Friday, March 20, 2009

Why Black Pandi Enna Kalachi'dhan

Anyone who watches Vijay TV's Kanna Kannum Kalangal will instantly know my title's significance. And for those that don't…..what a shame, what a shame. This one particular friend of my brother-in-law, who just happens to have this air around him of knowing good Tamil values by that I mean Tamil cinema values, mentioned in passing that of a Tamil drama that is '...wery good...' called Kanna Kannum Kalangal, (or if you prefer translating it to English I would suggest perhaps 'Dream Dreaming Days'). So one day, with my laptop in hand and nothing better to do, I googled Kanna Kannum Kalangal and came across a site (click here) that had a chronological order of most Tamil dramas. I played a random episode for 3 minutes and stopped. Watching Tamil drama's on my Toshiba laptop was just not my style. But maybe it was fate, because the next day my dad robbed an aunt's mega serial collection, and managed to getaway with 30 episodes of Kanna Kannum Kalangal DVDs. Since it was readily available and that too in DVDs, I decided to watch it. I have been hooked since.

There are 10 main characters. Pandi (alias Black Pandi), Joseph, Pachai, Bala, Raagavi, Vineeth, Unni, Krish, Rishi, and Sangavi. They are all Plus One students at a convent school somewhere in Chennai. The drama unravels their respective lives, goals and ambitions, all in the context of friendship. It is important to note that the main characters are split into two so called 'gangs'. They differentiate in many respects, but noticeably in their riches and rags. Pandi, Joe, Pachai and Bala belong to the rags side, with their immaculate Tamil rhetorics and village-like squanders, whereas Vineeth, Unni, Krish and Rishi ride to school in motorcycles, and speak in cocky English. Both gangs hate each other's guts, and are often found wrestling each other on school grounds, and devising plans to 'kalakira' the other group. Kalakira for those not familiar with this word, simply put means to 'tease' or 'mock'.

Somehow, someone in the Tamil serial industry realized that not all Tamil mega serials have to be about woman heroism and series of sentimental crying scenes. The writers, directors and producers of Kanna Kannum Kalangal have given MUCH importance to laughter and happiness. And they succeed ten folds in delivering such quotients. You are bound to laugh out loud throughout the show, and if you are like me, sometimes even rewinding back to capture the moment again. It reminds you of care free days where your biggest concern was finishing your chemistry homework on time, and hoping that your crush would pass a hello. Now that I'm older, and have my high school days waaaaaay behind me, it's an incredible feeling of nostalgia watching this show. Even though I love all the characters, my favourites are Black Pandi, Joe, and Vineeth. You might even say I have a crush on Vineeth. YES I KNOW! He is most probably 10 years younger than me. But like I said, it takes you back, and he reminds me of someone that I once had one of those once in a life time crushes. *wink. They even taught me some new words that I plan to incorporate in my daily vocabulary when the time is right. Next time you hear…. Kalachi'dan… or Cycle Gapila escape my lips…. don’t be so surprised, no?!

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