By Sam Trailerman
“Manasilayo” is a punchy term in Malayalam meaning “Do you understand?” uttered by the top villain in the new 2023 Tamil movie, “Jailer”.
Actor Vinayakan takes on the character of Varman, a ruthless but eccentric smuggler from Kerala, who stops at nothing, and resorts to violent means to eliminate obstacles in the black comedy action film.
His main obstacle here is Muthuvel Pandian (Rajinikanth, the hero, who else?). And it is the 169th film of the very popular Rajinikanth who recently even came to Malaysia to have a brief meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya.
Vinayakan, on the other hand, is an Indian actor, playback singer, and composer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. He started his career with a cameo appearance in the 1995 film, “Maanthrikam”. Later, he did a couple of films in supporting roles as well as comedy roles.
Directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and produced by Kalanithi Maran, “Jailer” also stars Ramya Krishnan (remember her as Sivagami Devi in “Baahubali”?),Vasanth Ravi, Tamannaah, Sunil, Mirnaa Menon and Yogi Babu (the chap whose hair resembles a crow’s nest).
Watching a Tamil movie more than once or just a clip from one was never my cup of tea (or espresso!), but this villainous character Varman with his clincher dialogues is now trending on social media.
Varman is portrayed as the absolute villain. And Vinayakan’s portrayal of this thuggish role has garnered much admiration for his intense acting. Now I seem to have a liking for that “bad guy”. I am absolutely hooked!
Same feeling when I used to like Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) in the all-time favourite, “Star Wars”.
I am not going bananas or out of my mind when I say that the best part of “Jailer” is when Varman and his henchmen dance to a remix song, “Taal Se Taal Mila”. This song clip is the rage now and has pushed Vinayakan’s popularity up another notch.
The tune’s popularity has even transformed into many forms of presentation, and one even has a gorilla dancing to the catchy beat. A mighty gorilla indeed.
Times have changed. The promotion of a movie or a song has turned into many forms these days. The magic of social media without the need of a magic wand or having to say Abracadabra is enough to dazzle would-be fans and fans alike. That is the power of social media – the ability to influence through the palm of our hands.
Every day there seems to be new memes on the dialogues or scenes from “Jailer”, especially Varman, the bad egg. That’s how popular he has become as well as the movie.
Another gripping line by Varman in Tamil with a Malayali accent, which I am dead sure will punch a hole in any employee or employer is: “When we as the boss do the work correctly, those below us will definitely make sure their work meets the requirement. I swear I am not doing what I do as a hobby, it is 100 per cent professional.” Wouldn’t it be awesome if our Malaysian civil servants adopted this work attitude?
Vinayakan looked every inch the villain for he went into the great depths of personification required by his villainous character. From the start of the film, one already gets the feeling that Vinayakan will really be a tough adversary to Rajinikanth. In the subsequent scenes, Vinayakan becomes “popular”, receiving a lot of “appreciation” for what he does
The movie, with a running time of two hours and 48 minutes, does have a good amount of hilarious scenes now and then. There is also a fair share of moderate violence including shootings, stabbings, slashing and blows with weapons such as sticks and bats. But I am more inclined to watch every move and utterance by the Bad Guy, I don’t know why.
Trailerman Sam, a popular silver-haired living soul from Lunas, Kedah, is much sought-after for his ways of the world and views. When not helping the young, middle-aged or old, he is writing feverishly, drinking plenty of coffee or probably star or planet gazing. He can be reached at trailer17@hotmail.com
The views expressed here are that of the writer’s and not necessarily that of Weekly Echo’s.