VISITOR COLUMN

You can finger-count the number of directors who are bold enough to come up with movies that kindle our feelings showing us the depths of emotions, feelings, love, and struggle. These directors come out with scripts out-of-the-box from the usual movie scenario that already exists in the prevailing trend. Selvaraghavan, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Bala, to mention a few. Bharath Bala joins this category. Being an Ace ad filmmaker, I don’t really have a clue of what this director was capable of until I got to see the movie. 

 

For this movie, the plot is nothing that I have to hide or give you a spoiler alert. It is a story of a fisherman, Maryan (Dhanush) who is so in love with his native place along the sea and a girl named Panimalar (Parvathi Menon). Due to some hard circumstances, he goes to Africa for a job for two years. When he comes back, he is kidnapped by the terrorists as hostages for ransom or whatever. Will he make it back to his love-land and join hands with the girl? Is he that determined to make it out of the hard times? Well, to know that, you definitely gotta watch this one.

This movie can purely be categorized under Romance genre than Drama-thriller as the love is the formula for solving the problems that Maryan faces in the film. Love gives you the power to carry on. This is what the director focuses on throughout the movie. Bharatbala has made quite a big deal out of making the scenes in which the story revolves. He has made excellent work in showcasing the sea and the fishermen living-area. The scenic church and the houses add perfection to the backdrop. He clearly knew that, in order to make the characters more life-like, it is the best to keep the character numbers in less. So, he did do that here. Maryan, Parvathi, Maryan’s Mother (Uma Riyaz Khan), Appu kutty, Iman Annachi, and the National Award winning Salim Kumar as Thomaya, the heroine’s Father and Jagan. The movie is a slow-paced one and you really need to have patience while it comes to movies like this.

Our audiences are not up for movie that are dramatic and story-oriented. We need humour and punches, not in every movie, but just a little do we expect in every movie we watch. Director has not hit the chords on the humour parts. Not only dirty jokes are needed, Mr. Bharatbala. WE are already full of them thanks to Santhanam. Scene by scene, the love develops between Maryan and Panimalar and they end up in loving each other. Bharat Bala has not failed to bring proper humour and has lost track of some scenes where Dhanush loses his boat but doesn’t show anything about that. 

Though he lacks at few, he has made his directorial debut a decent one. Dhanush as Maryan plays a fisherman. He has a unique costume.  You don’t really want me to tell about his acting skills. He’s done it with perfection. You don’t really want a say about a National Award winner. He plays what he’s offered. He gives you no more and no less. You cannot not love the way he acts with his beard and he gives cries for the situation in which he is. The way he smokes and the way he flicks it, the shirt open, a Vest inside and a Lungi / 3 by 4th in the lower. He can rock this costume with ease.

His body is perfect example for he is an ordinary man going as a slave to work somewhere unknown in Africa. He doesn’t fight back the villains and that’s where the reality lies. Dhanush does his best but script lets his hard work weaken little bit. 

Dhanush really has put some serious efforts in the second half for his acting and lots of other stuff. You will like, the Yell-back at the Africans and the Fake telephone call. “Help, sir!”. 

Parvathi, the ravishing eyes Parvathi. She simply is amazing throughout. I guess she is the only woman who has a well-groomed hair. Yeah, she is. The story has less than four female characters who come into the script and speak up which actually is kinda rare in Tamil Cinema. Paravathi will definitely capture your souls with her native Sea-side costumes, her Fish-y eyes and her awesomely perfect hair. She was totally gripping a different character in Poo. The only different that made her look different in Poo and this is her Hair. In that movie, she combs with center and split hair, in this movie it’s more like Hair-stylishioned. Her Chemistry is simply solid and there’s nothing less she could make us expect. She will don more movies this year, I guess. Why is that all Malayalam girls become famous overnight here? If that’s what Universe wants be it so. 

A.R.Rahman, do I need to tell? All the songs are already on the Chart-toppers’ list and it literally is not big inside the movie. The situations in the songs arise are more similar and so, the repetition of the picturisation just gets on our nerves at some times. Well, I am not technically into Melody kind of songs, so I wasn’t mesmerized in music and all. But Kadal Rasaa Naan and I love Africa are worth clapping laps. BGM is not the best I would say, the same Kadal Raasa and Innum konja Neram irutha enna used throughout. I don’t really find that amusing.

Appu Kutty, plays a good job as the friend and does it pretty decently and so does Imaan Annachi and Sunil Kumar. Jagan was pretty decent and I really don’t think it was good to be mocking the Bollywood. Not so appreciating, after where Dhanush has done his last movie in, we shouldn’t have allowed that dialogue there.

Anyway, the movie is not what you wanna watch for entertainment. It’s something that shows you that love can give you courage and determination or so I thought it was about. The climax should’ve ended differently but it was like a usual kinda thing. Why doesn’t the gun go off on the heroes, why?

Final words are that, Maryan can give you some time and that time isn’t something that I would recommend that you do watch it. You have Dhanush, Parvathi’s eyes, Rahman’s music (If you’re a fan), Go watch once. You’ll not regret.