#Classical Tamil

[kurj]

South Indian / Tamil Miku dancing Bharatanatyam

My comments under are the cut. My other Mikus (minoan): click and click.

this time I tried to keep the design more accurate when it comes to her original colors (hence more gray) but also had to recreate the cultural outfit properly. Golden stuff kinda ruins the palette but they are a must so I guess it's a lesson for me to plan better in the future. I also skipped the leek: adding it to the "temple jewellery" wouldn't be very respectful I guess. I also kinda forgot lol.

I'm not Indian so I hope I didn't duck this up too much - I did a lot of research.

[ahalya25]

bharatanatyam - a classical dance form that originated in tamil nadu

[inmyworldblr]

Padmini

[nidhi-writes]

Thiruvilaiyadal - Part 1

As a movie buff, one of my core memory is seeing old classical Tamil films with my Amma. She made sure I saw all of her favorites and some of the 60s/70s classics.

Every summer holiday is filled with stories of old Tamil Puranas from my Appa and asking all the pieces of information and questions. And my interest in the Tamil language grew as I become older and thanks to all my Thamizh teachers who made the class so interesting with all the Tamil literature at school.

Everyone around me used to ask why I am into Puranas and literature when the modern world is thriving outside, but all I know was that my soul wanted more and more.

One such moment which captured my heart throughout was the movie 'Thiruvilaiyadal'.

Thiruvilaiyadal (Leelas in Sanskrit) is viewed to be one of the 18 thalapuranas. It is also revered as one of the Mahapuranas (Periya Puranam – the right eye of Shiva, Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam – the left eye, and Kanda Purana – the third eye). It was authored by Saint Paranjothi, estimated 300 years ago. It narrates the 64 Tiruvilayadals, loosely translated as the "playful miracles of god (Shiva) himself".

One such Thiruvilaiyadal of the god Siva was with Nakkeranar or Nakkerar. Nakkerar was a Post Sangam Tamil poet who wrote Thirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai.

The below poem is part of Kurunthogai, which was written by Irayyanar( God Shiva himself)

கொங்குதேர் வாழ்க்கை அஞ்சிறைத் தும்பி காமம் செப்பாது கண்டது மொழிமோ பயிலியது கெழீஇய நட்பின் மயிலிய��் செறியெயிற் றரிவை கூந்தலின் நறியவும் உளவோ நீயறியும் பூவே Translation: O! Honey bee with beautiful wings, you live drinking nectar from selected flowers, tell me without bias look at my friend who resembles a peacock in beauty have you seen any flower that smells better than her hair?

The story goes as when ShenbagaPandiyan had a doubt regarding the scent of female hair and announced whoever clarify that doubt through poem/the best will be awarded 1000 gold coins. Dharumi was a poor poet who struggles for money went to lord shiva for help, lord Siva came in the guise of a poet and helped him with this poem. The king was happy that it solved his doubt as it says the women have naturally scented hair.

Scene 1: Siva introduces himself as a Tamil poet. Scene 2: Dharumi doubts him and asks God Siva who is in disguise questions to prove his knowledge.

Scene 4: Dharumi apologizes for doubting God's knowledge Scene 5: Dharumi gets the poem from god Siva and goes to present it before Pandya king.

When he was about to be awarded the Nakkerar the head poet of the Tamil Sangam stopped him, saying that the poem had a lot of mistakes, and denied the award and asked Dharumi to improve the poem. Dharumi went to lord shiva and told the same, lord shiva got angry that Nakkeerar found fault in his poem and went to an assembly and challenged Nakkeerar. But Nakkerar was not moved. Shiva asked Nakkerar if even the hair of the goddess did not have a natural hair scent?! Nakkerar asserted that it was so.

Scene 6: God Siva shows his true form by opening his third eye. Scene 7: Nakkerar, now sees who is in front of him, even then he went on to say that a mistake is a mistake.

Shiva opened the third eye and was furious even then Nakkerar stood his ground, this shows his love for Tamil and shows the poet who he was. As he could not bear the scorching heat emanating from the divine eye he jumped into the water of the Golden Lotus Tank. Then at the request of the other poets, the Lord took Nakkeerar out of the tank and forgave him.

And that is how the story ends. Literally, nobody ever played God Siva more perfectly than Sivaji in Tamil cinema. As his name suggests he lived as God Siva. I wish I could able to translate the dialogue portion that happens at this part. But the sweetness and raw poetic Tamil lines could never be done justified during the transition.

I have to thank @themorguepoet for reminding me or taking me back to my memory where I cherish this classic with your post before.

