A tribute to Religious TV/Movie actors

[jignyAsu]

I can never refer Sri Kooratthaazhwar as 'Azhwan' with a 'n'. That sounds to me like calling him in single person, sorry .

I think you didn't understand what I was trying to say here...let me clarify. kUrathAzhwAn is the name of the acharya - Bhagavad Ramanujar's sat shishya. kUrathAzhwAr is the name of His father - a completely different person altogether. I pointed it out because a lot of SriVaishnavas make this mistake. I corrected myself recently.

'azhwAn' is someone who is immersed in God consciousness and so it is respectful enough :-)

[Viraja]

Really... his father also carried the same name? Anyway, I just started referring to him as 'Azhwar' because we say that of all other azhwars and also of calling names like 'Lakshmanazhwar' (for Lakshmana) and 'Vibeeshanazhwar' (of Vibeeshana), and 'Anjaneyazhwar' for Hanuman...

Anyway thanks for the correction. I think adding a Sri before the name of 'Kooratthaazhwan' rectifies the feeling of calling him in 1 person due to the 'n'.

Thanks again.

[jignyAsu]

I liked Hema Malini in Meerabai movie though I can't comment much about the historic validity of such movies for lack of proper reference. At best, we can take them as being approximate knowing her glorious position among Hindus.

I like this song, when she gets married - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qil36SNLkS0

When her mother shows to her that Giridhar Gopal is her husband and when she sings - "prAn hamara wahan basat hai ..." are my favorite moments.

[jignyAsu]

I also liked Rajnikanth in Sri Raghavendra movie. This is his 100th movie and he had played the role very well a/c to me, contrary to my expectations. Obviously the looks must have been way off and the silly comedies injected are a disappointing necessity when one has to make a tamil movie these days....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LwbV...&feature=mv_sr

[smaranam]

I liked Hema Malini in Meerabai movie though I can't comment much about the historic validity of such movies for lack of proper reference. At best, we can take them as being approximate knowing her glorious position among Hindus.

Namaste,

You are refering to Meera's disappearance. We can leave that part, and the rest of it - accuracy or not, it sends the bhakti-rasa and bhakti -shAstra message that it should i.e. it serves the purpose.
This is why, even if a fictional episode is tossed in (I don't think it was in this case), if it is an exemplar of shuddha bhakti, it is a Divine manifestation although perhaps hampers the history. As long as the audience know this was the director's bright idea, it is OK , as long as it does not result in distortion of history.

e.g.
1. "tailing the donkey" game in Jai Shri Krishna. All little gwAls (cowherd kids), Yashoda, her assistant Gopis, lose. Only the blind DAdima (neighbor-grandmother) wins becs KRshNa gives her the info or actually moves her hand. The message was well received. Dadima had no clue of what the donkey-chart looked like, but she was always surrendered to KRshNa. The gwal friends were blind-folded but trying to win on their own.
5 yr-old KRshNa: "DAdimA ankhe na hote hue bhi [hRday se, bhakti se] dekh sakti hai, tum ankhe hokar bhi andhe ho"

2. While composing GeetGovind, Jayadev thought of the verse where KRshNa holds Radha's Lotus Feet on His head. Then he discarded the idea and reprimanded himself "how could i ever think like this"
However, KRshNa the Supreme Bramhan came in Jaydev-rUp and completed the verse becs that was the devotee's wish. Then this verse became history as if it actually happened. Look what it has done to devotees.

-------------
All this aside, Hema Malini was awesome. She says to the temple priest
"yA to muze Radha pukaro yA use Meera. Muze uski saut na banao"

A very good scene was the drinking of poison - the elders (spiritual and royal) give Meera the ultimatum. Give up your ways or drink this poison.
Meera gives a wonderful "lecture" - I have forgiven you for this sin, but no one can take my GiridhAri away from me.
She talks about Gita, upanishads, AtmA, and drinks the poison, lets the bowl drop to the ground noisily and walks out.
The priests and royal are appaled. Devotees follow her out till she enters the Dwarkadheesh temple...

[jignyAsu]

You are refering to Meera's disappearance. We can leave that part, and the rest of it - accuracy or not, it sends the bhakti-rasa and bhakti -shAstra message that it should i.e. it serves the purpose.

Namaste smaranamji,

I wasn't referring to these incidents and they are very believable to me for a great Krishna devotee. From my own experiences I have understood that I can't think the way great devotees do and hence I need a proper reference to be able to relate to them.

