Mani Ratnam’s movies start buzzing from the time information starts trickling into the press, although devoid of a big launch. The trickle continues and peaks, only upto a certain extent though, just before the movie is out. This time around, it has been double the buzz with a Hindi twin shot and released alongside.
As has been repeated a zillion times in the press, the story is of three individuals whose lives really meet at a common point and go together from there on. A fiery student bent upon cleansing politics and working for the people, a young hitman who ends up working for a politician and a self-centered guy who likes to live life king-size -- the three represent a significant cross-section of today’s youth.
The same incident viewed four times in different angles is unmistakably reminiscent of the recent Virumandi (though this movie might have released around the same time if not for Vivek Oberoi’s accident). The first half is a bit heavy and slow, while the second half packs some fun and adrenalin to get you really on board. The time-lines are quite confusing, with three flashbacks and then a converging portion.
Some high voltage situations, particularly towards the end, ooze symbolism -- good fighting evil and youth taking the plunge reluctantly. Comedy is interlaced, with flavours like cynicism and love. Atleast a couple of times, scenes surprise you completely by taking a sudden turn from the beaten path. The final portions again remind you of Shankar’s Utopian ideas (ala Mudhalvan, Indian, etc.). Love scenes and the playful dialogues take you to the days of Idayathai Thirudaadhae and Agni Natchathiram. Songs are mostly slipped in as an afterthought, but that doesn’t affect the high quality of picturisation that one has come to expect.
Surya is supremely confident and outshines every one else. The interactions with the politician and the way his character inspires others stand out. Madhavan pleasantly surprises the audience with his portrayal of the uncouth and violent character, but is found wanting in the few emotional scenes. Also, he doesn’t speak the local dialect enough. Siddarth is just adequate as is Trisha, who probably has the meatiest of all female lead roles. Meera Jasmine comes good as the hug-you-some-curse-you-some wife. Esha Deol doesn’t do much in a role that’s just an embellishment; her clothes too seem out of place in Chennai. Bharathiraja suits his well-written role, but borders on overacting at times. Regular ’Mani’ faces adorn the support cast.
Ravi K Chandran deserves a paragraph here for his stunning work. Youngsters letting their hair down in the disco, a village meeting, a charged up fight sequence, young lovers having a good time in the beach, the all-important ’convergence’ scene -- you name it and he provides you with visuals and angles that you probably haven’t seen on screen before. Without using any jarring filters, he provides a different look to each of the three stories.
Teaming up with with Sreekar Prasad on the editing table, the fast pace (reflective of youth again) that the director needs is worked up. Art direction is subtle and complete. Audiography is found wanting at places though, failing to match sync sound with ’Ratnamesque’ dialogues. Action sequences are impressively done.
Rahman turns up with songs that are average by his standards. Most of the tunes seem to target the Hindi market and aren’t very receptive to Tamil https://lyrics. Yet again, he experiments with the background score irritatingly.
Many Tamil directors today focus on mindless themes saying that they make movies for youth, since they are the ones who come to theatres to watch movies. But Mani Ratnam does it in his own brilliant style, giving the young viewers a thing or two to think seriously about, with some fun too thrown in.
The review ends here, but I couldn’t help putting in some musings on Yuva (that I plan to watch soon):
o Ajay Devgan surely would suit the character he plays, but will he match the age?
o Abhishek Bachchan has a challenging role for sure.
o Ravi K Chandran has said that he enjoyed filming the Hindi version more. I can’t imagine what more could be in store!
o The theme would certainly be way too different from the candy floss and meaningless fare dished out in Bollywood.
Bottom-line: Mani Ratnam keeps you amazed, coming up with more stuff from his ’’magic hat’’.
Category: Drama / Action / Romance
Starring: Surya, Madhavan, Siddarth, Trisha, Meera Jasmine, Esha Deol, Bharathiraja
Music: AR Rahman
Direction: Mani Ratnam