Spoilers ahead…
After a long time, I caught myself smiling while watching a Mani Ratnam movie. The cuteness, the zingers, the youngness – it’s all back. Seen one way, O Kadhal Kanmani is something of a greatest-hits package. It’s as if the director is telling us: “So you didn’t like it when I went too far away from what you guys want me to do. So here’s the stuff you seem to like.” This much was evident from the trailers, which, with those trains and with that lead-pair vibe, explicitly invoked Alaipaayuthey. OKK, too, is the story of an impetuous younger couple (Dulquer Salmaan’s Aadhi, Nitya Menen’s Tara) who end up living under the calming shadow of an older one. But the story is more reminiscent of the Siddharth-Trisha segment in Aaydha Ezhuthu. And it’s not just because of the faint echoes of scenes from that movie, with Aadhi hitching a ride from a motorist in order to go after Tara, or Aadhi and Tara humming playfully to one of AR Rahman’s songs. It is, after all, a greatest-hits package.
To take that railway analogy further, Aadhi and Tara are on different tracks, the way the Siddharth and Trisha characters were. Tara wants to study architecture in France. (That wail you hear is the C-centre distributor going, “There goes my audience.”) Aadhi, meanwhile, is a video-game developer who wants to make it rich like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. (By now, that distributor has fainted.) For all its mainstream trappings, this film doesn’t pander – the way some films incorporate elements to please every section of the audience. It’s very focused about who it is targeting, and at least one segment of that “who” is discernible from Aadhi’s surname – Varadarajan – and the Thyagaraja and Annamacharya compositions that pop up on the soundtrack.
This focus is one of the film’s great strengths. Barring a handful of scenes, everything is organic, everything fits. That Daliesque clock in Tara’s room – that’s just what an architect who dreams of studying in France would have. The visuals, with every frame looking like a gift-wrapped Christmas present – that’s just what this audience likes to see. (After a couple of flashy outings, PC Sreeram does outstanding work, locating a very rooted kind of beauty in Mumbai’s exteriors and interiors.) The dialogues, stripped clean of words like figure, kattai, sarakku and anything that’s generally considered “low-class” – that’s just what this audience likes to hear. OKK is an unapologetically upper-class movie. We don’t want all films to be like this one. But given the mortal fear our directors have of openly courting this upper-class audience, it’s nice to have one of these films, once in a while.
The ostensible issue driving this film is an upper-class one too. Aadhi and Tara decide to move in together and spend a few happy months with each other before going their respective ways. (That distributor, by now, is on life support.) And though the screenplay plants a number of hurdles in their way – first, the landlord has to agree; then Aadhi’s brother makes an unannounced visit; then there’s her super-rich mother – Aadhi and Tara clear them with ease. The point I’m making is that there’s no melodrama. Each of these hurdles could have led to a screeching-violins high point – but, again, things are kept super-classy. Even the comic relief is classy. It comes from Bhavani Aunty (Leela Samson, who’s stupendous), who keeps making the oddest of asides until we discover why. But she’s never treated with anything but respect and dignity. We laugh with her, but never at her. That’s class.
But after a point, all this classiness becomes stifling. It’s one thing to have no melodrama. But OKK just doesn’t have drama. There’s barely any conflict and gradually the characters come to resemble soap bubbles, very pretty to look at and iridescently alive, but literally weightless. Maybe this is the whole point. Maybe after a couple of heavy dramas, Mani Ratnam just wanted to do something ultra-light, without much depth. But we still need something to hold on to, some reason to invest in the fate of these characters, and that reason never arrives. Everything happens so blithely, so easily, you may begin to wish for an axe murderer (or at least members of the VHP) to wander into the couple’s bedroom. Even the live-in angle is incidental. You could watch it with your grandmother. The film would have played this exact way even if Aadhi and Tara had simply been two commitment-phobes who happened to fall in love.
The most baffling aspect of OKK is that these conflict points do exist. There’s a lovely moment where Tara begins to realize she’s falling for Aadhi. She talks to Ganapathy Uncle, their landlord – that’s played by Prakash Raj; he usually likes to act with a capital-A, but his understatement here is hugely affecting. One thing this film cannot be faulted for is the quality of its performances. Just watch Nithya Menen in this scene, the way she imbues the line “Perisa edho parikudutha maadhiri irukku” with a casually existential sigh. But the scene ends almost as soon as it begins. This isn’t a plea for long-drawn wallows in emotion. But by refusing to even dip a toe into the pool, the film leaves us dry-eyed. Another scene that I thought was going somewhere was the one where Aadhi’s sister-in-law confronts Tara and asks her to marry Aadhi or pack her bags. Tara looks unflinchingly back – and why shouldn’t she? She isn’t ashamed or any such thing – and says something wonderful, that this same ultimatum could be delivered to Aadhi. I wanted more, but we cut away to another cute scene, another light moment. It’s a good thing Ganapathy Uncle and Bhavani Aunty are around – they provide much-needed ballast. I was more interested in their story.
But of course, this film is made for a much younger audience and at least in the theatre I saw it, they weren’t complaining. One reason is surely that the romantic scenes – Aadhi and Tara meeting cute across the aisle during a church wedding, or his panic one morning when she refuses to wake up – are so delightful. While reviewing Aaydha Ezhuthu, I wrote “the pushing-fifty Mani Ratnam proves once again that there aren’t many better portrayers of young love – or of youth itself.” More than a decade later, this still stands. And it helps that he has this cast. Dulquer Salmaan checks off all boxes in the Can You Be The Next Madhavan? questionnaire, but it’s his co-star, really, who makes the movie. Despite my issues with it, I couldn’t stop watching – she’s so good. She even sings like the song (Malargal kaetten) is coming out of her, with joy and with just the slightest musician-like affectations. We’re all going to have our favourite scenes with her, but let me leave you with the moment where she’s recording the interiors of a historical structure on her iPad and stops when Aadhi comes into the frame. She has this vague smile. It says everything. If Mani Ratnam keeps employing actors like her, he may not need to write those zingers anymore.
KEY:
- Perisa edho parikudutha maadhiri irukku= I feel like I’ve lost something big
An edited version of this piece can be found here. Copyright ©2015 The Hindu. This article may not be reproduced in its entirety without permission. A link to this URL, instead, would be appreciated.
Lost
April 17, 2015
“An edited version of this piece can be found here”
Your link at the bottom of the review is wrong. It points to a review by someone called “UDHAV NAIG”.
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NS
April 17, 2015
oh please! Give me a break! I normally find your reviews very good…but not this one. This film is a huge yawn. The dialogue is so stilted, as usual. What’s so new about this romance? More like a bromance! There’s no ‘getting to know each other’…I’m kind of sick of these super cool office spaces and Neemrana like lodges that only exist in Mani Ratnam’s fabulous set pieces. Is there a story at all? At no point could I and my friends relate to the protagonists. The actor who stood out and I wished there was more of is the older brother.
What a lovely world where people walk in and out of work at will; where you go to an architect mentor to get a very ‘architect for dummies’ lecture. The animated game was also so BO-ring! It had nothing to do with the plot. And what’s so new about living in?
So many ‘duh’ moments! The mother can call the police commissioner but not her own daughter! Doesn’t she have her number. So many plot points that just dissolve into stupid songs – did the guy go to jail or not, what was that all about with the previous boyfriend or whoever and the girl trying to kill herself. Mani Ratnam specializes in infantile women who do stupid things; act extra cute! Ugh!
But I am glad he brought a much ignored family member back. The ‘periappa’ who brings urgai and/or molagapodi for his niece and stands like a set piece along with periamma while amma slams the door on them to have it out with her daughter.
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Just Another Film Buff
April 17, 2015
If I am not bad at counting vague smiles, there comes one more when she is walking in the rain up the stairs, stops and looks back. The first one, of course, is the high moment.
I think there is something worth debating about the film not pandering to anyone.
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Raj Balakrishnan
April 17, 2015
Great that Mani Ratnam is back. I wish he had made this movie in Hindi with Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt or one of the other youngsters. These urban love stories look better in Hindi and he would have a larger audience to cater to.
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Iswarya
April 17, 2015
This review had me smiling in a nostalgic way after a long time. 🙂
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Iswarya
April 17, 2015
Oh.. I meant right under the trailer!
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Just Another Film Buff
April 17, 2015
BTW, Wiki tells me Karthik from Alaipayuthey is also a Varadarajan.
The Varadarajans are sure a romantic lot.
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Aravindan
April 17, 2015
SPOILERS
ah, feels good to read the review. (nodding vehemently on “But OKK just doesn’t have drama”). leads desiring the freedom of living-together but still presented like any other rom-com leads didn’t go anywhere. Menen and Samson kept me watching but yet was pretty disappointed.
I thought, umm, the screenplay was poor. The first subtle hint at the disease, and my curiosity about the third act is gone. ஜன்னல் வழியா போயிடுச்சு. How does one manage to continue keep watching and worse enjoy few moments knowing very well it might not end well? Quite meta, ha! (And funny how much Haneke’s film has had an impact on me, it took me sometime to get back to this film and was still watching out for Prakash Raj and Pillow). There were no surprises at all except that it was pleasing to watch the movie.
The only thing I could chew – how many scenes between the leads were staged when they were walking – along together, looking for one another, following. And the first time Bhavani walks away and is found at the temple by the leads (of course Menen had to ask explicitly வீட்டுக்கு வழி தெரியலையா? நம்ம வீட்டுக்கா? or something to that effect), I thought, oh cool, it’s not for the third act after all. But then yeah bleaah.
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Aravindan
April 17, 2015
SPOILERS
Yes, yes, I think the best scene in the film for me.
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bart
April 17, 2015
Saw AlaiPayuthey 2.0 FDFS 🙂 Only Mani could remake AP the way he has. Thank God for not letting anyone else do this version update.
A very smooth narration with pleasantness spread all over. It is like a person with good etiquettes has made a movie on borderline morality questions. This topic is not new (Cocktail in Hindi) but the way the movie has been rooted makes this an instant classic. The monotonous nature of the storyline does drag you sometimes and the parallel comparison with AP being unavoidable (Aravidsamy-Kushboo replaced by a better version: Prakashraj-Leela couple), still the movie manages to strike a chord. Usual Maniratnamish curios like Trains, Buses, Rains, dancing blankets, curtains, rain etc. fill the screen.
Disagree with BR on one thing though, Dulquer takes the movie on his bubbly, competent shoulders and Nithya ably gives support (but she does not match Dulquer’s pull though). PC and ARR are rock steady pillars. (Couldn’t stop thinking that this is also an able extension of “Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal”, Rahman-Sithara episode in Goa. Did anyone else feel it too?). Two thumbs up and am gonna visit a second time too…
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Ashwath
April 17, 2015
1-0 to the West Mambalam boy! Thank God, Mani Ratnam did not complicate the film with any extraneous problems and left it to the leads’ mindset to be their own obstacle. The biggest strength of the movie is that MR decided to not take a stance about live-in relationships. Yes, that’s the base/ core plot (if one may call it) of the film but he decided to be like the rest of us who just observe two characters grow after making a decision. We see a flow of events musically narrated through PC Sreeram’s lens. That’s pretty much it.
I loved the sequence in which MR made one couple discover themselves while helping search another. It’s a proper ode to old school romance (how many times we’ve seen wives say “naa illama ponaa dhaan en arumai unakku theriyum!” to their other half etc.) The metamorphosis from being a facetious, yet genuinely romantic individuals to a matured couple who become emotionally available because of unsaid love was splendid to watch. There were many little gems in the film (like the scenario in which the ‘game over’ message appears on the screen and few seconds later, we see his niece exclaim “innum oru life irukku.”)
I badly wanted a cameo by the Alaipayuthey couple (instead of the guest appearance of one actress the audience hardy recognized) just to add some delicious flavor to this blithe and comforting dessert of a movie.