[whitehartlane]

rec me a film to watch

[truly-devi]

[yioh]

my favourite song being deleted off of spotify is a new kind of pain fr

[shadowchargertomyyoong]

kanmani anbodu kadhallan nan ezhuthum kaduthame

[theomenmedia]

"Thalapathi" To Re-Release On Superstar Rajinikanth's Birthday This December!

Step into the epic world of friendship and destiny with Thalapathi, back in cinemas! Celebrate Superstar Rajinikanth's birthday with this timeless masterpiece.

[kurj]

i had this incredible opportunity to see Bharatanatyam performed live by a group from India a few months ago!! they were amazing

[selva25]

acres for sale sriperumbudur

[jarajitnethra]

சா வரிசை பெண் குழந்தைகளின் அழகான மாடர்ன் பெயர்கள்_#modernbabynames

[riding-with-the-wild-hunt]

"[Tulkas'] spouse is Nessa, the sister of Oromë, and she also is lithe and fleetfooted. Deer she loves, and they follow her train whenever she goes in the wild; but she can outrun them, swift as an arrow with the wind in her hair. In dancing she delights, and she dances in Valimar on lawns of never-fading green." - J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, "Valaquenta"

@ainurweek day 7 ⇢ NESSA

[ID: an edit comprised of six posters in shades of red, black, and brown, with some white and gold accents.

1: Sheerah Ravindren, a tamil model with brown skin and long black hair, some of which is braided. They are looking over their shoulder at the viewer with a neutral expression, surrounded by gold foliage on a red background. The image is framed by a white rectangle which cuts off in the upper left corner, where white cursive text reads "Nessa." White serif text in the bottom right corner reads "the dancer" in all caps / 2: A red-handled knife with a dangling tassel beside its matching red sheath on a black background. White text, some in cursive and some in the serif font, reads "And it is sung that in that feast of the Spring of Arda / 3: A deer's face emerging from dark shadows. Text in the same format as Image 2 reads "Tulkas espoused Nessa the sister of Oromë, and she danced" / 4: Sheerah Ravindren, this time facing the viewer with their hands resting on either side of their head. They wear no shirt, and their hair hangs over their chest, as well as several gold necklaces. Same text as Image 1, but the text has switched to the bottom left and top right corners / 5: Sheerah Ravindren facing the viewer and crossing their arms above their head as if dancing. Same text and format as Image 1 / 6: An indian classical dancer. The image shows multiple exposures, making the figure look like they are in several poses at once. Text in the same format as Images 2 and 3 reads "before the Valar upon the green grass of Almaren." //End ID]

[aithusarosekiller]

I'm literally overflowing with fluffy Jegulus HC. I don't want to give away all my upcoming plot, but then again, how many people care about spoilers...? I had to narrow it down to a manageable number, let's say three.

The first time they talk to each other is when they cross paths on the quidditch pitch. James goes out to practice flying because he wants to be the best he can be at quidditch. And Regulus goes out to fly as an escape. Regulus is a bitch to him. James shrugs it off, but never mentions the meeting to Sirius.

Regulus comes to use the James' invisibility cloak more than James himself. And it always works perfectly for him because... you know why.

Regulus gets his hands on some muggle war history book which includes morse. He insists they write each other notes in morse, and James sometimes writes in Tamil (with the translation in morse) just because he know Regulus likes to look at the beautiful Tamil script. They find a secret place in the castle to leave the notes for each other. And maybe one is left unclaimed... maybe it is found years later... maybe... As a side note (pun intended), these notes are excessively sappy (from James) and excessively snarky (from Regulus).

Oh no! I have to do one more. Regulus eventually makes them charmed notebooks so they can communicate easier. The back and forth notes stay visible in the notebook for twenty-four hours unless you preserve the page with magic. Regulus, always thinking practically doesn't want a trace/evidence, and never preserves the pages. James pretends he doesn't either. But he does. He has countless notebooks filled with their exchanges. Sirius (because James doesn't want Regulus to find out) has to keep making him more charmed notebooks which he finds both annoying and enduring.

YIPPEE

I love love love them meeting or bonding over quidditch bc it's one of the main things they have in common and it's something they can relate to without necessarily involving Sirius for once (nothing against him I love him sm but I like them having a little more to them than their relationship to him yk)

Regulus discovering or using the invisibility cloak is one of my favourite little details in fics! Especially if the others ask James where it is because they need it and he's staring into his hands like 'UHHHHH' because he can't exactly tell them his boyfriend now has his most valued family heirloom

Yes. Regulus reading muggle books is one of my favourite things to begin with but the idea of them using code to leave notes that are later discovered and decoded by some needy muggleborn who accidentally stumbled upon them. 100%

Always room for one more, the charmed notebooks is such a classic and it's such a good one! Sirius rolling his eyes and helping just sums up his entire thought process around them to be fair, he's supportive but it's an inconvenience yk?

