Kalavani – Bringing out a regional slang

Though Tamil is accorded as a classical/universal language now, spoken across the world, it isn’t spoken in the same way every where. Within Tamil nadu itself, it is spoken with different slangs in different regions.

Tamil cinema has used some of the regional slangs extensively well. Examples Chennai tamil, coimbatore/Erode, Thuthukudi tamil and off course madurai, thirunelveli slangs have been over killed with too much of usage (Don’t know when tamil cinema is going to show madurai/thirunelveli life as non-violent, any way we are not talking about that here).

Being a person grown up near pattukottai, i used to think that not many movie makers have explored the slang used in this region much. I am talking about the region from tanjor-pattukottai-kumbakonam-arantangi, The slang used here is also bit unique, you won’t see that in other parts of TN.

When i watched the movie kalavani, it was a pleasant surprise for me. The slang was so nicely used. I watched the movie second time just to see how people speak.

The director has to be credited for bringing out such things from the actors. I think he has cleverly opted for local new faces, but still it’s not easy to make them perform so naturally in front of the camera.

Some of the dialogues which i really liked in the movie,

Hero & sister “Please eluthikkudule, eh aayilla, ah ippo mattum aayi aayimba, appuram, ennala ennala solli thalayilaye kottuva”

Heroine “Kaavi vetti ellam katti irukeenga, maala pottu irukkiyalaa……. ayyanaru koyilukkellama maala poduvaha”

Driver friend “Avaru tinnu beerula kepparu, enga porathu”

And off course, the clever usage of slang alone doesn’t guarantee the success of a movie. The movie is nicely presented with fairly interesting screenplay. Though the story isn’t completely new, the movie is watchable for 2.5 hrs and i enjoyed most part of the movie.

Kudos to Director Sargunam and the team for bringing out such a nice village entertainer…

The same article was published in Behindwoods.com http://www.behindwoods.com/features/visitors-1/kalavani-regional-slang-28-07-10.html