No word on the quirky, unorthodox opening/ end credits and the manner in which ARR’s score seamlessly fit into the narration?
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Pady Srini
April 17, 2015
But OKK just doesn’t have drama. There’s barely any conflict and gradually the characters come to resemble soap bubbles, very pretty to look at and iridescently alive, but literally weightless.
That sums it up well.
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brangan
April 17, 2015
Iswarya: Corrections done. Thanks, as always, to you and that mighty red pencil you wield 🙂
Aravindan: There were no surprises at all except that it was pleasing to watch the movie.
I think this is what’s making youngsters respond so well to the film. I think we may be the odd people out, thinking like this. Most people seem to LIKE the lack of drama. Someone even called me “old” for pointing this out as a problem 🙂
JAFB: Since you’re being so modest and all, am taking the liberty of posting a link to your review:
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thegoatboi
April 17, 2015
Varadarajan is not tambram enough. Says Anni instead of Manni. 😛
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Santhosh
April 17, 2015
“Maniratnam’s Neengal Kaettavai” would have been a more appropriate title for the movie 🙂 But there is nothing wrong in it. He is back to doing what he does best and Nithya Menon was just outstanding. It’s a pity that we get to see very little of her in Tamil movies
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Ramakrishnan
April 17, 2015
Nitya’s Tamizh was not too good… and that too when claiming to be a Coimbatorean whose family owns thennanthopu 😛 We know where THEY come from 🙂
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Naren
April 17, 2015
Excerpts from my FB note. I don’t know if it is too much of an observation – but I like the way I liked 😀
முதல்முறையாக ஆதியும் தாராவும் ஒரு அறையில் கழிக்க நேரும் ஒரு இரவின் பாடலில் “பறந்து செல்லவா..” என தாராவின் தொலைதூர கனவுகள் இவர்களின் இடையில் ஒரு பாதுகாப்பான தடையை உருவாக்கினாலும் அடுத்த சந்தர்ப்பத்தில் “நானே வருகிறேன்..” என இடைவெளிகளை கடந்து ஒன்று கூடுகிறார்கள். ஒன்றாக மிச்ச காலத்தை கழிக்க நினைத்து குடிபுக அனுமதி கேட்கும் காட்சியை தொடரும் பாடல் – “மலர்களை கேட்டேன் வனமே தந்தனை..தண்ணீர் கேட்டேன் அமிர்தம் தந்தனை..” பாடல்களின் வரிசையும் வரிகளும் கதையின் ஓட்டத்தை நியாயப்படுத்தும் இந்த அழகு கடைசியாக எந்தப் படத்திலும் வந்ததாக நினைவில்லை.
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Afridi
April 18, 2015
BR, enna saar, intha mokkaikku ivvaluvu mouseaa? What’s so great about a film being “unapologetically upper-class” if all it offers is a nauseatingly predictable plot and painfully stereotyped character developments? This film makes one of it’s premise as being one of a live-in relationship but I hardly saw anything that deals with that. Sure, we had the initially fuddy-duddy landlord, brother and sister-in-law who apparently couldn’t understand/accept this, but they were dealt with promptly through gratuitous pandering to our sentiments – oh my, look how happy she makes my Alzheimer’s patient wife; actually I’m now okay with a live-in relationship under my roof, even though I (pretend) struggled to understand it (possibly just to make you uncomfortable enough to stop requesting me) less than a minute ago. All I saw were painful clichés from a filmmaker who thought this is what I think the upper-class now wants to see. Except if you’re going to talk about live-in relationships, can’t you portray it in a way that’s not 20 years too late (utterly superficial) and that really gets into the nuances of what a live-in relationship could be like in India?
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PPO
April 18, 2015
Please someone here discuss about ‘Mani Ratnam for the upper middle class/ruling class’
We do see a lot that side in his movies, there is nothing wrong with it and in fact I love it.
Note: I am not talking about his audience but his portrayal of the society which we do not see in any other movies in that era(is that because of the setting?)
(eg I always refer to Mounragam when I think about urban 80s and I felt it was real, likewise with Anjali and Alaipayuthey)
(rural is another different topic please don’t lecture about realistic rural stuff back in the day because the makeup used in Muthal Mariyathai I still cringe and whinge about because I cannot accept it at all whatsoever and I dislike it when someone praises that movie so much.
Movie story line shouldn’t be compromised for star value and it totally ruins the movie)
The dialogues I do not necessarily relate to but now thinking back I think Mounaragam and Alaipauthey dialogues had the sensitivity of that time and that is why it feels real? or am I the only one who thinks like this?
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Dhdjd
April 18, 2015
It’s very focused about who it is targeting, and at least one segment of that “who” is discernible from Aadhi’s surname – Varadarajan – and the Thyagaraja and Annamacharya compositions that pop up on the soundtrack.
Dude, your thinly veiled happiness at this class distinction is really not very classy. And I don’t know if the director really intended this or if you attributed meaning which he may not have even really considered. Mani’s films do have a slight tambram feel but it’s not in your face. Shalini in alaipayyuthey sings Carnatic music but also thanks her neighbor for her meen kuzhambu, saying “we enjoyed it a lot” and the “we” includes Karthik varadharajan
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Sutheesh Kumar
April 18, 2015
That opening refrain in Kara Attakkara reminded of Enya’s Orinoco flow just a bit.
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Akhilan
April 18, 2015
So glad you praised Nithya Menen’s performance BR. She has an ethereal quality about her and her face really lights up the screen. One of the very few actresses who can dub in Tamil, while the likes of Trisha and Nayanthara (who know Tamil) still refrain from doing so. Heck, even Jyothika in 36 Vayadhinile hasn’t dubbed in her own voice after all of these years in the industry. I wonder why…??
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vvenkatraman
April 18, 2015
Agree it’s an upper class movie and target audience is also largely that& working professionals. Given the Protagonists background, it could have been an English movie. In fact the only incongruous note is that they speak so much “Tamil”- have you heard a PSBB product in Tamil so much? Lack of melodrama or overt drama is perhaps also apt because this class abhors that kind of emotional stuff and would not associate with that.
Doe Mani Ratnam have a tag in the industry? And Ravanan/Kadal is outside that? People get slotted over the years, I guess.
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Ravi
April 18, 2015
Enjoyed the review a lot! Still to watch the film (cant for the next 5 days) but yet, this review is pretty deep. A slight worry to me is that “lack of drama”. Alaipayuthey was characterized by some really good drama which took the film to the heights it achieved. However, I am super confident that Nithya Menon has owned it. Dulquer is another Madhavan – pleasing, attractive to watch. The music has grown tremendously. Its yet another addition to the Rahman-Mani legend. “Naane Varugiren” is for the commercial lovers, “Malargal Kaetten” is for the classic lovers.
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susruthanvesh
April 18, 2015
Reblogged this on .Writeffective..
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brangan
April 18, 2015
Man, humour is such a tough nut to crack. Just wanted to put down two responses I got:
(1) For the running gag about the C-centre distributor, I got this on FB:
“its sad to see you worry about the distributor in the O kadhal kanmani review sir”
(2) For that VHP line, got this on my twitter timeline:
“Why not ISIS or Taliban Muslims or Nazi Christians you scum @baradwajrangan?
Just why does @TheHindu employ only anti-Hindu assholes like @baradwajrangan?”
Seriously!
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brangan
April 18, 2015
Dhdjd: Why is this a problem? I think there should be films that tell stories about all classes, all castes, all religions. And when a film does this well, without cliches and stereotyping, it’s a good thing. It showcases our diversity.
No one had a problem when I wrote good things about “Thilagar”, which showcased the Thevar community. So why is it a problem only here?
PS: Also, pointing something out is not the same as celebrating it.
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brangan
April 18, 2015
And got this via email:
Mr.Rangan,
I am compelled to write this to you and the Editor of Hindu for your review of “OK Kanmani”. I couldnt go past the second paragraph of your review – where your casteist goggles (“It’s very focused about who it is targeting, and at least one segment of that “who” is discernible from Aadhi’s surname — Varadarajan — and the Thyagaraja and Annamacharya compositions that pop up on the soundtrack”) seems to resurface once again.
Oh no.you need some kind of affirmation/identification in every movie and forum to make you feel superior or victimized, depending on who, what, when and how the last names are pronounced.
Cant you just write a damn review without resorting to casteism? For once? Pls I do appreciate good reviews – but this is such a shame that you have to show your colors and make a spectacle. Do you recognize that there are many castes in Tamil nadu who have the same last name “Varadarajan” without being Brahminical, and even with Thyagaraja/Annamacharya added to the background – doesnt justify representing a certain caste?
I give it to you that you came to the conclusion that the movie maker being from a particular caste, and the hero being a little fair skinned – add your intelligent discovery of “Annamacharya”/Thyagraja background music and finally the “Varadarajan” – all points to the ultimate conclusion.
WHy – why do you have to do this? I am ok with you being so proud of the notion that the protagonist is of your caste – as long as its all internal to you and your friends of the same caste in a private setting – but when it is written for public consumption, with a wide variety of readers reading an acclaimed newspaper – paying subscribers that too – you have to stop blowing your Dog whistle. For your own caste sake – stop doing this. (I figured that someone with your last name, working at HIndu and seeing the caste notions in every setting like the way you do – I am sort of becoming like you – to judge you by your Caste).
I do not believe for a second that Maniratnam made this targeted for a specific caste audience – especially when his team comprises of ARR, Vairamuthu, Sreekar Prasad and the Protagonist himself whose real surname is “Salman”.
Now that I am tired of your Caste goggles – and when you realize that you have made a mistake, and step down from that high horse – will you do us a favor and work on your “Class” conscience? May be the front bencher for once in a while may want to enjoy some nice movie – without thinking that it was meant for the upper class.
Just so you know – a movie is made with sweat of 100’s and thousands of people – who’s life line depends on success of the movie they are part of. By categorizing a movie as “upper class” and “Brahminical” – you just made sure that the folks who do not belong to either of those category – skip it. The loss is not yours Mr.Rangan – an arm chair critic – but the people who invested, supported, created and made that into a movie theater.
Note to the Editor:
Dear Sir,
A revered paper like Hindu should not go down to this level. For most Hindu readers – it is a well known fact that The HIndu was founded, owned and operated by Mssrs. Kasturi Rangan and his family. And the caste identification is well known – but that doesnt get reflected / highlighted in all your editorials and articles. If The Hindu did that – you’d be certain that its legitimacy, reach, prestige would be up for question and be limited to that ever shrinking “Upper Class” segment and “Brahminical” caste group – especially in a ever evolving media business – whose life line depends on subscribers, and in turn the advertisement money. For a brief minute – I’d suggest someone from your team looks at other newspapers on how the review was done. The Dog whistle is beyond its intended audience – its too obscene.
This is the 2nd review that Mr.Rangan has explicitly or implicitly made a percieved Brahminical reference. Even if there was – it is not a reviewers job to highlight his own prejudices, especially when the movie doesnt deal with Caste in any way, shape or form.
Please do not sully your 120 yrs of heritage and name by having people like Mr.Rangan have his views imposed on the rest of the population.
Respectfully request you to redact the portion of the review that displays Mr.Rangan’s prejudices.
Please note that – I will personally ensure that my displeasure at this review is made all the way to the onlinesphere, the movie creators.
Its disgusting, pathetic and totally unneccessary.
Regards,
Siva
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sanjana
April 18, 2015
I expected that VHP line must have angered many. And Taliban would have made them happy.
Upper middleclass romcoms without Imran Khan and Alia Bhatt? It rained so many romcoms in bollywood during the past few years.
Your review was balanced as usual. There are reports that the film is well received and I am happy for Mani Sir.
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sanjana
April 18, 2015
You are accused of anti hindu sentiment on one hand and also accused of being casteist on the otherhand?
How contradictory!
A reviewer’s life is not easy.
Next what? Ban?
