Movie - the visual medium that shouldn’t be bound by a language. If you
are able to get the whole context of the story without understanding
the language the actors speak, then the director has achieved something
extraordinary. And Manirathnam has exactly done that with Gitanjali!
I’m reviewing this movie almost after 18 years after it was released
because I saw the original version in Telugu just recently. I’ve seen
the Tamil version ’Idhyathai Thirudathe’ (’do not steal my heart’) when
I was a kid, but I only remember it vaguely.
It is a simple boy-meets-girl story, but the difference is that both
are counting their final days of their lives. Prakash (Nagarjuna)
knowing that he is about to die leaves to Ooty to spend the rest of his
life in seclusion. There he comes across a mischievous young girl
Gitanjali (Girija) who makes him realize that ’today is more important
than tomorrow’. Eventually they fall in love and have their own share
of misfortunes that separates them apart. Do they finally unite or not
forms the rest of the story.
Manirathnam has once again proved why he is the most celebrated
director in the country. Direction is flawless. The movie runs exactly
for 2 hours without deviating much from the main storyline. Scenes
where Prakash realizes that someone has entered his room only after the
mist grazes him are Mani’s trademark. The dialogues are short and crisp.
Ilayaraja also owns a great share of credit in the movie’s stupendous
success. Six beautiful songs(awesome picturization of each of those)
and stunning BGM. The BGM when Nag takes a walk in the forest realizing
the importance of the time he has left in the world and the BGM for the
title are just mind-blowing. I can surely say that Ilayaraja deserved a
national award for this movie.
And the visuals. I’ve never seen Ooty so beautifully even when I was
there! Full marks to P.C.Sreeram for the excellent work behind the
camera. All the cast members have performed well particularly Girija as
Gitanjali. She brings life into the character.
I would recommend you to watch the movie in Telugu even if you do not
understand the language (the dubbed version in Tamil has some comedy
track shot included which is very annoying).
It is a wonderful movie. Do not miss them on TV. You can own the DVD also - a original costs only Rs.45/-