For e.g., how do I even know if Hanuman would move right or left? Does it matter which direction He moves? Yes, because I am only capable of doing all wrongs while He is capable of only divine activities. Without having His devotion and knowledge how can I guess what He will do? What I may attribute to as being His thought may actually be a violation of Rama Bhakti from His angle.

That's why I am not at all able to relate to the creativities that is the trend these days.

[jignyAsu]

Panduranga mAhAtyam is a telugu movie with NT Rama Rao playing the role of Bhakta Pundarika. By twist and turns in his life, the devotee comes to accept Lord Panduranga. He also gets so attached to serving his parents that he starts giving even the Lord a secondary preference! Great acting by NTR.

Here's the ending scene where he makes even Krishna wait because he doesn't want to wake up his parents -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnsZJcaY2Uk

I like the 2 songs very much - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAqNPjt_KX4 and where he sees all Krishna leela - the child is very cute..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lszW_3pAWGQ

[jignyAsu]

This was once my favorite song and video. Movie is Haridas and has a story very similar to the Panduranga mahatyam. It was made in 1944 and apparently ran for 3 consequitive years in a single theater.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZGwwdGvAA

[Banarasi]

(pardon me if this is repeated. I am unsure if my earlier post went through)





Namskaaram:

I think this is becoming a great thread for reference. A few more. I think Shiva bhakts would especially enjoy the videos in #3. Although the youtube links are in Tamil, they are still quite enjoyable and the gist would be evident.

1. There was Mahalakshmi mahima: A rare Hindi version of Andal's story with K.R.Vijaya as Andaal. Some scenes were available in youtube but now they do not exist.

2. Tirumal Perumai: Shivaji Ganesan covering incidents from the life of Perialwar, Tondaradippodi alwar and Tirumangaialwar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFQvEfKgaLk

Above is a scene/song from the movie (part of Tirumaalai by Tondaradippodi alwar). The song's basic purport being surrender to Shri Krishna. This is before before coming under the spell of Kumudavalli and later being brought back by the intervention of Shri Ranganathar Himself.

The entire movie is available. Here is the first part

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDj_31D8YSs

Kutti Padmini as little Andal is very cute and this movie is a must watch with a young daughter!

3. Tiruvilayaadal (Shivaji Ganesan again): I think every Tamil guy of my generation would have heard of this. This is a classic with the story of a few Nayanaars. There are many memorable scenes in this.

The whole movie is available and here is a confrontation where Lord Shiva tests the truthfulness and integrity of an eminent poet and bhakt who says the truth even when he realizes that he is arguing with his Lord himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjZ9ZCOXxPo

For those who do not understand Tamil, the actual debate starts early but from 3.28 onwards the wise person argues and says "Even if you are my Lord Shiva and open your third eye or roast me with hundreds of eyes, a fault remains a fault." The characters are apt in the roles.

Another interesting fact is that the songs were written by Kannadasan who was virulently anti-Hindu (being part of DK - the predecessor of the current DMK) before making a U-turn after meeting the Kanchi mahaperiyaval, became immersed in the life of bhakts and wrote a lot of devotional songs in his later life.

4. Finally, a very funny and enjoyable song/scene from Sri Valli - a movie about Lord Karthikeya and Sri Valli where he enlists the help of his brother Ganesha to win her over and kids with her disguised as an old man (in an earlier scene):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WC_6-NIXl88

Hope the videos are enjoyable.

Jai SitaRama

[jignyAsu]

Thanks for the list, Banarasi! I would have loved to watch a video of Mahalakshmi mahima but unfortunately its not in youtube anymore.

Shivaji ganeshan has indeed done quite a few devotional movies. If I am not mistaken his other movie "Vetrivel Veeravel" has got good reviews where he plays the part of Lord Shiva with Sivakumar playing Lord Muruga.

Mayabazaar was my childhood favorite and especially the song - Kalyana samayal sadham where Gadotkach gobbles up delicious food. Entirely fictional, but I still remember how much we enjoyed the song as a child. Once we had a 1/2 day at school and my parents took me to the movie theater to watch the movie - I was so thrilled and just for the song.:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKL3h9S5xdE

Movie is available in telugu and tamil.

I feel that we Hindus are very fortunate to be a part of a religion that is so festive, entertaining and yet full of wisdom as opposed to other relgions which are morose, serious and often disturbing.