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Just Another Film Buff
April 18, 2015
Wow, just wow.
Between the reactions to this review and those to that of MADRAS, you are left very little ground to stand on.
Really fascinating to compare the responses to both.
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bart
April 18, 2015
I thought the drama scenes were many but deliberately underplayed or treated casually. A couple of scenes pointed by BR, the two days Aadhi goes missing, the backstory about Tara’s father, Tara’s mother meeting Aadhi’s family, Tara’s moving into Ganapathi’s household, the scene where Bhavani is questioning Ganapathi on Alzheimer’s etc. I thought the idea was that the current gen do not treat anything seriously outward but get affected inward. It comes out in a couple of scenes when Aadhi is listening to Tara about her confrontation with his Anni – as casual as it can be and when Bhavani is questioning Ganapathi, Aadhi can’t take it and goes back into his room. The entire movie doesn’t outwardly show emotional breakdowns or strong sentiments, with a purpose. Yes, we are not used to this light weight soap bubble handling but I felt that made the movie different and a good version upgrade from Alaipayuthey.
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Raja Satish
April 18, 2015
Over the years, I have developed a fine taste for a medium called cinema. Had it been a movie made by one of the fresh breed of directors, I would have appreciated the content and effort. Being a fan boy of Maniratnam and growing with his movies, l had a truckload of expectations before I walked into the cinema. Making it visually appealing or lacing it with refreshing music is not the Maniratnam I wanted to see. You won’t win brownie points just by scratching the surface and giving a touch-and-go treatment for relationships. Where is the soul and emotional core of a Maniratnam love story?? Such movies are quite common in Malayalam and other languages. Even Gautham Menon made some better films that operate in this format. My only question is ‘Where’s the story’ ??
In “O Kadhal Kanmani”, I presumed Mani would challenge the dominant paradigm of marriage and give us a different ending by not marrying the couple. But the conformist in him came to fore n that left me dissatisfied. He is also going about appeasing the audience and increasing the movie’s revenue.
In a scene, Nitya’s Tara (getting into the shoes of Revathi from “Mouna Ragam”) asks ‘Is getting a marriage certificate needed as an approval for being together?’ What happened to this thought, which died all of a sudden, when insecurities crept in and the couple wanted to get married?
Mani sir also said love is about understanding and living together but not about the institution of marriage but all this was brought to a hurried climax by marrying each other.
So, owing to all these incoherences, Mani’s fanboy got disappointed 😦
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Kaushik
April 18, 2015
“It’s a good thing Ganapathy Uncle and Bhavani Aunty are around – they provide much-needed ballast. I was more interested in their story.”
Exactly what I felt too. Their scenes had so much more emotional impact that even in the climax I was more interested in where they were than the conversation in the car. Maybe I am just getting older 🙂 Something tells me theirs is the story Mani really wanted to tell and the Adi-Tara plot was just packaging – more like here’s what you want to see and while you are at it here’s what I want to actually show.
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Ramachandran Venkataraman
April 18, 2015
I have not yet seen the film. I liked the review by Bharthwaj Rangan. I would not like to call upper and lower class. But it is good that the film targets a subsection of society. As a matter of fact that every film should target one subsection of society. Trying to please all comes to reducing to pleasing none. I understand retrieving the cost of film making demands that the film should try to target all sections. But if you make film less costlier targeting one section is possible. some of the Iranian films target only one section of society. I hope the basket case of c-center is treated medically.
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
April 18, 2015
Aside from the lack of conflict and drama, a minor worry was Tara, a headstrong woman, abhorring the institution of marriage (her reason seems convincing), reneging on a promise she made to herself for 2 decades for a guy she knows over 6 months. Whirlwhind romance, warming the cockles of fans and all understandable reasons within and outside the medium, but found that character inconsistency (?) a little hard to digest. And Leela and Prakash (woof, what an understated cameo!) had way more gratifying character arcs than Tara and Adhi. Very Kurosawa tropes for Bhavani aunty, with rain used to add to the emotional heft whenever she loses herself quite literally was an organic touch, and the simplicity of the older couple contrasted with the vibrancy and color of the younger ones being more overt. Also, for a film so light on drama, its 138 mins felt konjam nombave javvu at places where seemingly nothing was happening.
PS: Old’nellAm sollapdaadhu. I am late 20s 😛 but ought to say my teenage cousins loved the film. This epoch has ripened, I guess.
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Pranesh
April 18, 2015
Replying to Raja Satish, spoilers ahead
@Raja Satish: I saw it differently. The entire reason they didn’t want to get married was to avoid commitment (because they know one’s going to Paris, the other to the US). They weren’t anti-marriage, anti-tradition etc. In the end, they decide that they’d rather commit than lose each other. I felt that was a really coherent transformation (fwb -> falling in love -> cannot lose each other). I realize why the ending can be a disappointment if your heart wanted a stand against the institution of marriage as such.
I felt the romance and subtle comedy were really well done. Makes up for the poorly done romance in Yennai Arinthal. I also loved the movie in pictures at the end.
Also, hoping that Nithya Menen doesn’t get too many opportunities in Tamil. They’ll send her the Iniya way.
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praveen swaminathan
April 18, 2015
For people complaining about BR being happy to see the “upper class” being shown in this film, i say what is wrong in that? Most of the time,the tam-brahms are shown as either too conservative,forelock hair(remember ambi) or as way too ultra modern to the point of being immoral (in esan), okk along with kalyana,samayal,sadham is the only two movies which have shown the tam-brahms as people….real people who face similar dilemmas like everyone else… though i dont like the term upper and lower class… smells of capitalistic and rightist mindset… i’d prefer the term urban,rural instead
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brangan
April 18, 2015
praveen swaminathan: But rural/urban is more a function of WHERE people are from, right? Even in an urban environment, you could have a lower-class section — say, the ones we see in Selvaraghavan’s or Bala’s films.
Is “class” no longer a politically correct term? Because to me, it’s not a pejorative. It’s just an indicator of a lifestyle. Like I’d call Zoya Akhtar’s new film (“Dil Dhadakne Do”) as something filled with the upper-class set. Is that not a PC thing to say?
What other words could we use then?
Thanks.
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brangan
April 18, 2015
Pranesh: he entire reason they didn’t want to get married was to avoid commitment (because they know one’s going to Paris, the other to the US).
Nope. Hers was a childhood-trauma reason. As for him, I guess we don’t really get a reason other than his wanting to be “jolly” or some such thing. Surely some heft could have been added to these characters.
There’s a difference between avoiding melodrama (a very welcome thing in such a film, that we don’t have the Shalini-suspecting-Madhavan kind of stuff from “Alaipaayudhey”) and not having any drama, in the sense of giving us a hook.
Take Siddharth and Trisha from “Aaydha Ezhuthu.” There’s a real edge to that love angle because this girl is kinda-sorta committing adultery. That’s solid drama — not melodrama. She’s falling for this guy despite being engaged to someone else. She meets him for coffee and continues to flirt with him. And he was encouraging her too.
That, IMO, carried a real charge and made a real statement about what youngsters are like today, and how serious they are about things like “commitment.” I mean, on the beach, they’re this close to making out/making love.
This film, on the other hand, never rises above being a generic rom-com — though, yes, a very well-executed one. It raises the live-in thing, but quickly goes away from the bedroom and shows us the couple in the outside most times. I’m not saying we have to see them having sex, but there are other things a live-in brings about, whereas here, every crisis is solved with a wink and a smile. I don’t see that as a reflection of the young not taking things seriously. Of course they take things seriously. Let’s say, in the midst if this arrangement, if Tara started going out with another guy simply because she liked him, do you think Aadhi would just laugh and shrug it off? He would take it very seriously. But the film doesn’t want to get into a “drama” zone at all (again, I’m not saying “melodrama;” just simple drama). So by the time the “drama” happens, at the end, there’s no investment.
It’s a function of how well the film has been made — it’s overall vibe, that is — that we don’t question all this too much. That, IMO, is Mani Ratnam’s real success, even if the film itself is a rather slight addition to his oeuvre.
I’m glad it’s doing well though, at least from what I hear.
On another note, this ga-ga “Mani is back” narrative — from reviews, social media, etc. — is a little strange. So we want Mani Ratnam to operate only in this zone? Even discounting “Kadal” and “Raavanan,” didn’t “Kannathil” or “AE” count for anything? 🙂
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
April 18, 2015
Us wanting him to operate only in this zone. Hmm. “Alaipayudhe paathu vaLandha balageenamaana samoogam of Mani fans (Mouna Ragam paathu vaLandhavanga ellAm certified oldies by now) which has grown old but is refusing to grow up” nu sonnaa adi vuzhum’ngradhu naala adha sollala.
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Pranesh
April 18, 2015
@brangan: Correct, I was definitely wrong on that count. They do talk about commitment-phobia at one point, but the trauma thing definitely makes more sense.
As to why the film works for me, I found myself acutely missing my fiance during and after the movie. After several years of LDR, that’s a difficult emotion to cause. If it connects so well with me, I’m willing to give it slack for some of its faults 🙂
I actually used the “Mani is back” line on Facebook, but that was because this was the first movie I liked after Guru. I didn’t like Raavan so much despite it being a decent movie (partly because I could not watch it on the big screen), and don’t want to talk about Kadal (which I wish I hadn’t watched). I personally thought Kannathil was a much better movie than Alaipayuthe,
Quick question: Was Leela Samson an actress before her censor board gig? I thought she was really good.
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Anuja
April 18, 2015
OKK had some lovely moments and it did make me smile. Good to know that Mani Ratnam has not lost his deft touch but it was perhaps why I felt a little disappointed with the final product. It seemed to me that though the director wanted to make a movie on live – in relationships he chickened out in.a big way. For starters, in her opening scene, Tara is shown breaking up with a toxic boyfriend and we are led to believe it was a troubled relationship and there may be a whole lot of emotional baggage but later the whole thing is tossed off as a joke, in case we get the wrong idea about the leading lady given how she stresses the need for ‘lots of kamam’ in a relationship and questions her own ability to keep her hands off Aadhi when they are stuck in a lodge (And of course they don’t make the beast with two backs because they would rather sing songs all night long). MR is no different from the likes of Vikraman who cater to the theory that only virgins (it is intimated by Tara that it is highly unlikely that Aadhi has touched a woman) deserve happy endings 🙂
If it had not been for the stellar cast, OKK would have deteriorated into a snooze fest. It was weird that the couple opts to live with the older couple. Even newlyweds hardly ever fancy living with the in – laws so why on Earth would Aadhi and Tara do so? I suspect MR wanted to depict them as lovely human beings who care for the elderly as opposed to selfish and indulgent spoilt brats who are living in sin. These lil touches may have cutesified the characters but also made them bloodless and bland. Its a pity!
I think controversy (Bombay, Dil Se) and massive box office failures (Raavan, Kadal) has given Mani Ratnam a case of the yips and it has stopped him from realizing the full extent of his tremendous potential.
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Rajendraprasada Reddy
April 18, 2015
Mr. Rangan, I read your book CONVERSATIONS WITH MANIRATNAM. It is a excellent book like Maniratnam who is a great director. Reading the book is a great nostalgia.
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Prasad
April 18, 2015
Hi BR,
Good review as always. My 2 cents on this
“The cuteness, the zingers, the youngness – it’s all back”
Barring a handful of scenes, everything is organic, everything fits”
Can’t agree more. Right from the title song everything falls in place. The moment we lay our eyes on the lead’s in the railway station , we’re rooted.Adding to that the humour and the mischief (Like Mouna Ragam, AlaiPayuthey) is back in this movie.Offlate many of our directors are not able to get it right including Shankar in “I”. Inventive/Light humour is such a rarity in Tamil Cinema except one or two gems like Karthik Subburaj’s JigarThanda .Without any slapstick and offensive, homour is sprinkled throughout the movie which makes it a successful rom come.
