MY THOUGHTS ON BOYS..
Shankar’s Boys, has a title reveal that hooks right from the word go. You see a pencil sketch animation of five boys sliding, and the moment the boys are at the same place, you get to know that the place they are sitting are of a woman’s hip. Or, you can also say the hip as the wall where they are sitting and thinking about “How to make a girl fall in love?”, a question that still runs in many youth’s minds. That’s how director Shankar even narrates at the start: “It’s the story of five boys, who can be seen at the street corners, bus stop, or ladies college gate”. He also makes it a point to generalize the youth of Tamil Nadu.
The attention, then focuses on to the mandatory hero, or should I say heroes, introduction scene. It starts off with Babu Kalyanam/Bob Galy(Bharath), whose family is migrated from Andhra to Chennai (I was reminded of a friend of mine who is Telugu). He wants to become a fashion designer, and he’s also a budding guitarist. Then it shifts to Kumar(Manikandan), whose family wages are by running a petty shop. Then, the focus is shifted to Krishna (Thaman, credited as Sai in this film), whose family is a business oriented family, and you also get his character trait here itself: He’s a drummer, and an avid reader of you-know-what(You get a nice bit of narrative sarcasm, credits to Sujatha). Then you get Juju (Nakul), with spikey hairstyle, whose family is educated, and they want him to become an IAS officer, but he likes Music.
Finally, you get the introduction of Munna(Siddharth), who is an aspiring software engineer, but is also one who likes to write Kavidhai. Even their life aims are simple: Girls, Girls, Girls. You even get a Girlfriend Manuals, in the first song “Girlfriend”, which is beautifully written by Pa Vijay.
Then the attention shifts to Harini(Genelia), whose family is very urban, and the first shot of her is of taking music class. The narration just doesn’t stop over here, the way they are brought up, how their parents are, also have been narrated in the first 10 mins of run time, which sets the tempo of the movie. The reason why every minute detail, of Munna’s parents eloping and getting married, Harini’s father sacrificing his love for his career was narrated earlier, makes sense when there’s a heated argument at Harini’s home, where every parents want their child to have a successful career ahead, and even their hobbies do make sense: They go on to form a rock band called “BOYS”.
The thing Boys tries to do is by stating, “ Studies, Life, Career should be the precedence in anyone’s life”, but unlike Shankar’s Indian or Gentleman, this isn’t a “Messagey" message movie. They are intertwined into an organic screenplay, with relatable, subtle,yet powerful dialogues by Sujatha. There’s Vivek(who really gels in as Mangalam), who is the pillar of their life. There are a lot of nice bits of dialogues, but my personal favourite is when Kumar says “Nalike Album Potrulama” for which Vivek replies, “ Naliki Aapam Venum na Podalam, Album poda mudiyathu”. And you have Senthil, in a guest appearance; even his name is metaphoric: Annaveri Kannaiyan. He explains the harsh reality of life to Kumar in just a single dialogue: “Oorellam Odi Alanju Ozhachu Sambhadhikradhu Edhukku..Idhukuthane(pointing his belly)”.
Shankar’s movies have a lot of scope for boldness quotient. He even tried to show a love story like Kadhalan in a slightly bold way, by introducing the virginity test, which is tested for Nagma by his own father. Here, you get Siddharth running naked in a road, and when the boys invite the prostitute to their home, I always fast forward it, as I find that to be a bit uncomfortable. Even,marrying at the age of 19 was too much for that stage, but seeing today’s live-in relationships, Shankar was far ahead of time in showing this.
I have always been a fan of Shankar’s songs and its conception, as they always stick to the story and even his most disappointing movies like I and 2.0 have songs that gel well with the situation of the story. In a movie that has a lot of scope to become a musical, there’s still a Shankar’s touch to it when it is conceived and picturised by his cameramen(three, to be precise). Importantly, this album is one of the finest of Shankar-AR Rahman combo. The “Girlfriend” song, has the concept of 3D character and exquisitely shot by KV Anand, while “Ale Ale”, despite being a cut-away-to-foreign love song, has been shot using 62 cameras and linked using time freeze technique, which is brilliantly executed by Ravi K Chandran. But my personal favourite is “Boom Boom”, because even the animations are scrap metals, while the buildup scene is that of the leads romancing in a motor room, where scrap materials are prevalent. There’s “Dating” song, which is “Dating Manual”, which is shot by Manikandan.
Overall, its been 17 years since Boys had released. It has aged well in due course, and this is a film that will transcend upon generations to come, as this subject is relatable to youths of all kinds. I really wish Shankar to write and direct another Boys.
