Kannathil Muthamittaal
What shall I say about my all-time favourite movie? That it takes it name from a Bharathiyar song, that it is one of the poignant films ever made, that it got 6 National Awards, that it had some of the most creative (and talented) minds and one of the best commercially viable cast and crew but bombed at the box-office.
Right from the title to the rain-drenched(heart-wrenching too) climax, the film is a poetic expression of the visual medium that is cinema.
I'm not going to talk about the plot of this film for it is quite a well-known one. There are quite a number of scenes that elevate the film to be on par with some better known international films.
The thing that attracted me to this film is that it is told entirely from the point of view of a child. I've never respected Mani Ratnam as much as i respected him for the climax, the same climax that some point out as most childish. Come on, it's the story of the child and you cannot expect intellectual stuff on war from a 5th standard kid. That would sound funny and even absurd. And you cannot let the adults talk leaving the child in the lurch. That would shift the entire point of view of the movie.
And there's one more criticism. That the director misinterprets the civil war as a war fought to test weapons of the super powers. It was a civil war when it started but one can very well say it's not so now. If it is, then what does Norway or the EU have to do with this? Why do they mediate when the concerned parties themselves can talk over (or fight over) the issue?
Now to the performances. Never can Simran act like this again. And Madhavan as the fiery writer fits the role like a glove. And Keerthana is every inch the brat who yearns for her biological mom.
The techinical finesse of the film is best understood when you learn that it won the National Awards for Music, Cinematography and Editing.
Ravi K Chandran's best work till date(Sorry, Black was glossy and artificial), the camera underwent the mood of the characters in the film and Sreekar Prasad's smooth editing complemented it perfectly.
One of A R Rahman's best ever musical score, the background music elevated the visuals, thus enhancing the viewing experience. And there was another National Award in this segment, with Vairamuthu winning it for his lyrics. The Vellai Pookal song, which is the theme of the movie is a gem.
This film, to me is Mani Ratnam's most subtle and mature film. The way he used the brilliant songs as a means of taking the narrative further (which he doesn't in most of his films) just made the movie even more gripping.
Box-office dud. I don't care. This film moved me (and many more). And that is its success.
posted by Suganth @ 14:51
1 comments