Another point is both Mani and PC haven’t overdone any scenes just sticking to the basics.
He could get his touch back in the picturization of songs which deserted him in his recent movies. “Paranthu Sellava” is a classic example, just picturized in a room with lead actors who are not great dancer’s but the ssongs is enjoyable . Even PC didn’t overdo in any scenes but his touches can be seen in every frame. Whether the scene in which Camera positioned behind the cooker(Kitchen) at home or the aerial shot in Ahmedabad
2 things I felt could been improved. One, instead of Prakashraj , it could been a new actor.Anywway we’re seeing lof of new faces why not his role also? Second the lines of Tara’s mother is theatrical.Could have been better.
“There’s barely any conflict and gradually the characters come to resemble soap bubbles, very pretty to look at and iridescently alive, but literally weightless. ”
I Partly agree to this point. But why can’t this be a starting of a new “genre ” for Tamil Cinema.Why can’t there be a feel good movie which end’s exactly as expected but it is entertaining without any drama. I know given this script to any other director , there would been a Previous Girlfriend/Boyfried who come in the climax.
Sometimes dont you think we don’t want any “Drama” ..any “conflicts” just see and smile till the end. Richard Linklater is a classic example for this.Take his Before series or Take the case of “Boyhood”…a kid grows and goes to College…Nothing dramatic happens.We just see live and breathing characters converse and entertain us. No drama. No deaths.No killings. JUST LIKE NORMAL WORLD.
Your thoughts please.
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brangan
April 18, 2015
Prasad: “Boyhood” is an extraordinarily dramatic film. I think people are confusing “drama” with “event”. You can have drama in dialogues, in silences — but the thing is to have some progression, some interesting character development, a satisfying and convincing change in character arc.
To take something like a live-in relationship and do nothing about it other than have generic rom-com moments kinda seems like a missed opportunity to me. This film is light and breezy, but the lack of drama means that there’s nothing to the characters beyond the fact that they’re kinda fun to spend a few hours with — and if that works for you, then hey, who am I to argue? 🙂
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Puneeta Uchil
April 18, 2015
I want a movie that gives out no messages, that has no “aha” moment, that is just simple and innocent and sweet and kind- like a lot of us are. But also confused- again like a lot of us are.
And you are wrong about there being no drama- there was just enough. I for one am really glad that no one died, was kidnapped or had an accident- I was terrified everytime it looked close to something like that happening! And Mani sir does do that kind of thing in so many of his movies.
Why can’t people grow, learn and change without drama? Why can’t it be a soft flowing river that gently moves from place to place instead of a constant churning sea?
For some people a live-in relationship is just that, no big deal, I have memories of jumping out of windows when relatives/friends visited my ex 🙂 And it never was like “hawww, log kya kahenge”, it was just like “Something’s come up, I’ll deal”
Despite being 28 ( I was 14 when I watched Alaipayuthey), I have no issues at all that their live in relationship culminated with wedding bells. That is the natural progression of 99% of live in relationships. For those who want perpetual live-in relationships with all the drama the Jabong ad should do well 🙂 😛
Anyway, final thoughts, great movie, Nithya is a wonderful successor to Shalini, but I must say (as a woman) Dulqueer just falls a tad short of the Maddy charm- the charm that one fell for with just one smile as he rode his bike in the opening credits of Alaipayuthey 🙂
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uniquebluerose
April 18, 2015
Hi BR loved your review….
For the first time watched the movie before your review was published….else couldn’t have resisted reading it.
Lovely movie!!!! For me the favorite moment was when Adi follows Tara and climbs the steps of the temple and turns back , smiles and declares that She has promised to god that she will bring him here. Adi seems to be the guy who will skip temple for sleep any day. (Doesn’t his brother ask him to go to temple just before Tara calls him first time???? The Dialogues weren’t clear where I went.)
When they take single room in lodge I thought they will either end up making love or being totally chaste with one sleeping on the floor (where do I find such lovely lodges???? it looked more like a heritage museum complete with Jhoola) but the song parunthu sella vvaa with loads of foreplay and teasing each other was welcome a change…which continues in their next meet and then of all places in ladies hostel in her room they succumb to their building sexual tension in very pleasant way without any kind of overt desperation though wished the climax had it too.
May be MR had to succumb to cliché: Bhavani Auntie getting lost once again, Marriage proposal yada yada…why should it end in marriage why can’t they continue without marriage till the end…it seems to me that MR is trying to say live in relationship is wrong or at least say that love should only end in marriage …as there is no guaranty in LiR. Tara could finish her dreams of Paris degree and he can earn a lot in US then find some way to stay together without marriage if they want to. Why was marriage so necessary before going???? Some kind of insurance so that both definitely don’t go for another affair when they go separate ways???
The take on older couple interested most of us…same thing happened in Madras too…why is that the second couple and their tale keeps us more invested when the director wants us to show something else???? Have we by nature become more curious to know more what is not shown rather than being satisfied with what is shown???
Some of the dialogues they were clichéd but some made me smile. Adi’s Mattikiten in train, Tara’s “blackmail ” to Adi’s Anni. Bhavani aunties dialogues and comment on Ganapathy and Adi’s brother‘s intelligence were all good. But Adis’s friends, the guy who goes on “buddy, buddy” and or the Ananya in whose wedding they have the 2nd meet cute were irritating and unnecessary.
PS: Is Video gaming really such a big industry???? Why does the animation in game have to mirror images of the hero is it some kind of complex/narcissism these techies have.
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Madhu
April 18, 2015
I am so glad that Nitya Menon is getting talked about so much, she is a really good actress. I loved her in 180 (the movie itself didn’t work for me) and also in Ustaad Hotel and Bangalore Days (both of which I really liked)
Puneeta Uchil: That’s us, the late twenties people, who grew up watching Alaipayuthey: we drooled over Madhavan. All of my younger cousins are in love with Dulqer Salmaan 🙂
BR: At this rate, you should soon be ready for e-mails/comments which say “BR gets gleeful when the protagonist(s) / theme of the movie does away with morals. This is sooooooo not right!” 😀
P.S: Between Alaipayuthey and OKK, which do you think is better, or which did you enjoy more?
P.P.S: I loved the new mobile site layout. I tried to post a comment earlier and it didn’t happen though.
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Bharath
April 18, 2015
Just saw the film….So Aadhi and Tara believe that they cannot remain loyal and emotionally connected with each other in a long distance relationship without tying the knot?
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Madhu K
April 18, 2015
I don’t understand why everyone is expecting some sort of conflict, drama, revelation within this whole live in setup. I don’t get it. And besides its a rom-com, its not meant to be too dramatic.
From the start of the movie all I could see was the chemistry between the two. She was the Yin to his Yang, they perfectly complemented each other in every way from their opinions, ideas to spontaneity. There didn’t have to be scenes of falling in love, how, why, when, because that didn’t matter. What mattered was how much fun they are together. In fact having those scenes of ‘why they fell in love’ would have been an overkill. You see them together and you don’t question it, Its easy, breezy and comfortable. And perhaps that is what Mani wanted to show. They chat up, go on a date, go away on a trip, bond, make love, move in together and then fall in love and eventually get married. This in no way makes Mani a conformist, definitely not by Indian standards atleast.
Like Ashwath said “The metamorphosis from being a facetious, yet genuinely romantic individuals to a matured couple who become emotionally available because of unsaid love was splendid to watch”. Unsaid love being the keywords here. BR i am surprised u didnt mention anything about the ‘unsaid love’ factor. I mean no where in the movie you see them exchange I love yous as they do in movies, awkwardly sometimes prematurely. The only time you hear them say I love you is in the end when he gifts her the pendant and they have 10 days to go before they are ‘over’. I found that refreshing. They didnt have to spell it out for us to get the point. They didnt have to spell it out for them to know how much they meant to each other. New !
On an entirely different note, did anyone feel the movie was all about the Kanmani (Tara) in a way. Her suicide attempt, her ex bf, her childhood trauma, her ‘anti-marriage’ resolution, her boldness(sex after the second date) her overprotective mom, her cheekiness (her challenging him – twice, once with saying shes inviting parents over for ‘veetla paathu pesavenama?, nichyam pannavenaama?’ second time when just packin her bags panicking him and then saying shes going to Jaipur for 2 days), finally her fears and ultimately getting a proposal out of him (when it looked like thats what she was after in the last 30 mins of the movie). Dont know but I felt like it was meant to be a lot about Tara and her marriage phobia and so pats on Dulquers back for bringing Adi to life, holding his ground with his charm n some acting.
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Prasad
April 18, 2015
“To take something like a live-in relationship and do nothing about it other than have generic rom-com moments kinda seems like a missed opportunity to me”
I found that same exact thing different and appealing. Look at “Alaipatuthey” it’s exactly a similar thing of boy meets girl but the lead pair get secretly married and to get more drama(Melo?) there is an accident happens and other events unfold. I thought he has intentionally avoided drama here. Alaipayuthey-Drama(Melo) is Ok Kanmani.
Maybe this is similar to the lines of rom com movies of Hollywood say like “What If” or a “Notting hill” and proabably he didn’t want to dramatize it.
““Boyhood” is an extraordinarily dramatic film”
Agreed. What I meant was as viewer we’re not seeing anything out of the ordinary. Life of boy in a span of 12 years. For instance take “before Sunrise or “Before Sunset”. Definitely this movie (Ok Kanmani) doesn’t have the depth of the characters of those movies but in these movies there is always always lesser events if you may say so.Nothing extraordinary happens. Probabaly this movie falls in this genre I think. Richard Linklater is a Master in that.
“but the lack of drama means that there’s nothing to the characters beyond the fact that they’re kinda fun to spend a few hours with — and if that works for you, then hey, who am I to argue? ”
Yes. It worked great for me. Not sure if we’ve seen a decent rom com like this in a long time.
If you can compare this with “Vinnaithandi Varuvaya” ….ok kanmani is far good for the only reason the lead actors are so good. The kind of innocence which Tara can emote Trisha can’t. Probabaly that’s the difference.
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Prasad
April 18, 2015
Also curious how come ” Nanbenda” can get a U certificate and OK kanmani
UA?
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Kutty
April 18, 2015
BR : Agree with you on how Mani treats this as just another romantic track except for a couple of scenes to convey the move in. As someone else pointed out, if they did not have to travel to different countries, would the thought of commitment even have come? Maybe that is the overhanging element of drama that you were looking for.
Also, on a slightly different note. Mani seemed determined to make some political statements even in this largely undramatic movie. When they travel to Ahmedabad, what is it for? To visit a mosque with the prayer song in the background. Bam! And then flirting with the Censor Board about the illogic over the ban on the use of “Bombay”. That too, having the, now ex-chief of the Censor Board herself mouth the relevant dialogues.
One other really good tongue-in-cheek stretch is the video game. It has all those elements which one finds in a normal masala movie. The hero jumping buildings, running on top of trains, those fight scenes inside a train. He is like chiding those movies and saying “Look, these things are suited to the fantasy world of video games”. Also, the three blocks of the video game are a complete movie by itself. That is what is usually stretched for 3 hours. And here he makes a movie with minimal drama. Fascinating.
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Puneeta Uchil
April 18, 2015
BR: While I don’t agree with people who are accusing you of caste/class bias I do think you have not thought seriously enough about Mani sir’s audience.
