'Maranthen Mannithean', is touted to be based on real life events which occurred in Andhra Pradesh during the 1986 floods. With a captivating idea as the backbone, debutante director, Kumar Nagendra, has assembled a cast, which is acceptable for both, Tamizh and Telugu audiences. With 'Isaignai' Ilaiyaraaja on board, what does this film hold for us ?
Aadhi, back after his 'Aravaan', looks good and fit for the role of a fisherman. He has worked out well on his physique and is at ease during stunt and dance sequences, but he has to have more clarity, in terms of emoting, as he goes too contemporary. Lakshmi Manchu, who has also produced the film, plays the role of the heroine. She tries her best to emote and act, but she looks too 'polished' and matured for the role of a young village belle, and her appearance doesn't help either, as she looks much more matured and older than her male pairs ! Chinmayee's dubbing for her, further accentuated the 'polished' element of hers. Sundeep was not bad in his role. Taapsee Pannu, plays an irrelevant and insignificant role in the film. Her character is highly sexual in behavior, who seems to always lust for the hero, just because he accidentally touched her, once ! Her slim and trim figure has been exploited by the camera, purely for titilation factor ! The rest of the cast such as Ravi Babu, Bala Singh, Ramesh, Jeeva, Annapurna, Suja Varunee and etc sufficed the need of the director's script.
The work of the technical department, leaves a lot to be desired, considering the scale of the script. Murali Kondetti's art direction plays a vital part in the film. The village and after-flood scenario of the village has to be created convincingly enough, in order to have the authentic look. Blame it on lack of funds, the art director had to resort to using miniatures to create the village, and to cover it up with VFX. Unfortunately, the result was very tacky, added with the below par VFX work by ECS and EVA Motion Studios. The usage of green screen and miniature was very much evident in the film. M.R Varmaa's editing was not bad, though better works could have been carried out, especially for the flood scenes. M.R Palani Kumaar's cinematography, is the only highlight of the film. He tries to cover-up the below-par patch works, in the art department and also canned some beautiful shots of the magnificent Godavari river. Ganesh's stunt choreography was well handled, especially the night fight sequence, shot on the riverbed.
'Isaignai' Ilaiyaraaja's music was sadly, bland and boring. "Kuthikudhamma" is the introductory song for Aadhi and has plenty of shots of the Godavari river. The song was picturization on Aadhi and his gang, dancing around lakes and riverbeds, interspersed with some montages. "Chikki Mukki" was shot on Aadhi and Taapsee, also shot on riverbeds and barren lands, coupled with some shots taken on simple and decently erected sets. "Raathiri Nerathu" is a rehash of 'Isaignani's' classic "Aasaiye Kaathule" from 'Johnny'. The song was shot in a very crass manner, focusing on the ample assets of Mumaith Khan, and also with shots of Aadhi and Taapsee, having an illicit tryst of one-night-stand. "Alaiyodu" is a montage song shot on Sundeep and Lakshmi, picturizing their growth from kids to young adults. The song was mostly shot in and around the village areas. "Engu Irukku" is a song, again shot on Sundeep and Lakshmi, who are on a mission of spotting and buying the 'perfect' rooster for cockfight. "En Ooru" is another crass song, this time shot on Suja Varunee, gyrating and prancing with the villagers and Sundeep, in a simple stage backdrop. Raja sir's background score is impressive in certain places, but sounds too contemporaneous.
Apart from the shoddy VFX, the biggest drawback of the film, was the horrendous dubbing. What was the intention of the director and producer ? To do a bilingual film or a straight Telugu film, which can be dubbed into Tamizh ? End of the day, it is indeed a straight Telugu film, which has been dubbed for the Tamizh market, sparing a few scenes. What's the need for a couple of original scenes, when all that you're going to do is to simply dub ? The directorial work was poor, with bad continuity issues, unimpressive story telling and unemotionally-charged sequences. Though the story is based on P.V.S Rama Rao's novel, the flood element, was only used as an initial attention-grabber, rather than being the main backdrop of the film. There's no cohesion in the screenplay, and the script is just plainly insipid, in terms of writing.
Tamizh cinema audiences are known to forgive and forget. 'Maranthen Mannithean' - No pun intended, Kumar Nagendra ?
Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
After a very long gap of 11 years, the master story teller and an auteur among the contemporary Tamizh cinema directors, Mani Ratnam has delivered a straight Tamizh film, with no whatsoever simultaneous, side-by-side Hindi production. 'Kadal' was one of the most eagerly expected projects in Tamizh cinema, due to brand 'Mani Ratnam' and also of the excellent cast and technical crew working behind the film, including Mani's personal favorites such as Sreekar Prasad, Rajiv Menon and A.R Rahman. So what's the impact of the 'Kadal's waves on us ?
