Sunday 19 April 2015

‘O Kadhal Kanmani’ a breezy romantic story in true Mani Ratnam style 



Adi (Dulquer Salmaan) is a game developer who comes to Mumbai on work from Chennai. He finds  accommodation with an elderly couple, Ganapathy (Prakash Raj) and Bhavani (Leela Samson) as their paying guest. 
Adi meets Tara, (Nithya Menon) on the very first day of his arrival in Mumbai but under strange circumstances.
Adi is waiting at the station for his friend Ananya (VJ Ramya) to pick him up, when he notices a young woman on the platform across. She is in argument with a young man and after he walks off in a huff, Tara attempts to throw herself in front of an approaching train.
Catching glimpses of her in between two moving trains, Adi with his gestures tries to dissuade her from taking the extreme step.
But he forgets her the moment Ananya reaches the platform with a music band in tow playing, ‘Bambai pe aaya mera dost,’ an old Bollywood number.
Few days later, he bumps into Tara again; this time at the church where Ananya is getting married. Tara is a guest too.
From making small talk to becoming friends Adi and Tara are drawn towards each other. While they believe in love, they don’t believe in marriage. Not for them the hassles of bringing up babies and the pangs of parenting. 
Tara is an architect and keen on pursuing higher studies at Paris. Adi dreams of becoming the next Steve Jobs and Marc Zuckerberg.
When Tara moves in with Adi at the Ganapathy’s home, it takes their relationship to another level. But they are both clear that their relationship is not a commitment and that both would go their own ways in pursuit of their dreams.
So is the institution of marriage relevant among the new generation? That’s the big question.
Opening the film in his signature style, with a train entering the station (remember Mani Ratnam’s ‘Alaipayuthe’ with Madhavan running to the platform as a train pulls up)  and creating the perfect spot for two strangers to meet, Mani Ratnam loses no time in getting into the shoes of today’s young.
Adi and Tara are ordinary characters representing today’s youth, who are clear of their ambitions and make no pretensions about their views.
Understanding their pulse very well, the master director narrates a romantic tale that immediately  connects  not just with the young but the older generation too.
With couple of moments that viewers would identify with, Mani Ratnam is back into their hearts after ‘Kadal,’ his last film, that disappointed many. 
There is a scene where Ganapathy recalls about the first time he met Bhavani. He is praising her prowess as a noted Carnatic singer in the past as Adi and Tara listen and Bhavani quips, ‘Paarku eppidi irunthein sollanga,’ (tell them how I looked).  Mani Ratnam understands women like no other.
In all his films, the women are carved lovingly and are strong individuals with a mind of their own. Be it Divya of ‘Mouna Raagam’ ‘Roja’ of ‘Roja,’ or ‘Shakti’ of Alaipayuthe, Mani Ratnam gives women  due respect.
So is love just the union of two bodies?
Structuring Adi-Tara story to run parallel with another love story, that of the elderly couple, Ganapathy and Bhavani,  viewers along with Adi and Tara watch a caring husband who lovingly and patiently handles his Alzhiemer affected wife.
Prakash Raj’s subtle acting enriches his character. Leela Samson, (former Chairperson of Central Board of Film Certification, India) is a big surprise). Her portrayal of Bhavani is brilliant.
It’s a poignant moment when Bhavani asks her husband, “Ganapathy, Will I also forget you someday?”
There are fun moments aplenty, in fact the first half rests on that completely. With tongue in cheek humour by the lead pair and asides made by Bhavani, ‘O Kadhal Kanmani’ is a delight to sit through. The humour is in fact squeaky clean. No double entendres, no vulgar scenes and yeah, surprisingly not even the F…word in this story of GenX .
My favourite is the scene where Adi accompanies Tara to the gynaecologist. That was a scream. 
I wonder why the film was given a U/A certificate by the censors. And here is a film without any violence.
Who ever said that a good story cannot be narrated without the usual props that Indian cinema, especially Tamil cinema seems to rely upon?
Dulquer and Nithya with their beautiful onscreen chemistry are just awesome. You forget Dulquer and Aadi comes to the fore and his different moods. It’s the hospital scene with Tara, where he begins looking dumb and slowly his countenance changes to bewilderment and then fear, Mammootty’s son shows immense potential. Nithya Menon’s biggest asset is her eyes and she exploits them completely.
Rahman’s music is magical. The picturisation and choreography of the song, ‘Paranthu Selavaa,’ is brilliant. Shot entirely inside a room, with just the lead pair, this song begins with a single kiss and then the loopy application takes over.
Cinematographer P.C. Sreeram’s visuals be it inside the old house or the outdoors of Mumbai, each frame holds something special. Not to forget the mirror scenes and rain soaked frames, a common element in Mani Ratnam's films.  
Opening the titles with visuals of a video game establishes the tone for the story that will unfold. And when similar visuals were used later to denote a tension filled moment, when  Aadi’s sister-in-law follows Tara into his room with a questioning look. When her doubt is put to rest, the director points us to  the  protagonist in the video game who has just got a life. Hat’s off to you Mr. Mani Ratnam that was cool.
‘O Kadhal Kanmani,’ is a simple story of two young people, from life around told without any frills. Brevity in the dialogues is another plus. I loved the instances where the line, ‘Enna Ketta?’ (Why ask me?) was used.
No melodrama either, when we learn of Tara’s background nor when Bhavani goes missing. No villain or the other woman or overbearing parents.
‘O Kadhal Kanmani’ is unashamedly in tune to where its characters begin and where they are likely to be going. Just don’t miss this Mani Ratnam film.
Take your grandmother and your children too, for it cuts across generations. It will be an evening well spent.

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