Doesn’t an upper class person enjoy a “Wanted” (Okkadu?) or a “Tevar” or a “Baasha” as much as a lower class person? Then why shouldn’t vice-versa be true for OK Kanmani? I was poor and lower-caste in a small town like Mysore when I watched Alaipayuthey- but it had aspiration value for me! I wanted to be like Maddy and Shalini in that movie even though that was laughable given the circumstances I was in. Today I have been like Aadhi and Tara before I even saw the movie probably because of the courage Alaipayuthey gave to me, that its ok to be different and do different things that even your parents may not approve of 🙂
Something to think about maybe? 🙂
Madhu: Haha! I was actually analysing in detail with my mom about how Dulqeer’s smile does not compare at all to Maddy 😛 I can’t let go of the original chocolate boy! OF course, Dulqueer has an edge to his charm and boyishness that Maddy could never have, like you know how a chilli infused chocolate is different from the cadbury five stars we used to get back then 🙂
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Puneeta Uchil
April 18, 2015
Also another detail that I really liked, Karthik in Alaipayuthey is atheist like Aadhi (OKK), but he agrees to a temple wedding, while Aadhi (probably) stood his ground and/or Tara herself understood and agreed to a non-denominational wedding.
I loved the wedding scene from this one much, much more than the one in Alaipayuthey for this detail alone 🙂 (I am an atheist too)
How much has India changed! And how wonderfully, tastefully has Mani sir depicted it. LOVE!
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karthiknach
April 18, 2015
For a film that allegedly tackles a taboo matter of live in relationships (I don’t understand why live-in!?) there was hardly any show of physical affection on screen. Almost as if Mani was more intent on displaying the attitudes of the young and the attitudinal differences between the older couple. Or is this just due to censors? I thought the dialogues were refreshing, references to west mambalam and kasamoosa! And I’m shocked to see this get an adult certificate and all the other crap that gets churned out a normal one? They must have had an ax to grind with Mani.
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Soumya
April 19, 2015
BR: For the first time I saw the movie before your review and I found it very very accurate in all aspects.. the film feels light and breezy possibly because it caters to a much younger audience.. and Nithya Menen has a luminous, arresting screen presence that is so rare in this generation of female actors. Reading the comments above I kept on wondering why everyone was analysing the Intellectual core of this love story( the whys and hows, ifs and buts)when IMHO it is hardly Mani Ratnam’s forte; most of his films that I have seen ( Roja, Bombay,Alaipayudhey, Kannathil muttamittal, Yuva, Guru etc ) never focussed much on this aspect of a love story but he created intense romance and passion on screen through what looked like magical artistry- stunning visuals and lighting, soulful music, carefully crafted set pieces, choreography that feels like slideshow of picture perfect shots, and not to forget extremely emotive close-ups of the talented actors.., all of which this film had in plenty; enough to bring on that smile and that nostalgia. For the drama in script, dialogues and the arc of the love story and also for getting the Intellectual part of the love story right I would anyday turn to Imtiaz Ali or even Gautam Vasudev Menon..
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Hari
April 19, 2015
To appropriate the film and relegate it to a particular section is to deny that the so-called ‘rest’ can comprehend aspirations. Repetitive use of the word ‘class’ just recreates some problematic categories. Stooping to the level of referring to the surnames further leads one to question the sensitivity with which the review has been written (and really, what has stopped you from tracing the same for the female lead?!) It is not ‘focus’ on a class, rather detailing – that the aspirations strengthen the context with specificity and make the flow of the plot coherent and convincing.
Reducing the plot’s focus to being a class story trivialises the themes that are central to the plot. Ganapathy is no mere landlord. He is an acquaintance, which should be problematic ideally. But the interesting part is how the young couple are able to be leverage that itself to a certain extent to their advantage and get what they want, which may not be so easy outside either.
It isn’t superlight, for there is a constant tugging between a want to hold on and pursuing one’s individual desire that makes the options seem conflicting. It is complex for both do not know how the other is positioned regarding this. An attempt to discover that can bring joy or pain and breaking this ice itself is moulded by time and the situation.
The nuances of what a live-in relationship bases itself on, cannot be overlooked to refuse depth to the story. It is not so much about ‘the falling for’, for the generation is most aware that they have fallen and want to move further. It is how this will feature in taking forward life that matters. The desire to know their choice and more so on how it’ll be made is reason enough to watch.
In taking a high ground, the reviewer cannot attempt to behave like it is the review that gives the movie its recognition or a validation to its spirit. For wanting to be with someone you love is universal…
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Lakshmi
April 19, 2015
Can someone post the names/links to the carnatic songs used in the movie?
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Lakshmi
April 19, 2015
There are some movies/directors on your list where you dont wait for reviews but hit the theaters first day; and to many MR is in the list. In spite of last couple of his movies not doing well, its good to see him not comprising on any aspect of the movie – and only he can do. Your movie experience depends on what expectations you have from MR’s team. If the story doesnt work, there is always the PC and ARR magic that holds you. And the juxtaposition of Ganapathy-Bhavani and Aadhi-Taara couples is one another way.
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Madan
April 19, 2015
Stooping to the level of referring to the surnames further leads one to question the sensitivity with which the review has been written – Yeah, the problem with the review isn’t referring to class. Lot of Hollywood films have an unsaid focus on class. But in deriving this class identity from the surname, BRangan only resurrects age old caste divides – caste as a basis of social hierarchy and segregation. I might add that, given that OKK is apparently targeted at younger viewers, I don’t know that they/we find caste such an emotive issue, or simply as important. At least not down here in Bombay but even when I was in Madras last year to attend a wedding, people in my age group were saying that while they respected their elders, they disagreed with and disliked their obsession with what does and doesn’t define a Brahmin and would rather not identify themselves as such. I can only hope that a review with its limited reach won’t turn off younger viewers who are from other castes; that is unless MR himself intended to zero in on upper caste and the name of the film itself doesn’t suggest that.
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Prasanna
April 19, 2015
Ratnam tries hard and fails at places to “connect” with the so called younger audience. BR you noticed the “Daliesque clock” in Tara’s room but you forget the absence of text messaging and caller-ID in cell phones?
One of the major turn offs was the whole usage of “Kamam” instead of sex and Ratnam being queasy about the depiction of the physicality in a live-in relationship. I think Roja did a better job at portraying sex scenes than OKK.
In the movie, people forget that phones can be silenced, people call the police reporting a missing person and nothing happens, Adi going to Jail and the premise behind that is a blur… and the list of forgotten and loose ends continues
The cinematography is indeed beautiful, but come on, being in Mumbai all a couple can do is drive around bikes (with the cringeworthy shot of Tara waving her hands all the time) and cars and go shopping ?
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neabs
April 19, 2015
Completely loved your take.One thing I felt about the movie was, it had a very limited amount of story to offer and loads of interesting happenings between the leads.The one particular thing Which hooked me throughout the movie was Tara’s character which was brilliantly delivered by Nitya Menon. But I was disappointed about reason for her disbelief in marriage( Divorced Parents ), expected a more solid reason. One more point I loved was the Placement of songs.
My love for Tars’s character made me to know your opinion about the difference between the character of urban women in Manirathnam movie and GVM movie.
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Malik Mansoor
April 19, 2015
Throughout the movie i either loved or alright with everything. One thing i “hated” was the use of the song mental manadhil at the end of the movie(tara saying ok and getting married scene). It felt so out of place
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Sridhar
April 19, 2015
Baradwaj, I am a big fan of your writing. Keep going great! Now, OKK-Light weight? It was more feather light. Unfortunate that Mani Ratnam is forced to make a movie like this to establish himself again in box office. I could watch Kadal many more times, and get moved, rather be without emotionally touched in OKK. I am revisiting DVDs of Raavanan and Kadal for the real magic of Mani.
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JK
April 19, 2015
I agree with most points on the review. Even though it follows the typical template of Mani Rathnam’s (yeah with ‘th’) Alaipayuthey I don’t think the romantic track was as lazy as, say, the one in Yennai Arindhaal. Mani Rathnam does a pretty good job at that and for a man in his 60s, surely that’s something to appreciate.
“Hers was a childhood-trauma reason. As for him, I guess we don’t really get a reason other than his wanting to be “jolly” or some such thing. Surely some heft could have been added to these characters””
I disagree with this. The leads do not believe in the institution of marriage and that’s fine and should there be a reason for it? Especially the Nithya Menen’s backstory wasn’t evoking any sort of “aiyo paavam” emotions, rather it was bloody obvious. That’s why I was pretty happy that Dulquer didn’t carry any back story for his belief. Cos sometime I don’t think you need a very heavy emotional back story to have certain opinions on how you want to live your life. Its just the way it is.
“There’s barely any conflict and gradually the characters come to resemble soap bubbles, very pretty to look at and iridescently alive, but literally weightless”
Completely agree with this one. Underplaying emotions is one thing but totally ignoring it was weird. Also when a friend explains the “rules” of live-in relationship it sounded more like that of “open” than “live-in”. Surely you can call, be upset or be mad at the guy/girl you’re living with cos you are at least in love with each other, by your own admission, and it shows that you care about each other, so it’s just natural. Or may be I don’t know the rules of live-in relationship at all. In that case i need to educate myself more :P.
As you said Nithya Menen was really a treat as she feels so real on screen and more believable than our usual rom-com heroines. Never really had great opinions about her from the previous movies I saw (Ustad hotel and the cameo in Bangalore days, both decent) and I think she redefines the loosu-ponnu genre (She was quirky and fun and giggly in most parts so I think that’s a fair judgement). My favourite scene of her was in the dhaba or some roadside eatery in Ahmedabad before the “Parandhu sellavaa” song where in they discuss “sleeping” arrangements. I liked the way how she played it very casually. Also her accent, as mentioned in some comments, can be forgiven considering that she stayed in other places more than Coimbatore. So it would’ve been weird if she had spoken like kovai sarala or sathyaraj.
“She even sings like the song (Malargal kaetten) is coming out of her, with joy and with just the slightest musician-like affectations”
Nah I Disagree. Chitra’s voice didn’t suit Nithya at all so it wasn’t really that natural. Especially after “Parandhu sellava”, it made her sound very old. A director like Mani Rathnam would’ve definitely noticed this and not sure why he hose to keep it as such. Before the movie I really thought it will be sung by Leela Samson, so that could’ve also contributed to my opinion. Pobody’s Nerfect eh. In general the song was not that great. It sounded more like a “kadavul vaazhthu” than a carnatic song. I felt she could’ve sung “Bavamulona” than malargal ketten, as the following scene had a dubstep version of the former playing. It would’ve been a nice lead-in.
However the one question that comes to my mind is, would it have worked if this movie was made by some other director or some other combo? Since it was Mani Rathnam, everyone expected something like Alaipayuthey and they were more or less satisfied with this output. But had it been some other director or combo, am not really sure this would’ve worked cos the viewer’s perspective would’ve been entirely different. Even GVM’s outing at romance seems to be boring beyond a point as it evokes a seen-it-all reaction most of the time. And Atlee’s Raja Rani, a homage to (or should i say, rip-off of) mouna raagam, was also not that good, even after ignoring the Santhanam portions and the ritualistic tasmac songs (I apologize that am not able to think of any other rom-coms, in recent times, that was a hit. No offense to any MR fans :P). I guess we are seeing the movie through polarized lenses so we like it. Nevertheless it was enjoyable (am wearing the same lens).
Going by this case I think Mani Rathnam can remake all the movies that worked for him previously, so that we can have some decent movies like OKK that we can enjoy.
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Sivasamy
April 19, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie on the whole. I loved the organic evolution of lead characters as well (separated by couple of platforms in first meet, which almost reduced by half in the chapel scene,further got reduces when they went for coffee).And i couldn’t zip my mouth from speaking about a sequence, where Aadhi and Tara search for Bavani (also tries to see what they needs in their life) beautifully stitched with handful of metaphor (“Nee tha ulla irunthu door open pannum ippo”). And there is a shot towards end, through double door almost closed, captures Aadhi Tara and Bavani Ganapathy, convey little hope of their respective situation, subtlety.
It is almost like a colorful blown novel of Arjun & Meera chapters that we had seen in Ayuthu Ezathu. As BR pointed out no remnants of Ayuthu Ezazthu, opens up like the lyrics of “Oor unmai sonnal naesippaya…kadhal konjam kammi….kammam konjam thookal….” and ends with “Idhae Azhutham Azthutham Idhae Anaippu Anaippu…Vaazhvin Ellai Vaari Vaendum Vaendum”. Brilliant !!!
