for the love for Satyaraj but for Deepa :)
bart,
I expected such a barb. But believe me it was not for Deepa but Satyaraj. this movie came in the wake of "thagadu thagadu" where he stole Kamal's thunder.
my fav scene..coming from a girl huh. Scene when thalaivar says..ava aathalukku dhavani kattinalum nalla than irukum.
very good observation...
ram - well said!
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