'Manjapai' gained some prominence with the audience due to the involvement of two directors, behind the production of this film. N.Lingusamy with his brother N.Subash Chandra Bose of Thirrupathi Brothers has jointly produced this flick with A.Sargunam of 'Kalavaani' fame. Directed by debutante N.Ragavan, a former assistant of A.Sargunam, it promises to throw light on the plight of grandparents, especially those who are from the rural background. Can 'Manjapai' struck a chord with the audiences ?
Vemal, who is so accustomed to doing such simple roles, sleepwalks into the film. He has done it for the umpteenth time. He is adequate in such roles, but how he survives by doing such films alone, is something inexplicable. Lakshmi Menon plays the quintessential Tamizh heroine of such small budget films. She has less impact and of no relevance to the script, apart from being present in the songs and the build-up scenes to the songs. The axis of the script is Rajkiran and the veteran simply breezes through the film. The makers have tried to bring out the sort of performance he gave in Cheran's 'Thavamai Thavamirundhu' but too much of artificiality kills of those intentions, for sure. Rajkiran understood the nuances of his character's aspects and brought out the right emotions, especially for the climax portions. The rest of the cast such as Devipriya, Ashwin Raja and etc has very little screen timing and even little importance to the story.
Natraj handle's the costume department, and he has done a simple and neat job. Lakshmi Menon looks pleasant, especially in the sarees. Action choreography has been done by Dhilip Subbarayan and his work sufficed the need of the director. Nothing extraordinary nor over-the-top. The mini fight sequences involving Rajkiran, was well choreographed and matched Rajkiran's personality. A.R Mohan's art direction was simple, and the most notable work was the protagonist's posh apartment interiors, as well as the office set-up. Editing work has been credited to a debutante, Deva. There are not gimmicks from the editing table, and its just plain simple. The film's duration has been kept to less than 2 hours, which is a welcome relief. Cinematography has been handled by Masani, and apart from the wide angles for the initial rural portions and for the songs, there's nothing to speak about. Pedestrian output !
N.R Raghunanthan's musical score is average and some songs might be of liking to some folks. "Aagasa Nilavuthaan" is the opening introductory song and had plenty of montages highlighting the grandpa-grandson relationship. The song had plenty of rural locations, such as the fields, lakes and etc. "Sattena" is a dream song sequence, which had Vemal doing the routine dance, but alongside dancers of old age. "Ayyo Ayyo" is a montage song and highlights the comedic antics of Rajkiran, who tries to acclimatize with Chennai and the metropolitan lifestyle. "Paathu Paathu" is the typical folk dance number, and is shot on the lead pair with the extra dancers doing the choreographed moves, on a lake-based location. "Anbuthaan" is a situational bit song, shot on all the main characters of the film. The background score by N.R Raghunanthan, is a tad too heavy and melodramatic for contemporary films and sounds forced.
Debutante N.Ragavan has tried to come up with a K.Bhagyaraj-type family sentiment film, which has lots of mushy and emotionally wrought dialogues. The film is too formulaic and there's nothing organic about the proceedings of the screenplay. The sentimental values and the supposedly feel-good factor is forced upon the viewers. Some sequences are just too hard to digest and do make us to wonder, if at all N.Ragavan is targeting the cinema-going folks of the 70's & 80's era ! Well, the intention and message is of noble value, but the script is just woeful, where N.Ragavan tries to evoke sympathies from us by inserting needless dramatic moments, which does not add any value to the overall script. Old folks of the rural side might be out of touch with the globalized world we are accustomed to, but to condescend to the extent of what N.Ragavan did, is indigestible ! The problem highlighted in the film, is something which we can relate to, but it must be told in an convincing manner.
'Manjapai' - The film opened and ended with the absolutely perfect, "Duh Moments" !
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
After the super hit 'Mynaa' Prabhu Solomon and team are back once again with a new premise-based film. 'Kumki' was promising in many ways, thanks to the promotions of Thirrupathi Brothers and the distributors Studio Green, the stunning musical score of D.Imman and an intriguing cast, that too a newcomer from the legendary Ganesan family. Vikram Prabhu, the son of actor Prabhu, makes his debut through this film. Much expectations and anticipation was there for this film. Ironically, an elephant plays a major role in this 'wild love story'.