A small tribute to Mani Sir…….
I would like to draw a parallel between Santiago character in “Old man and the sea” and Mani Ratnam, where former is aged Cuban fisherman set out to sea and returned empty handed for eighty four days like latter’s last outing Kadal (Sea) didn’t rake cash register at box office. And Kadal movie distributor went for redemption of their money like Manolin devoted apprentice and friend of Santiago asked to leave the old man in order to fish in more prosperous boat.
Nevertheless, boy continued to take care of old man likewise boys from ManiRatnam fan club kept their faith with Mani sir. On eighty fifth day of his unlucky streak, old man sailed his skiff far beyond the island’s shallow coastal waters and ventured into the gulf stream likewise ManiRatnam literally ventured into uncharted water. A big fish marlin takes the bait that Santiago placed one hundred fathoms deep in water even ManiRatnam gets a big fish with O Kadal Kanmani.
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sanjana
April 19, 2015
There is some confusion for non tamilians like me. Kadal or Kaadal with soft d? English spellings for regional languages give funny meanings.Same with malai and maalai.
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JK
April 19, 2015
@Prasanna Oh yeah!! I totally agree , the “kaamam” thing was very weird indeed. They could’ve instead said “Sex” or even “lust” and it wouldn’t’ve been out of place. But surprisingly none of the characters sounded Peter-ish to me given that the premise deals with Individuals from a well-to-do background. I was glad about that.
@Sivasamy Oh “kadal” kanmani … nice touch sir 🙂
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venkat ramanan
April 19, 2015
So many comments already…when ever you miss a class or state a class ppl flock around. I do agree, if there is a film that talks about “lower” class then there is nothing wrong in a film unapologetically high class. But here is the thing demographics are complex… And what once considered lower might be neo middle class . And high could also be upper middle class. So there are chances that ppl take offence to it, when you try to categorize and put a single name to it.
Moving on, I am not much aware of mani ratnam’s forte as you put it heavy dramas. But I liked the mani ratnam in this film. I feel this was perfect, there is sense of completeness or as you put it the film doesn’t pander to anyone or simply stands apart. Only thing that I felt apart from a scene where a dog abruptly appears on screen and the ending wedding scene where some extras dance terribly, was the film ends celebratory thrusting time old values in the institution of marriage. ( I know it’s asking too much especially for that distributor 🙂 ) there were times when I felt envious seeing a 50something guy portray such a cute youngish romance and there were times I felt ratnam should stick to relationships romance may be exploring something like before trilogy. And lastly all my apprehension about how the songs would be pictured was answered, who would have guessed a video game. 🙂
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venkat ramanan
April 19, 2015
forgot to add the best scenes from theater while watching the film.
When adhi and tara decide to stay overnight, tara replies back to adhi saying i am not sure if i will be able to control while next to you. And there was a loud cheering from several girls in the theatre. And i felt how often would you see a women character expressing freely on screen or those girls could be just dulquer fans 🙂 , anyway that moment made me smile.
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Maru
April 19, 2015
Not a surprise to find this a super busy thread for an event film like this one. 😀 I watched this with a smile on my face pretty much through the film but I’m not sure what if anything will stay with me from the film.
I was struck by the sense of movement right through the film – the leads are more often than not on the move, then there are trains, buses, pouring rain, pigeons, even in the scene in the mosque in Ahmedabad there’s water flowing. Then of course there’s the high octane video game with its desi cool vibe for the 2.0 generation. All this movement to balance the fact that the plot itself is static? Nothing really happens, not even attitudinally in the characters’ minds but especially in Mani Ratnam’s Love 3.0 update. In the end he seems to be saying social mores may have changed for the young and they may shock us every now and again but deep down they’re every bit as morally grounded as they ever were. Not sure why this film got a U/A certificate, the guardians of culture who force Indian values down our throats ought to be jubilant at the film’s endorsement of how traditional the lead pair is at the end. And as a few commentators have mentioned here for a film where the lead pair puts passion above commitment, the passion is strangely aseptic and bloodless. It’s almost as if the elegant,classiness of this film of this can’t take the earthiness of passion.
Still, it’s hard to whine much when a film is this pretty, the music is this perfect, the leads are this scrumptious (props to Nithya for not only stealing the film from the cute Dulquer but doing so looking like someone who enjoys an occasional hot chocolate sundae! ;)), and the overall vibe is so much fun.
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venkat ramanan
April 19, 2015
In reply to some of the comments saying that the film’s screenplay was poor.
People always tend to think of screenplay as mere structure of the story. There is lot more to screenplay than just how the story is. When one says i didn’t like the story of the film, it’s completely understandable not to be mistaken with screenplay. Screenplay is how the story gets transformed onto screen. OKK is very visual and cinematic. Whether it’s the play of trains in the beginning scene, or the wedding scene in church where both of them meet. The imaginary hand shakes, the smiles. the abrupt zoom ins. The part when the lady goes missing, adhi and thara search for her. The lady missing is a sub plot, the main plot being thara and adhi. Here both the sub plot and main plot (how the hurdle evokes reaction from the couple which in turn takes the story forward) converges into one sequence inside a moving car, with rain outside-tension inside. uncertainty both outside and inside. All of which ends in a cinematic sequence. That is some screenplay.
and here’s one aspect of screenplay movement by film video essayist tony,that should shed some light.
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brangan
April 19, 2015
Was leafing through “Conversations with Mani Ratnam” and found this interesting in the “Geetanjali” chapter:
“It’s like taking a cliché and doubling it. If I said I wanted to make a film about a young man who thought he was dying, it would have been a cliché… So I decided to double it — with a girl also dying — and treat it very positively… The sheer joy of life is what the film is trying to capture.”
Change the parts in bold as follows:
“It’s like taking a cliché and doubling it. If I said I wanted to make a film about a young man who is commitment-phobic, it would have been a cliché… So I decided to double it — with a girl also being commitment-phobic — and treat it very positively… The sheer joy of life is what the film is trying to capture.”
And what film do you have?
I’m wondering idly if my observation in my review about OKK being “a greatest-hits package” goes deeper than I imagined at the time of writing.
Today, someone mentioned that when Tara stands on the swing in “Parandhu sellavaa” it’s like Amala in “Thoongadha vizhigal rendu…”
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brangan
April 19, 2015
Lakshmi: Here you go:
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Nimalan
April 19, 2015
Brilliant stuff, Rangan your after thoughts on reviews are what I come here for…
Maniratnam had made OK Kanmani for the children of Mounaragam generation … and in time he will make one for the children of Alaipayuthey generation as well.. that is when Rangan will have is Second Conversation with Mani Ratnam…. Mani is ageless so you better sharpen up Rangan!
In OKK…Maniratnam still stays in his favourite genre of ‘parallel’ storyline movies(Thalapathy, Iruvar, Guru, Ravanana, Kadal) in OK Kanmani he brings two relationships from two generations beautifully together… therefore this Kanmani is double OK for me !
In fact there is a third storyline which runs on the video game characters – Adhi saves Tara from the Train and the underworld…yadayadaya they go on to live ‘happily ever after’ … and that we know would be a movie for ‘typical’ Tamil Director…. ha ha.
I feel Mani’s next will be in the ‘Anjali’ genre – any bets ?
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naina
April 19, 2015
Re: Greatest hits –
The Car on the beach – Nayagan
Rainy Mumbai – Nayagan
Trains – Alaipayuthe, opening w/ a train sequence – Dil Se
Annamacharya/Tyagaraja – Oothakadu from Alai
Tara escaping thru the window and reentering the house – Amala in Agni
Hero as S/W engr – Alai
Heroine searching for the hero – Madhavan searching for Shalini in Alai
Hero showing up on heroine’s buisness trip (Ahd trip) – Madavan showing up at the flood hit area where Shalini is stationed in Alao
Old Prakashraj – reminds one of his role in Iruvar
And no Suhasini’s influence in dialogues or dubbing – like the old Ratnam movies 🙂
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Sanjay KUmar
April 20, 2015
i really liked and had personal regrets on two counts, that i am not younger to propose to Nithya and more importantly was not there with my kanmani!:)…MR is no social revolutionary and to expect him to portray the subaltern and lower class the way Bala makes or even Mysskin or Ranjith for that matter would be dishonest…so his characters oozing with Mamblamesque tayir sadaam cuteness is acceptable and i personally do not find fault in that…so she is a thevar in Coimbatore if Kalingarayar surname is anything to go by…since much of the little friction in the drama is between the characters than by any externalities, their identities do not matter much at least the social canvas of the characters in which they are inhabiting…i liked the complete absence of thaali in the whole marriage ceremony and the mandatory brahmin purohit, which given the conservative milieu that tamil society operates, is so unconventional and very bold, the other more important aspect is the lead character which is definitely Nithya’s unabashed and unapologetic expression of her sexuality,which if my memory serves right was faintly seen in Kana Kandein where Gopika and Srikanth have intercourse without much fuss…
you can push the envelope only so much, that he has taken the conversation of live in to living rooms itself is something that needs to be welcomed..
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jussomebody
April 20, 2015
I was a little frustrated too when all the opportunities for drama (that one can really expect in real life) were passed up. None of the insecurities attached with a relationship with an expiry date were explored, and I missed that. The Arjun-Meera segment in AE certainly carried more heft is less than half the running time. There were also some parts that didn’t fit in well: I thought Tara’s explanation of her baggage was lame and forced, that stretch in the clinic was also a thoroughly unnecessary gag that belonged in a different film.
That said, the overall magic is undeniable. It isn’t everyday that the leading lady of a Tamil movie looks and feels real. It’s additionally special when she openly acknowledges her sexual desires and acts on them in a most matter-of-fact manner. Sometimes life’s largest decisions are also made simply with an “OK” – I really liked the matter-of-factness of that climax. It’s been two days, and I am still smiling and humming Theera Ula.
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HA
April 20, 2015
Did I hear the name Tara Kalingarayar in the scene where he gets her a gift.
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vk
April 20, 2015
Cool-aid anyone ?
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Adding to “greatest hits” list:
Karthik is from West Mambalam in “Agni…”
A character suffers from an “exotic” (i.e. not found in mainstream cinema) degenerative condition like the multiple sclerosis-afflicted Vidya Balan does in “Guru”
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Anon
April 20, 2015
Late to the party, but had to comment. Had these observations,
a. This was Alaipayuthe 2.0 really, wasn’t it? Young couple (re)affirming their faith in eternal love and marriage seeing an older, mature couple. Of course, I don’t mind the rehash at all 🙂
b. All actors were flawless. Prakash Raj was outstanding specially. What struck me was that he in reality is a much younger man (a nasser would have been closer to leela samson in age) but we never once felt it. He lived the part.
c. Despite the story presenting opportunities for skin show or excessive intimacy, the director refrained from doing so and presented the whole concept in a clean, clean way. I saw the movie with my 60+ mom and absolutely felt no discomfort at any point. Kudos.
d. The toning down of the MR-esque, mannered dialogue rendering helped the story. The characters seemed so much more natural and easier to relate to.
e. Loved the female characterization – Tara’s mom an assertive entrepreneur, Bhavani a classical singer, (homemaker?) sis-in-law, the career oriented heroine etc. Exactly like a cross section of women we would see around us
f. Living together with anyone (marriage or not) is more about the everyday decisions and conflicts, big and small – what to buy, where to eat, who does the cooking/cleaning/washing, compromises, financial angles etc. Wish there was more of these practical aspects. The setting was just…too neat and scrubbed clean of all grime… in other words, too perfect to be true
g. The jail-bit was confusing (and unnecessary) – at least I didn’t quite understand what it meant to convey
and a question,
Why Mumbai? The sprawling accommodation, sea facing office, the conversations etc. would have fit in much better in Chennai (e.g. boss in a Mumbai office addressing his employees in Tamil?). Was it because live-in concept is too much for Chennai? I don’t know.
