Mood and movies...

2002...
First day matinee show for a Manirathnam movie music directed by ARR... An entire group from my college... It wouldn't be an exaggeration if I say we were the only ones in the balcony of Ambika theater in Madurai. Such a huge gang, packed cinema hall and brimming expectations... Whistles, problems with the theater guards, booing, scolding the poor operator and everything typical of a first day show at Madurai was on, even before the movie started; not to mention the 'We will rock you' beats that our guys generated with alternate taps of their legs followed by a clap... It'd be an understatement if I say we were in the mood to watch a movie... We were actually ecstatically waiting for entertainment. But all the excitement was gone, 20 minutes after the movie started. "Oh my God! We should've planned something else" was the response among most of us and that included me too. Quite naturally, the movie had a very poor response - a commercial flop and an award kid. I believe that everyone who has some idea about Tamil cinema would've guessed that the movie was 'Kannatthil Mutthamittal' starring Madhavan, Simran, Keerthana, Nandita Das, Prakashraj, Pasupathi and others.

Today, I saw the movie again in solitude... This time in a completely different mindset, fully prepared for a deep impact movie. At the end of the movie, Morgan Freeman's words from 'The Shawshank Redemption' echoed in my ears... "A young stupid kid who committed the terrible crime... I want to talk to him... Tell him the way things are!" I still couldn't believe I said this movie wasn't good enough! Nobody would've written a review for a movie released 6 years ago; but if I don't express what I feel now, I'm not sure if I'd be able to sleep peacefully tonight! More than anything else, the movie stressed one important point that is repeated in Management classes - "Pick the right man for the right job and your work would turn out excellently". Sujatha - Manirathnam - ARR - Vairamuthu - Ravi. K. Chandran... Needless to say that the movie will turn out good. The best of the best, I'd say, was Sujatha... Tamil cinema will miss you sir! "...aval vayittril ulagai sandhikka avasarappadum oru kuzhandhai" (she carries a kid that is in a hurry to see this world), "Kannatthai kanneer nanaikka, maarbai thaai paal nanaikka, pirandha udanae kuzhandhayai thurandhu, marandhu, pirindhu pao yenum kodumayai endha kaalakattatthilum gnyaayappaduttha mudiyaadhu" (With tear soaked cheeks and milk soaked breasts, the mother was forced to desert, forget and isolate her new born kid; and this atrocity cannot be justified under any circumstances), "eppaommaa sanda mudiyum (followed by a grave silence)" (when will the war end?") and all the grown ups there stand still unable to answer a kid's question; "ammaa vaammaa namma madras kku paoiralaam... Anga sanda illa... army illa... namma rendu paerum okkaandhu TV paakkalaam... cinema paakkalaam" (Come mother... Let's go to Chennai... There is no war and no army there. We can sit together and watch TV or a movie)... The paradox in the last dialog left me thinking about this genius... How many things has he covered in one shot... It was so typical of a 9 year old kid, it says how TN and Srilanka are worlds different in living standards when they are separated by less than 100 kms, it also says the ignorance and carelessness of a fellow human being towards the other. I was almost caught in tears partly because of the scene and mainly because of the brilliance of the writer. There are just so many dialogs crafted so artistically all through the movie and if I go on at this rate, I'd end up giving the transcript! :D The next place goes to the camera! The range of lenses, the way a shot is quickly converted from a tele to a wide angle, constant movements instead of conventional still frames, the bokeh in a lot of scenes... It was simply mind blowing. ARR deserves the special credit for Vellai pookkal song that soothes our hearts in every pressingly emotional scene, telling us the solution to all these problems. Mani... needless to say! I started watching the movie only as a critic and a learner; but the minor mistakes I found here and there were nothing when compared to the masterpiece he has delivered.

All in all, I feel sorry to have misjudged such a wonderful movie, the first time I saw it! Hats off to the team!!! At the same time, I understand the elements that need to be a part of the movie to make it watchable under all circumstances and moods. I'm not dumb enough to ask for Vadivelu comedy in this movie; but some wit throughout the movie would've helped and in fact that character could be used as a strong junction of myth and reality; as it was handled in 'Life is beautiful'. When the movie is too slow, too firm on its objective and too orthodox in its approach; only people who have the real time, patience and passion for such kind of movies enjoy it and the commoner misses the fun and the point. A lesson learned from someone's failure, often termed as history! :)