Starting of with the debutante, Vikram Prabhu has done a splendid job with the very tough task of performing a mahout's role. It takes time before he really grows into the minds of viewers, but he confidently performs the myriad of emotions and actions needed,with ease, since its a heavy-duty role, emotionally and physically. He looks very apt for the role of 'Bomman', with a tall and lanky physique. His dialogue delivery too was spot on, and he definitely has a very bright future in Tamizh cinema. With more tutelage under talented directors such as Prabhu Solomon, he is bound to carry on the lineage of Sivaji Ganesan, proudly. Way to go ! Lakshmi Menon, who was supposed to take a bow with this film, comes out neat as a tribal girl. Her expressions are spot on but she has very less dialogues to utter (well dubbed by Meenalokshini) and her interactions with the protagonist was limited as well. Thambi Ramaiah, however takes the whole spotlight among entire cast, with his funny antics and dialogue delivery. His one-liners and body language are a scream, indeed ! Watch out for his 'mind-voice' sequences ! Ably aiding him in some scenes are Ashvin Raja. The rest of the cast such as'Junior' Balaiah, Nelson, Jamalloori, Anbu, Dharan and etc were very apt in their roles, including the cute elephant, Manickam.
P.R Ganesh handles the costume designing very well. The differentiation between each class and ethnicity was well shown in the costumes, especially among the tribal group. The VFX of the film, done by White Lotus, plays a very crucial role but the work was quite average, and it needs to be enhanced in a more realistic manner, since the movie is well shot. S.Durairaj's sound designing was spot on, with good sounds to give us the tribal and forest milieu feel. 'Anal' Arasu's action choreography was well done, which involves extremely hard work with the elephant. Vairabalan's art work was simple but very realistic. The entire village of the tribal folks were very realistically built, including the huts and houses. A thorough research must have taken place, during the filming and Vairabalan deserves praises for it. L.V Thasson's editing was neat, and his work for the VFX sequences are the highlights, and not to forget the songs as well. However, M.Sukumar takes the cake among the appreciation for the technician lot, because his cinematography was absolutely stunning ! The majestic Jog Falls, the extremely lush, green forests, the rain-soaked atmosphere, the close-ups and top-angles of the elephant, the beautiful sunflower fields, this film is definitely one of M.Sukumar's best works. He successfully transports us into the world and life of the characters very easily, and it almost feels like a dream. Hats off to M.Sukumar.
As mentioned earlier, D.Imman's musical score is stunning ! This can arguably be one of his best albums in his entire career. The songs are melodious and the instrumentation, especially the percussion and wind instruments, are put to very good use. "Yella Oorum", a short number is the opening introductory song, chronicling the life of the mahouts and the elephant and their journey making a living through the elephant. The are plenty of close-ups of the elephant, here. "Onnum Puriyile" portrays the protagonist falling in love at first sight with the heroine. The forests, the water and dew-drops were all caught in camera beautifully by M.Sukumar. Among the pick of the lots, "Aiyaiyo Aanandhame" brings out the fiery passion in the protagonist and the bonding session of the heroine and the elephant. The shots taken during dawn, are mystical yet beautiful. The song was mostly shot in landscape-type frames. "Nenju Vedikudhu" which did not feature in the album, is a situational bit-song. "Nee Yeppo" is a brilliant pathos song, showing many close-ups and montages of the hero, who is in the agony of pain, caused by love. "Sollittaale", another pick of the lot, was picturized in the stunning Jog Falls and the sunflower fields of Orissa. The top-angles used in the song, were breathtaking. This song features the actual chemistry of the lead pair, which was missing until then, in the film. "Soi Soi" also used lots of top-angles, and covers the harvest period, celebrated by the tribal people. It has good dance choreography by Noble and the instrumentation by D.Imman was brilliant. The background score too, was superbly handled, which were soothing and melodious, mostly. Take a bow, D.Imman ! You deserve all the appreciation.
Prabhu Solomon must be applauded for the selection of a fresh and unique premise of mahouts, elephants, tribal folks and forest life. The life and times of these people were well captured and portrayed in the film. The characters were well etched, the setting was well planned, and the research was well done. But the film lacks a commanding and arresting story line, nor any emotional quotient. What's present, are just mandatory sequences. Remember, Prabhu Solomon advertised it as a 'wild love story', and in order to have a good love story, the love between the lead pair must be well handled. But here, the love was lacking in depth and emotions, and by the time the love actually happens, the movie neared its climax soon and finishes off, in an contrivedly, predictable manner. The story takes its own sweet time to unravel, but is compensated with the funny antics of the characters, the fresh premise laid in the plot and for the songs, picturized beautifully. The elephant was put to good use, which is commendable and the team must be praised for their strenuous hard-work. The end dialogues of the protagonist were very touching and and wonderfully, written by Prabhu Solomon.
'Kumki' is not in the same league as 'Mynaa' emotion quotient wise, but the extreme hard work put in by Prabhu Solomon's team, in giving a quality and neat film, is laudable. Could have been better, but it will be too harsh to criticize the film, overtly.
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