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brangan
April 20, 2015
jussomebody: Ditto about the lack of drama. We don’t mind it TOO much here because this film is structured like a rom-com (and not a drama or a melodrama) — so as long as it keeps us happy at a basic level, we’re okay with it.
But given Mani Ratnam’s stature, it’s hard not to wonder about the missed opportunities — say, to have a few more scenes that actually were woven around the “live-in” aspect. It’s so completely irrelevant to this film now that you wonder why it was even needed in the first place.
I mean, even “Notting Hill” (which, for me, is something of a gold standard when it comes to rom-coms) had conflict/drama without violating it’s No.1 mission of keeping us happy and (as you say) humming throughout.
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brangan
April 20, 2015
I find it interesting that Gautham Menon took such a beating for reusing his “greatest hits” in “Yennai Arindhaal” whereas that exact thing is being celebrated here.
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Pranesh
April 20, 2015
@brangan: I think part of the reason for the beating is that he didn’t do it too well. To me, the re-used versions all fell short of the original. I was really looking forward to the romance track and it was terrible. In this movie, they felt like the little tributes that Tarantino puts in his movies.
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sen
April 20, 2015
I felt the movie so boring.what is new in this movie.This is nothing but new age pudhu pudhu arthangal.sure there was some youthful and fun scenes at the start.Having watched his playful heroes from karthick in mauna ragam all the way to dulquer now.some of the playful scenes were also predictable and boring.I simply feel maniratnam is a spent force.Think he was able to salvage some respect this time cause he kept suhasini out of the film making process.
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Anon: Why Mumbai?
Because of two reasons:
One, it creates a “distancing” effect. As in, it’s “easier” for a mainstream Tamil audience to buy this live-in thing in Mumbai. Just like a “Salaam Namaste” was set in Australia, IIRC. Adi and Tara may be Tamilians, but it’s a very “un-Tamil-culture” (i.e. Thamizh kalaachaaram) thing they’re doing, and so it’s easier (from a mainstream cinema POV) if they do it outside Tamil Nadu.
Two, dramatically too, this makes it easier. They’re away from family, so it’s easier to live in.
Though I can’t help imagining how much more fun and rooted this film would have been set in Chennai. We could have still have had Bhavani aunty saying “Madras” and Adi correcting her saying “Chennai, not Madras.” Plus, imagine the fun with nosy maami-like neighbours wondering about these two 🙂
A “Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya” works because it’s a very Madras film about a very Madras boy. Take the Tamilian out of Madras, and you have a Chennai boy like Aadi – a metrosexual who fits easily in Mumbai.
But then again, I guess Mani Ratnam was not going for any kind of realism at all — given the decor and the colours and everything. It’s a lavish, fun fantasy.
Pranesh: Actually, from the comments I got the sense that the mere existence of these “greatest hits” was a problem, and people didn’t even get to a point where they were evaluating how well (or not) the rehashes were done. Anyway…
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Saurabh
April 20, 2015
Rangan: SIr, how you would you compare OKK with other Indian rom-coms from the last 15 years or so…my favourite Indian rom-com from this period remains Socha Na Tha so I wanted to know how does this Rathnam fare against that Ali one?!
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uniquebluerose
April 20, 2015
BRJi…GM being beat for reusing his greatest hit but not here…May be because his even greatest hit was neither here nor there!!!! Neither was it ation cop story was it total rom com or even full bown romance!!! Enjoyable but not as much as MR’s rehash
But on closeer look OKK is rehash of so many thing form Mrs films….
Its like 50-50 of Micheal/Arujun of Ayutha Ezuthu and Karthick of Alipayuthey and a 50-50 of Meera and Geeta of Ayutha ezhutut are the Adi and Tara here!!!!
Oye! the way they both first address each other reminded me of SRK from Dil Se!!!
Confession in face of tragedy/Train flirting …alll of Alaipayithey
But I still did not like the marriage in the end…spoiled the whole effect for me!!!
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Saurabh:As far as “meat” goes — i.e. characterisation, plot development, etc. — I would definitely rate “Socha Na Tha” higher. I really love that movie.
But OKK cannot be dismissed so easily either. It is a really hard movie to dislike, because there’s so much sensory pleasure to be derived — especially on the big screen.
Also, from a film-analysis POV, the screenplay is a marvel. (Not the story or plot, but the screenplay.) It’s so organic, so smooth — at some point I wouldn’t be surprised it was taught in film schools as an example of how to make a 2:20 hr movie about practically nothing at all but people hanging out.
Also, for people like me invested in Mani Ratman’s oeuvre, there are many things to look out for. For instance, this director’s unshakeable resolve to empower his women, given them agency, make them the drivers of plot, with the men just hanging around cutely (Alaipaaythey, OKK) or mutely (Mouna Raagam) is always a thing to celebrate in the context of mainstream Tamil cinema.
This may seem a light thing when you watch only the big Tamil films, or when you watch Hindi films too (many of which frankly are much bolder/with more meat) — but if you look at what something like OKK represents in the context of “mainstream Tamil cinema”, it’s certainly something.
But again, the dilemma. With a lesser/newer filmmaker, all this would be enough. But with Mani Ratnam…?
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Shankar
April 20, 2015
There’s a lot being discussed here and I wanted to add some observations besides the ones mentioned. I thought PC was great in this film and I enjoyed many of the frame compositions and angles. One of the earliest ones was when Dulquer enters the house for the first time and Prakashraj is reading a paper or something…only he is lit differently in that shot from the sunshine peering through the window slats, that was superb. Some of the angles with lead pairs or going up stairs etc. were pretty interesting. It was fun to see PC do a wholesome experience than being in your face. Secondly, I was blown away by the music. The okayish songs sounded great on screen and the bgm was pitch perfect for most parts. One scene I enjoyed a lot and smiled to myself was the clinic scene where the bgm progression was very interesting. Even the haphazard Attakara song was superbly used in the film and blended well. It’s obvious that Mani and ARR are in perfect sync.
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JK
April 20, 2015
@BR my exact point. Had it been anybody else then I don’t think people would’ve accepted it. I think the majority of us have a soft corner for MR. Also MR doesn’t remake his classics rather he reinvents it. So even if we are familiar with the premise it’s still fresh and enjoyable. GVM doesn’t do that. Also GVM tries to repeat himself quite frequently without exploring other genres (except nadunisi naaigal and to an extent VA) that’s why it’s get boring after a point.
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Shobha
April 20, 2015
Mani Ratnam is highly overrated. He never creates new characters. The male and female protagonists are all the same (with new actors playing them). Compare him to great writers like Austen, Tolstoy and Bronte who actually troubled to invent original characters in each work !
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Rahini David
April 20, 2015
BR: I haven’t read the review properly yet and will do so after watching the movie. Ditto the comment section. But based on what I already know, Rathnam has taken very small bits of about 10 movies and woven them in a new pattern. It is a well-made remix and has a flavour of its own. GVM seems to have a vauge outline for (romance & cuteness )+ (action & revenge). He seems to just take the outline and recolour it with slightly different shades. It is like looking at different versions of the scream by edvard munch. What you felt about it the first time and what you feel about it the fifth time may be different. But it is going to be because you are changing as a person and not because he re-thought it enough.
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Pranesh
April 20, 2015
@Shobha: I think it’s your problem if you’re putting Mani Ratnam in the same plane as Austen and Tolstoy 🙂
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Interesting point:
If Mani Ratnam thought the idea of a live-in could hold audience interest, he ought to see how recent movies like Pizza have treated it in a casual, understated manner. Pizza looks at a live-in relationship and the pregnancy as a matter of fact. It seems to reflect contemporary Tamil society’s mores in an easy, natural manner. There is nothing strained about it.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/When-the-formula-becomes-a-fossil/articleshow/46982367.cms
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Prasad
April 20, 2015
Hi BR,
“If Mani Ratnam thought the idea of a live-in could hold audience interest, he ought to see how recent movies like Pizza have treated it in a casual, understated manner”
Yes. In fact you can see even “Shuddh Desi Romance” in which Sushant has a live in with Parineeti which has been portrayed very casually. And important to note that the movie is not set in Jaipur not even in a MEtro. But the success of “Ok” is they don’t make a great deal of that “live in” and it has been treated casually.
Also the best thing is he got back the magic in picturization of the songs which is really pleasing. It’s been a long due. Was pleasatly surprised by “maula” and “paranthu Sellava” but again he doen’t bring a dream sequence like “Pachai Nerame” and there is a reality associated with songs as it goes with the movie. This is what missed offlate in his previous . That Visual Mastery.
Do you think can this be a new “genre” of rom com for Tamil Cinema something like “Notting hill| or “Before sunrise”.Maybe we start getting more Heroines character’ s who are not “loosu ponnu’s and just NORMAL GIRLS and Heroes who can ACTUALLY stand on the ground always and hang around like how men always do. 🙂
Your thoughts please
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Shobha
April 20, 2015
@Pranesh, You are missing my point. Why isn’t self-plagiarism criticised in cinema? It is heavily frowned upon in other artistic or scientific endeavours. But we are giving Ratnam a free pass because his works are palatable.
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Qalandar
April 20, 2015
I waited until I’d seen the movie before I read your review (mercifully, unlike Kadal, this one released with subtitles in Bombay). Truth be told, I wish you had said more about the film’s lovely visuals — specifically, its visuals of Bombay (really, he should have called THIS film “Bombay”)…but your point about “drama” (or lack thereof) is spot on, and ultimately makes this a slighter film than I wish it were, although one with a great personality. It’s almost as if Ratnam’s natural instinct of obliquely suggesting drama rather than tackling it head on (one of my favorite examples of this is Mammooty heading home in the train when his first wife dies in Iruvar) ate up the drama in OKK.
That being said, as an ode to Bombay, I could forgive this film much: you don’t see anything like it in the work of Bollywood filmmakers, most of whom seem to see Bombay as something to be wished away rather than celebrated…
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kainattu
April 20, 2015
The couple in Pizza who are in a live-in relationship are Christians ? (not sure about this ).So has the Tamil society’s mores really eased considerably or were the films made earlier that had christian characters usually a Mary or a Stella who were ‘different’ less subtle than the ones made these days which leaves it to the audience to pick the nuance
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sanjana
April 20, 2015
Qalandar: you don’t see anything like it in the work of Bollywood filmmakers, most of whom seem to see Bombay as something to be wished away rather than
Ghar ki murgi daal baraabar.
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Srinivas R
April 20, 2015
Not watched the movie yet , but regarding the general chatter about Live-in relationship , I don’t think our society ( here I mean India with its nosy neighbors and endless relatives)has yet accepted live-in as a “normal” relationship. How many live-in couples do we know in our circle of friends and relatives and what has been the reaction of people arround the couple?
Even in my group of “modern” young friends( 25-35 age group) who have travelled a lot for studies and work , live-in is still seen as a step towards a commitment of marriage, sort of testing the water , it either breaks up ( as some romances do) or goes to the next step of marriage. I think we are letting the influence of Hollywood movies and Sitcoms color our expectation as to what our movies should depict about live-in relationship.
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brangan
April 20, 2015
“Madras Male”
As Mani Ratnam reconnects with the Zeitgeist, a POV from those of us who were there from the beginning:
http://tinyurl.com/jvse24c
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Gradwolf
April 20, 2015
Not sure about taking Pizza as an example to illustrate those points. Ultimately Pizza wasn’t about that at all. It’s just there in Pizza because there was no need to flesh it out in that film. Of course kudos to Subbaraj for keeping it that way. It’s a nice attempt in showing that this is “normal” these days. But that doesn’t mean one cannot take it as a subject and explore it (how well OKK does it is a different matter altogether). By that logic we must all give up on any sort of romantic film anyway.
