VISITOR COLUMN

Having seen Mani’s movies for years, I felt that Mani revisited most of his favorite places/scenes in OKK again. Since Rain and train have been beaten to pulp I would like to stay away from there. Some were quite obvious but some were subtle. Nevertheless, it was an unabashed fun watching them all over again!

Opening scene - A zany fun of watching video game visuals on big screen just took me back to “Anjali” days.

Religious harmony – After the Christian marriage scene Mani immediately took us to a Carnatic sabha. After few scenes, A.R. Ameen (Rahman’s son) starts rendering “Maulana” song. The way Mani placed these scenes was a sheer brilliance in my opinion and reminds me of “Bombay”.

Just like that – The background and lightings captured in “Paranthu sella vaa” somehow makes me think about “humma humma” song and “om namaha” from “idhayathai thirudaathe”.

Girlfriends count – Very similar to Siddharth’s character in Ayudha ezhuthu.

Ganesan alias Ganapathy – Mani’s ardent fans cannot forget how Madhavan calls his father in law by name in “Kannathil Muthamittal”. Mani used the same magic to show the closeness between Prakashraj and his wife.

Parent’s meet – It wasn’t as high octane as “Alaipayuthey” but Mani had thrown in some humor to make the mood lighter here.

Steps craze – Do you remember the building with steps in “Thalapathy” or “Mouna Raagam”? Then Mani didn’t disappoint you in “Mental Manadhil” song.

Mumbai Pigeons – You can’t stop thinking about “Nee oru Kaadhal” song from “Nayagan”

Mirror Romance – One of the best mirror scenes from Tamil cinema is when Shalini searches her Thali when Madhavan cheekily hung it around a mirror in “Alaipayuthe”. “Uyire” has a beautiful scene with water droplets and so does “Guru” (Abhishek showing his pregnant tummy). May not be widely appreciated but Ash and Vikram do a talking in front of a mirror from their bed (Hindi “Raavan”). Mani checked this box in OKK as well.

BBJ – Beach (“Ayudha Ezhuthu”), Bike (so many but Karthik’s red Suzuki in “Mouna Ragam” stands out) and Jeep (“Idhayathai Thirudathe”) never get old for Mani’s style of romance!

Software engineer/Architect – “Adi” joins the Protagonists in “Alaipayuthey” and “Roja”. If I am correct, Raghuvaran was an architect in “Anjali”.

Temple – In Roja, “temple” scene was a masterstroke. Here, it wasn’t as crucial but played an important role in carrying the movie forward.

Cute scene with “kutties”– Whether a full length children movie like “Anjali”/“Kannathil Muthamittal” (“Appa, amudha-a azhuvura”) or cute scenes like in Roja (last sis’s concern to Arvind Swamy), Mani’s idea to integrate kid’s charm from their point of view never bores you. OKK has that moment too.

Last but not least, his attempt to respect Tamil is unique! – Southern dialects used in “Roja” (Ambasamudhiram episode) or “Raavanan” or “Kadal” may not be the best but it comes with Mani’s signature. Same goes with Coimbatore dialect in OKK!