Starting off with the lead pair of the film, debutantes Gautham Karthik and Thulasi Nair were very much natural and perfect. It is something truly unbelievable that Gautham's father, Karthik and Thulasi's mother, Radha made their debuts together in Bharathiraja's 'Alaigal Oivadhillai' 32 years back, and now their offspring are making their respective debuts under Mani Ratnam, and that too in a coastal based film ! Gautham was truly remarkable in his performance and it is hard to believe that this is his first film ! Apart from possessing good dancing and action-based skills, Gautham, scores big in the emotional quotient as well and has performed very maturely. This chap definitely has a big and promising career in Tamizh cinema. Thulasi was lively and chirpy and has good dialogue delivery sense. More coaching can do wonders for her career, as well. The other lead 'pair', the two veteran Arjun and Arvind Swamy were impeccable in their roles. For a change, Arjun dons a character of truly black shades and pulls it off with ease. Its pretty evident that he enjoyed doing the role, and 'Kadal' will definitely be an important film in his entire career. Way to go, 'Action King' ! And what a comeback from Arvind Swamy. His charming and sincere performance is the actual scene stealer. With a variety of emotions on display, Arvind Swamy proves why he is an all-time favorite of Mani. 'Kadal' surely belongs to these two, gentlemen ! Lakshmi Manchu plays a small role, and though it was a good performance, her presence was wasted. The film has a big star cast such as Ponvannan, Somasundaram, Singampuli and etc doing small roles, and all of them were natural and authentic for their roles.
When it comes to a Mani Ratnam film, technical aspects have always been top-notch and it follows with 'Kadal' as well. Eka Lakhani and Sai's costume designing was perfect and kudos to them for the well-done research on the background of the fisher folks from a particular dialect-speaking region. Everyone looked their part and credits must definitely go to Eka and Sai. Tapas Nayak's sound designing deserves appreciation, especially for the stunt scenes and sequences involving the sea side area. Action choreography by Kanal Kannan and Kecha Khamphakdee of the Jaika Stunt from Thailand, was well choreographed.The fish market fight sequence and the climax fight sequence on the storm-hit boat are the main highlights. Shashidhar Adapa, who works for Mani for the very first time, has done a brilliant job with the set work. The dilapidated church, the fish market and the boat set which appears in the climax, were too good to be true. Truly brilliant ! Sreekar Prasad's editing was flawless as usual, and as a veteran of Mani's camp, his work complements the narrative setting of Mani Ratnam. Rajiv always reserves his best for Mani and in 'Kadal' some of the shots were just too beautiful and magical. The dark blue- storm skies, the dry and barren sandy seaside, the beautiful beach, everything was simply superb. Rajiv's specialty is his slow, poetic and soft cinematography with no tinges of glariness and blazing color tones and he applies the same to 'Kadal' as well. Exquisite work, indeed !
A.R Rahman is back after a three-year gap in Tamizh cinema (the last of his Tamizh score was for 'Endhiran'). The songs are typical Rahman, where one needs to spend time listening to them over-and-over again for liking it. "Chithirai Nila" is a slow, melody number which was used sparingly in the film, in accordance to situations, usually for some particular scenes. "Adiyae" is a refreshing song from Rahman which blends folk and jazz in a Christian gospel-type song. But the picturization was little awkward as it suddenly springs out like a dream song and the choreography by Brindha, reminds us of the evergreen "Nenjinile" song from 'Uyire'. Some might find it as weirdly picturized song, but it was definitely a different attempt. "Moongil Thottam" is a soothing , romantic number, picturized on the lead pair. The beautiful images of the crystal-clear sea, dark forest, pristine beach and etc complements the camera movement. A song on the ranks of "Pachai Nirame" in terms of visual ! "Elay Keechan" was shot in a lively manner, with full dance and vigor. The coastal areas and the fish market set was captured well by Rajiv, and the rain portion in the end, brings more charm to the song. "Nenjukkule" was shot in montage style amidst dialogue sequences between the Gautham and Thulasi. "Anbin Vaasale" appears during the end credits, with cuts between the sequences of the lead pair getting back together and Arvind Swamy being featured in a lively church procession. "Magudi Magudi" appears during the opening credits, and also in the middle of the film, with plenty of montage sequences being used. The background score was good but there are no standout pieces, as one can listen in previous collaborations of Mani and Rahman.
Mani Ratnam has joined hands with writer Jeyamohan and adapted his novel into a screenplay. The story, a major part of the screenplay and dialogues, all belongs to Jeyamohan. Mani handles only the direction department and made some contributions in the screenplay writing as well. Usually, we get to see characters of grey shades, which presents us different dimensions, in a Mani film. But in 'Kadal' Mani has split the white and black from the grey and gave it each to the two important artistes, Arvind Swamy and Arjun, respectively. The main focus of the film is the battle between "good and evil", which is between Arvind and Arjun here, but it gets to be played in the form of the protagonist Gautham. As the film moves on, the focus swings from the personal battle between the duo and of Gautham's travails and love-life. As the focus shifts back-and-forth, the length of the film gets a tad too long and the pace gets even more slower, especially in the second half. Also, the actual crux of the film is the personal duel between Arjun and Arvind Swamy, and sadly this angle was not exploited to good use. A few questions were left unanswered/unexplored, which should have been rectified. The dialogues are steep in Christian vocabulary and one might find alienated if they are not accustomed to such terms or phrases and the dialect is an added challenge to us. There are lots of subtle but hidden themes/symbols sprinkled throughout the film, and only those who pays close attention, can identify them. Mani does not spoon-feed every single explanations on the "whats" and "whys" of the film, and only by good analytical skills, one can comprehend the true essence and meaning of some of the sequences and also to admire the directorial skills of Mani Ratnam.
'Kadal' might not be in the league of some of Mani's classic films but its still "A Mani Ratnam Film". One does not get to see regular mainstream cinema at its best, with high-quality, glossy outputs and fantastic execution of a script.
Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
