Raaja's eyes

Bharathirajaa is the name. An acclaimed director in Tamil cinema whose forte is village subjects with heavy dose of realism, he is well-known for his signature monologue at the beginning of each of his film. But, after watching his latest 'Bomalattam' recently, I can't help but to think- this guy has some eyes. I mean when it comes to pretty girls.


I have always thought that my favorite director Mani Ratnam is the master when it comes to mentoring talent in various fields. True. He still is. But Bharathirajaa has a decent eye in spotting not pretty, but really hot (with a capital H) bidding actresses and casting them in his movies. He could live forever with the pride of having introduced to the industry an actress named Sri Devi. She lasted in the industry for two whole decades, and paired with almost every legendary actor which happened to be active her era. Nobody who watches Tamil cinema, or even Indian cinema to boot with, would be blind as to who Sri Devi actually was. She was quite simply that- an icon. And that thanks to this man, Bharathirajaa.




Here she is, looking all elegant well into her 40s:


And for the past decade, Bharathirajaa has only directed four films (age has finally playing catch up). But his eyes for a gorgeous lady, for one, never died. Not all of them may have been a success but nevetheless all the actresses he introduced would very well in the list of the most searched for actress in the industry at respective times.





In 1998, he wanted to launch his son Manoj as a hero. So he made 'Taj Mahal', and paired him with Riya Sen, a northern cutie. This is how she looked in the movie:






She was a pathetic excuse for an actress really, with robotic expressions, she helped alot in making this film the flop that it turned out to be.


But, few years down the road, this is how she looks:
















Yes, she is still surviving the industry, solely as a model due to her ultra-hot looks and a cameo appearance every now and then, here and there, and she is one of the most typed names when an Indian guy searches sites to look for 'Hot Indian Actresses' pictures or wallpapers. When you want hot and sexy, she is all over the place.






Forget about what came after that, he made another movie which virtually went unnoticed, but it was a darn good one and well-directed. Lets skip and go to Kangalal Kaidhu Sei (Arrest me with your eyes). Once again, he was in the mood of introducing new faces and he did with Vaseegaran (the hero) and Priya Mani (the heroine). Forget about the hero, he was a good-looking guy with no brains for acting whatsoever, so the film flopped. Coming to the actress, she looked like this during the movie:























Somewhat tanned but busty and cute, she is now a National Award (yeah!) winning actress who is among the most sought after and highly paid actress in the industry. Now she looks like this:










She is most Tamil chaps' 'dreamgirl' right now, and I have to admit I'm one of those chaps as well. Like many others, I thought I'd just say thanks to Bharathirajaa for the years in cinema and the beautiful women he introduced but he wanted more. Came 'Bomalattam' (puppet play), his latest film, which was a thriller par excellence. In this film, there were two new face ladies. One was Kajal Aggarwal. Here she is, for your eyes' pleasure:

























She debuted in this film but due to the delay in release, she acted in several other films already and her stock is already on the rise. She's undisputably Hot and Sexy so it was little wonder she has found fans and followers (and droolers of course!) so quickly. And then there was Rukmini Vijayakumar. Her debut wasn't publicized at all for the film, but when it came, it surprised all. It was a wonderful debut by her to say the least, and then i was becoming a maniac, seaching to find out who she really was.







A dancer with complete elegance and definitely a beauty, she may not be Hot at an instant like Riya Sen and Kajal, but like Sri Devi and Priyamani, she, given the right opportunities, will be the next big 'thing' in Indian cinema.




So, let me mention a bit about the film. Its class. Anybody who wrote Bharathirajaa off, will be silenced. The guy is nearly 70 years old, but he still has an eye for beauty in women, but above all, when he says in a monologue of his film that the climax of the film will be 'unpredictable' by all means, it rings absolutely true when you watch the film.

And at that age, he still delivers a quality watch in 'Bomalattam'. As they said, wine doesn't age. And Bharathirajaa is that. He is a born genius with a overwhelming passion for film-making, there is no such thing as losing form or losing talent, it never wears. Mistakes are inevitable, but genuine genuises return always with a bang. And Bharathirajaa is just that.

Hats off.