[hood-ex]

This got long so I decided to send it in an ask.

So India has like a dozen film industries organized by language. Bollywood is the biggest and that's Hindi. There are also movies n Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi and more. I won't go into all of them because I mostly watch movies in Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi and the occasional Telegu movie.

(super cool thing is that sometimes, there's actors who work in multiple film industries so it can be like a fun surprise when you see someone you associate with a specific language pop up somewhere else)

I tried to pick based on what you said you liked in one of the other replies. You mentioned you like musicals though so you'll be happy to know that songs are integral to Indian movies. Also these recs are a mix of personal favorites and ones I know to be popular/iconic because if it was just up to me, half of these would be thrillers, horror or crime because I think indian films do those genres really well. They also lean heavily towards romcoms.

Hindi:

Sholay (1975) This is just a classic Hindi action movie starring Amitabh Bachchan, who's possibly the biggest actor from Bollywood in the 70s and 80s Like even i've watched it and I haven't even taken the time to look through 70s Hindi movies yet.

Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993) A runaway bride gets taken in by three kids and they have to hide her so their uncle who's taking care of them doesn't kick her out. The kids are so goddamn cute. This stars two very known 90s stars, Amir Khan and Juhi Chawla.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) Iconic Hindi romance starring equally iconic pair of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Shah Rukh is by far the most popular beloved actor in Bollwood since the 90s and arguably still today. Him and Kajol were a big pair that did tons of movies together in the 90s and early 2000s. I cannot understate how popular these two are.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) Another, arguably even more iconic Shah Rukh Kajol romance but it's a love triangle. Personally, I can't stand this movie but it's super duper popular and also features the love of my life, Rani Mukherjee as the 'it' girl Tina that Shah Rukh's character initially falls in love with.

Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham (2001) I'm sorry, I don't know how this ended up being all Shah Rukh Kajol movies but I needed to mention it because this is my personal favorite from this pair and in general. I also love the way this leans into the 2000s aesthetic in the second half and you're going to be baffled and amused by the character Pooja in the second half.

Devdas (2002) Devdas is an epic tragic love triangle featuring again Shah Rukh Khan but also Aishwarya Rai, one of the most influential celebrities to come out of India in the modern age and Madhuri Dixit, beloved actress and dancer from the late 80s/early 90s. The song 'Dola Re' from this movie is one of the coolest dance sequences to exist.

Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) A modern love triangle- you know, I didn't realize how many love triangles are on here but this one will make you cry. It's a romcom but I promise, the tears will come. And then you'll watch it again.

Om Shanti Om (2007) A love letter to Golden Age Bollywood, this movie is going to pack in approximately 15 references per minute, you won't understand any of them and it will still be an excellent time. At heart, this is a fantasy romance/revenge featuring reincarnation (which is a suuuper popular trope but ended up being sparse on this list). Starring Shah Rukh Khan across Deepika Padukone in her first role (they go on to be a pretty beloved pair though not as much as srk and kajol). I rewatch this 1-2 times a year.

Jodhaa Akbar (2008) Starring Aishwarya Rai again, this is a historical romantic drama set in the 1500s. I always get distracted by how beautiful the costuming in this is. You'll recognize Hrithik Roshan from Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham but with the ugliest mustache known to mankind.

3 Idiots (2009) is a comedy/coming-of-age about 3 college friends. Sounds basic but it's really hmm, heartfelt? Starring Amir Khan.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) coming of age romance/drama/comedy something about a group of college friends. Stars Deepika Padukone across Ranbir Kapoor (big 2010s actor).

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavadahn (2020) first big blockbuster type movie about queer people. It made me cry, i made a gif from this my header for like over a year, it's a bit cliche but yk

Telegu

Telegu's really hit it off in the last 10 years or so but I've only a passing familiarity and I definitely can't tell you what's been popular in the last couple decades. BUT

Bahubali 1 and 2 (2015/2017) It was a cultural phenomenon when it came out, because of the effects and cinematography but also largely because of how it's one story split intentionally into two movies. That concept was unheard of in Indian film and the overwhelming success of Bahubali is directly responsible for the dozens of 2 and 3 part film series being produced today in south indian films. It's like an epic fantasy action movie(s) about- actually i'm not going to spoil the plot on this one. In simplest terms, it's about a guy learning about his dad.

RRR (2022) Not a personal favorite but it actually has a tumblr fanbase. Bromance but like two indian revolutionaries fighting against the british in pre-independence India. Really, it's very much about their friendship. Stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan, both of whom are pretty popular Telegu actors. This like Bahubali was an insanely popular hit.

