Before I start with the beautiful ones, let me get the biggest disappointment and in-retro redundant story out of the way - ‘Paravai Koottil Vaazhum Maangal’. Why tarnish the memory of a beautiful movie like Marupadiyum? Of all the philandering husband stories, Marupadiyum is probably the only one with a strong female lead who stands up for herself, decides to find her own identity and become an independent woman.
I watched Marupadiyum when I didn’t fully understand the gravity of the story. But what struck me is the end to the story - I found it very refreshing, filled with hope and zest for life. And much later when I heard the song ‘Nallathor veenai seithei’ I could fully appreciate the depth of mental turmoil that Thulasi (Revathi’s character) goes through. The whole story is centred around how a woman - who is dependent on her husband financially and emotionally - maintains her dignity and self-respect, and finds her inner-strength to live independently in this world. While this might not be so scary or novel these days, it should be seen in the context of our society during the 1980s and 90s. Now to think about it, wonder if using Bharathiyaar’s song was yet another subtle hint at the strong woman he envisioned!
With this stupid ridiculous dedication, Bharathiraaja has muddled up the idea of a modern independent woman with being detached and emotionless. How else would you describe a woman who leaves her kids behind with her husband and the ‘other woman’ and decides to live an independent life? To me the character seemed a spineless sacrificial lamb! The story gives rise to so many questions! Who is she to decide that the kids should be separated from her?Don’t the kids have any say in it? Can a family life with kids be so easily replaced by work life? Is it so easy to make kids live with a new woman and they not even miss their mother? Is a woman’s role in her family so easily replaceable? The story ultimately reduces the role of a woman to being a wife, cook, maid, nanny…..but what about the emotional connect? the bonding? How can anybody in their right mind come up with a story like this?!
And giving characters the real name of the actors in Marupadiyum is such a genius stroke! Arrgh….And what is with the husband character? During the whole awkward episode he seems like another furniture in the room, albeit smoking at times. The only thing the movie got perfectly right is the awkwardness of the whole situation. The extended silence, inability to make small talk, etc. If those weren’t bad enough, she invites the ‘other woman’ to stay over for the night. I kept watching the whole movie hoping there will be some sensible conclusion to this story. Maybe they all realize their mistake and decide to go back to their earlier life, or maybe decide to put this off until kids are out of the nest? But no……….the director managed to keep the awkwardness until the end. And what exactly was the point of belatedly telling us about their first meeting?! To show that she is still hopelessly in love? Or that a love based on intellectual interests will not last? All in all, the father character (Delhi Ganesh) seemed to be the only sensible one. But unfortunately he wasn’t heard by anyone and was made to feel like pazheya panchangam. Moving on……
‘Ninaivo oru paravai’ is the other story I wasn’t ok with. Not that there was anything bad, but I really didn’t get the point of it. A lot of banter between the couple, their interests, etc., were interesting and engaging but the story seemed over-sexualized and unnecessarily so. Until the end we dont get to know why they broke up their relationship. I don’t know if the intent of the story is their relationship arch and the reason for breakup is redundant? But somehow the relationship arch didn’t seem strong enough and warranted an explanation for their breakup. There was also a hint that what is happening in real life was written as a script by the hero - here again there was not much depth to this storyline. On the whole the story seemed very muddled up. What I did love about this story was the beautiful songs in the background. Of late I have taken to watching some English series where mood and feelings of the characters is expressed through beautiful songs in the background. So beautiful that I make it a point to read through the lyrics. It was refreshing to find a Tamil movie adopt a similar style. I especialy loved Kadal Alaigalil ‘Aanaal’ song, Thaen Mazhaiyo songs in this movie.
All other stories were lovely and beautifully done. ‘Lalagunda Bommigal’ shows the stark reality of girls conned by lecherous men and the unlikely event of a serial conman turning out to be a loyal husband. ‘Margazhi’ is yet another beautifully crafted story of a young girl who finds love and attention during a difficult phase in her life,that helps her come out of her loneliness. The story is quite subtle and interlude between them when they play and disucss about music is very well done. When she realizes her innate qualities when he expresses what he loves about her is very touching. The story does have a documentary feel with tedious scenes. And I am not a big fan of Ilayaraja’s songs in this story. It vaguely reminded me of some old song and not in a very good way. And I wish he had allowed some young singer to lend voice, atleast that might have made the song more pleasing to listen to. I am not sure if this is a popular opinion, but I felt like the movie is trying to say Margazhi has many significance - it is a celebration of music of different kinds and not just Carnatic, music can be enjoyed in many ways and not just in the form of concerts, it reminds you to discover and enjoy music for the sake of it.
It is a very tough pick between ‘Imaigal’ and ‘Kaadhal enbadhu…..’. While one is a very deep and heart touching story the other is a breezy romantic story of a girl falling in and out of love and eventually finding her soul mate. Despite the short duration, Imaigal has packed a lot of layers into its story and is beautifully enacted by Ashok Selvan and TJBhanu. The story brings out the difficulties of a parent with a medical problem/disability while caring for a young child, how our youthful dreams are overtaken by the practicalities of a family life, how our interests and hobbies go into the backburner once we get busy with out lives, etc. The story not only shows the frustration of a woman who is partially blind, but also of the people surrounding her, especialy her husband. While you can feel the fear and frustration of the woman, you can also empathize with what the man is missing out in his life. It would seem tad selfish, but living a monotonous life day-in and day-out is sad.
Where was this Ritu Verma all these years?! She seems like a very familiar face but not sure if I have actually seen her in any earlier movie (except Nitham oru vaanam’). She is so bubbly, spontaneous, cheerful, unabashed……it is like the younger day Khushbo, Jyothika, Laila, Asin, all packed into one! She manages to maintain her energy and humor throughout the movie! It is very refreshing to find a heroine with a great comedic sense. The story also manages to stay true to romantic-comedy genre by creating a humor out of every situation. Her quest for finding a breakup song for a woman is especially funny. The umpteen homages to significant scenes from Tamil romantic movies are so well done. The scene with Baradwaj Rangan is quite funny, especially since he comes across as a very serious film critic while the situation in the story is so naive and juvenile.
I ended up watching Imaigal, kaadhal enbadhu….. and Margazhi twice in as many days. It was that good! I think this has set the bar really high for any future Modern love series.
I liked everything in the review except banter on Ilayaraja. Didn't watch this series. May be will watch your pick from this series. Good review.
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