Tamil (this was so hard because i like tamil movies but i don't think they're the greatest. They do however have the best love songs, hands down)

Kadhalan (1994) It's an action romance ft politics and terrorists but at heart, it's a inter-class romance about a college kid that falls in love with a politician's daughter. You may have noted by now that inter-class romances are a BIG theme in indian movies. This stars Prabhu who is still an iconic choreographer and dancer and Nagma.

Minsara Kanavu (1997) a romance Prabhu again and Kajol from all of those Hindi films. The plot is that she doesn't believe in love and wants to go become a nun and he's trying to change her mind because he's in love with her. It would've been so easy to get this film wrong but it ends up being really hard to dislike.

Anbe Sivam (2003) a slice of life about a guy who gets stranded at an airport and makes a friend. R. Madhavan, who plays the friend is the poster boy for 90s Tamil romances and is an excellent romance actor, if you're interested.

Ghilli (2004) A sports player accidentally gets involved with a gang. It's like an action romance featuring some of the most iconic actors in Tamil film, including Vijay and Trisha. I had my cousins dance to one of the songs from this at my wedding. This movie actually just reran in theaters for it's 20 year anniversary a couple months ago.

24 (2016) A guy invents a time traveling machine. I really wanted to include a movie with Suriya because he along with Vijay are like the two big stars of the Tamil Film Industry. They both have catalogs of 60+ films. And in this movie, Suriya plays a triple role.

Malayalam. This one's my native industry which somehow made it really hard to pick movies from because I mostly watch masala films or (like low-brow action comedies).

Kireedam (1989) A action/drama about a guy's downfall. Thematically, think Othello. Stars Mohanlal, the biggest actor in Mollywood and watching him in this movie will show you why.

Killukam (1991) a comedy about a girl, an illegitimate daughter of a supreme court judge, pretending to be mentally ill while searching for her father. Very of it's time but it's classic comedy. Stars Mohanlal again.

Yoddha (1992). One of the rare times that Malayalam film delves into fantasy, this is a movie about a young rural guy protecting a Nepalese kid from a murderous, supernatural cult. It's been a minute since i've watched this so I can't speak to how the cultural aspects were treated but I remember that part of this was shot in Nepal. It's also considered a cult classic. And features Mohanlal yet again.

Aaram Thampuran (1997) Another mohanlal film about a man who gets involved in a village's affairs. Stars Manju Warrior who was a known 90s actress before she got married and quit. This one's an iconic action film but I think that Mohanlal's role in this is like the template of classic Malayalam hero and says a lot about the qualities that make up a South Indian typical movie 'good guy'.

Nandanam (2002) The fact that this movie is this old makes me feel old. A slightly dramatic, mostly realistic interclass romance ft (1) god. It'll give you a fair bit of insight into Malayali culture and class prejudices. Anyway story's about a religious house-servant who falls in love with the grandson of her employer. Or really, the grandson falls in love with her. It's a personal favorite of mine and stars Navya Nair (who is soo underrated) and Prithviraj (who is not, which is to say he's hella popular and currently trying his hand at directing)

Meesa Madhavan (2002) A thief gets wrongfully accused of a crime and tries to prove his innocence ft a romance. It's classic 2000s Malayalam comedy. Features Dileep and Kavya Madhavan who were a pretty popular pair of the 2000s/2010s even and irl had an affair and he divorced his wife for her. (his wife incidentally is manju warrior who i mentioned above)

Classmates (2006) A school reunion unearths old hurts and hidden secrets. It's got everything; mystery, angst, romance, comedy, and an iconic soundtrack.

Notebook (2006) No this has nothing to do with the iconic Nicholas Sparks adaptation. It's about three college friends at an all-girls school and how they deal with one of them getting pregnant. The initial romance is SO cute. The song, one in particular is great. The execution is so-so but for a movie about teen pregnancy in 2006 Kerala, it's not bad. And I would consider it iconic.

****** manichitrathazhu (1993) It's about a couple who move into a new house and the wife gets possessed by a ghost. It's ICONIC. I didn't mention it above because it does dip into horror and you said you didn't like scary movies.

i know this might seem super large and overwhelming. I promise I did try to limit the choices a bit and was at times more or less successful. Anyways I hope it helps some.

Wow, thank you for the explanation and for the long list of recs! Love all the different language categories. Lol! I wish I liked horror movies more, especially so you could share your favs 😆. I might try Manichitrathazhu 🫣. Maybe my friend who loves horror movies will watch it with me.

I'm looking at some of these on Google, and omg, Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham is 3.5 hours long 😳. I'll have to settle in with a snack for that one 😆.

These all sound really good though! Thank you for taking the time to compile this list, I highly appreciate it!