And comparing OKK to Hindi films is a useless exercise. Bollywood has done this a number of times and pretty well at that. There was Shuddh Desi Romance and even Love Aaj Kal. It’s just good to have something like this in Tamil. We don’t get this very often. We only had Raja Rani that people claimed was this generation’s Mouna Raagam. The horror.
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Suganth
April 20, 2015
Baradwaj: Regarding the comparison with Pizza, I think it’s unfair because today, the cultural climate w.r.t. Tamil films is a lot different than what it was just a couple of years ago. After Vishwaroopam, every sort of fringe group is waiting with knives out, looking for the next easy kill, just to get a bit of publicity and political mileage. So, I think there is a reason why Mani Ratnam did not go beyond a cursory exploration (if one can call it that) of live-in relationship. A ‘culture’ group attacking Mani Ratnam makes news, while the same group objecting to a newbie director will not make any waves. It is very similar to how Kamal could not title his film Sandiyar while an unknown did and got away with it last year.
And even if Mani Ratnam had wanted to, the people around him would have cautioned him. And, unlike during Iruvar, he could not afford a controversy this time around because of how badly Raavanan and Kadal performed at the box office. So, we get a ‘greatest hits’ instead, just to show that he can still ‘connect’ with today’s audiences.
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Aravindan R
April 20, 2015
I had trouble with the “lack of drama” too. It was like eating a large quantity of delicious dessert in place of a full meal. Uninteresting after a point.
The Mouna raagam ‘conflict’ is reversed in OK kanmani.
Mouna raagam is about
“mandram vandha thendralukku manjam vara nenjamillayo..” .
OK Kanmani is
“manjam vandha thendralukku mandram vara nenjamillayo..” !
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Aravindan R:: Arre wah! This has got to be the comment of the thread. Thank you.
More fodder for the “greatest hits” compilation.
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Shankar
April 20, 2015
I can’t seem to recall the maula song in the film at all….when does it occur? I’m suspecting it was chopped away here! 😦
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Shankar: In Ahmedabad? In that mosque-like structure? Not there when you saw it?
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Just Another Film Buff
April 20, 2015
Off topic: Saw half an hour or so of this film called DROHI on TV yesterday. Have you seen it? (I don’t seem to find a review).
I was pleasantly startled by the early few scenes (after which it goes into certified bonkers territory) and was strongly reminded of Mani Ratnam, especially THALAPATHY. I just looked up the director. Apparently Mani sir’s one-time assistant. No wonder.
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Just Another Film Buff
April 20, 2015
Now you made me search “Drohi Baradwaj Rangan”
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Just Another Film Buff: That’s Sudha’s film. Strong homages to Mani Ratnam there. Found the film quite okay. Quite strong visually.
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Pravin
April 20, 2015
In a reverse analogy and complete contrast to views on this film as a feel good rom-com, i would say this was Mani Ratnam’s most serious film to date. In the sense that this deals with the current youth who don’t want to be dragged into drama, melodrama, hyper whatevs…. So it takes lots of guts to bring that on screen with no silly frills. Can you imagine a film like Bombay – with a climax of Arvindswamy cajoling people to give up violence – working today? Or the `weightless’ love of Karthik-Revathy in Mouna Ragam? [wait guys, there’s lot of common spark there and here in this film. But that was short-lived. A pertinent end to an infatuation.]
We see the new Mani Ratnam here. The one who is more discerning and sensible to the type of audience he wants to reach out to. Even when an appeasement is reached in OKK between Adhi and Tara, they are still ready to leave each other for their careers but held on to the commitment called love, companionship and marriage (in that order). Mani Ratnam’s most revealing and serious film ever on human relationships..
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Moss (@geekylinner)
April 20, 2015
Am I missing something here? I feel this movie is TERRIBLY dated portrayal of the “young generation”, which was fine in the Alaipayuthey times, but it’s really getting irritating now. The details were so poorly worked out, like I couldn’t help but cringe through the game subplot. And I was clinging on to the hope that Mani won’t at least take the “and they got married and lived happily ever after” route. So Tara rightly asks Aadhi’s sister in law if it’s all about a contract and somehow her entire philosophy goes out of the window just like that? And the “Mental Manadhil” dance at the end, good god. Some fine moments here and there doesn’t make it any better as a movie.
On the plus side, found cinematography to be truly brilliant, but PCS must be sick of hearing that over and over again, so I’ll spare him the trouble.
I thought Shuddh Desi Romance tackled the whole deal of relationships way, WAY better. And it had the guts to see it through despite not trying too hard to be “urban” or “upper class”.
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Karthik
April 20, 2015
brangan It’s very focused about who it is targeting, and at least one segment of that “who” is discernible from Aadhi’s surname – Varadarajan – and the Thyagaraja and Annamacharya compositions that pop up on the soundtrack.
Actually I dont believe thats the reason. I think the “Varadarajan” last name and the Carnatic background were chosen as an easy way to justify the orthodoxy of the characters and consequent opposition to a live-in relationhip without having the characters to explain it. Of course, the Carnatic background also provided the opportunity to tell the story of the fusion of traditional and modern values musically as well.
*** SPOILERS AHEAD***
jussomebody that stretch in the clinic was also a thoroughly unnecessary gag that belonged in a different film.
I think the clinic stretch was not meant to be an out-of-place gag. It had to do with the hero not letting down his “easygoing” facade and ignoring anything that bores deeper than the upper-crust of his emotions. As someone who loves him would want to, Tara tried to get Adi to emote in different instances: the ice-cream scene, the clinic, and the scene following his disappearance when she took a selfie that cried out for him to acknowledge that anger exists. But these scenes were made with such light touches that they dont really add up, and the clinic scene in particular with the funky music and the Kanika bit didnt let us penetrate Adi’s character.
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Okay. What I mean by that “Varadarajan” line is this:
This film isn’t afraid to zoom in on a segment of society and stay true to that milieu. I’m not saying that this movie is made for Tam-Brahms. I am saying that it is not afraid to unapologetically include them — and also other “south Madras types” — in its purview, unlike other films dread courting this audience.
Given the mortal fear our filmmakers have of courting the upper class audiences (and yes, also what’s called the upper castes), I’m saying this is a remarkable thing.
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VenkateswaranGanesan (@_Drunkenmunk)
April 20, 2015
Aah talking of a ‘hit package’, the finale (end credits) to me was pretty much a super-saccharine extension of Pallavi Anupallavi realized. The female lead wants to go abroad in both instances and does. Only here, she gets married. But again, can’t help but think PAP had a braver ending than OKK, especially coming 32 yrs back, and did better justice to the heroine’s character arc. One may argue there is the hero’s arc of wanting to go abroad too but hey, all the more reason for me to expect a bolder finale perhaps. Oh well…
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Ram Murali
April 20, 2015
Aravindan R –> Indeed the comment of the thread! Kalakitteenge!
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Karpagam
April 20, 2015
completely agree with shobha. self-plagiarism in small doses is acceptable but an entire film drawing only from previous work with nothing original to offer is a waste of time/resources and frankly an insult to the audience. if you do not have anything new to offer then please retire!
i watched it today and was totally disappointed. might as well have re-watched alaipayude & pudhu pudhu arthangal which were much better made. actually i have to watch some panchathantiram / kadala kadala to wash myself off this OKK.
also i really did not get why they mention kumbakonam and kaveri and cannot speak the tam that goes with it and invoke west-mambalam and go on ‘kalattu, kalattu’ when he is asking her to remove the chain towards the end. it left me confused for i thought references like kumbakonam or west-mambalam are inserted to indicate “tam-bram” but here i did not get what they were trying to tell.
we watched it in maduranthakam and two observations are
there was more crowd outside ‘kanchana-2’ !
out of the 30odd people who were watching the film with us, 2 young couple + bunch of youngsters did not care to stay beyond the intervel.
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Ramanan Varadarajan
April 20, 2015
I have not seen the movie yet – but I have one concern about the prevailing notions about the requirement of a ‘plot’ which is misconstrued (in my opinion) akin to a ‘knot or a glitch’ that someone has to resolve. Not all the genres require whats deemed to be a ‘problem statement’. What if there is no problems? All it needs is a string of interesting characters that act a certain way and steer the movie .. in a journey, and yes it has to steer towards something but not exactly a ‘problem solving exercise’. You cannot fault a movie for that. There are many many parallels in movie experiments made in arthouses and Indie classics. ‘American Graffiti’. I know we tend to question “so whats the issue?” if the events unfold are rather uninteresting. And boring the audience is the problem by itself. No problem is not a problem.
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Karpagam
April 20, 2015
ps: o kandravi kanmani!
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brangan
April 20, 2015
Got this on Whatsapp 🙂
Thaali katti vaazndha – Alaipaayudhe
Thaali kattaama vaazndha – OK Kanmani
Thaali kattiyum vaazhaama irundha – Mouna Raagam
Thaali kattitu purshuna loutitu poita – Roja.
Thaali katitu pondatiya loutitu poita – Ravan
Ratnamda……..Mani Ratnam 🙏😝
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palanisamya
April 20, 2015
Dear BR,
Enjoyed the review and comment section as usual.
Saw this on Whatsap: (though I do not agree with it but that does not mean it’s not funny!)
தாலி கட்டி அவரவர் வீட்டில் வாழ்ந்தால் – அலைபாயுதே
தாலி கட்டாம வாழ்ந்தால் – ஓ காதல் கண்மணி
தாலி கட்டியும் வாழாமல் இருந்தால் – மௌன ராகம்
இன்னொருவன் தாலி கட்டிய பெண்ணை கடத்தி கொண்டு போனால் – ராவணன் தாலி கட்டலாமா வேண்டாமா என சிந்தித்தால் – கடல்
ஸ்கூல் பொண்ணுக்கு தாலி கட்டினால் – நாயகன்
ஒரு மனைவிக்கு தாலி கட்டிவிட்டு இரு மனைவியுடன் சேர்ந்து வாழ்ந்தால் – அக்னி நட்சத்திரம்
ஒரு பொண்ணுக்கு இரண்டு பேர் தாலி கட்ட நினைத்தால் – திருடா திருடா
தாலி கட்டிய புருஷனுக்காக போராடினால் – ரோஜா!
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brangan
April 20, 2015
apala: So surreal. We posted this at the same time 🙂
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Qalandar
April 20, 2015
Aaaaaargh, in a weird Freiudian slip referred to Mohanlal as Mammooty in Iruvar — shoot me now!
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Ravi K
April 20, 2015
The older couple reminded me a lot of Michael Haneke’s “Amour,” in which an elderly classical pianist suffers a stroke and her husband has to take care of her through her increasingly degenerative condition.
I didn’t have a problem with them getting married at the end, but I think a better ending would have had a note of ambivalence after the wedding. He leaves for the US, she leaves for Paris and the film ends there. The animation at the end shows us a Cliffs Notes version of everything happening afterwards, filtering out any ambivalence or open-endedness from the film.
Did anyone see the film “The Five Year Engagement?” It’s about an engaged couple. Jason Segel is a chef, and Emily Blunt is a psychology grad student. Segel misses out on the chance to be head chef at a restaurant at home because he agrees to move to Michigan, where Blunt was accepted to a post-graduate program. She’s happy in the program, but he’s miserable because he can’t get any work similar to what he was doing back home. The film is about the situation in which both people in a couple have dreams, but they can’t be fulfilled in the same place, and how one person has to compromise for the other and deal with the situation. OKK had the beginnings of that with the dueling ambitions of going to Paris vs. going to the US. That in itself could be another movie, and it would be something new for Tamil cinema.
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sanjana
April 20, 2015
Aaaaaargh, in a weird Freiudian slip referred to Mohanlal as Mammooty in Iruvar — shoot me now!
Kya farak padta hai. A rose by any name……..
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Gautam Mahadevan
April 20, 2015
Darling brangan: “praveen swaminathan: But rural/urban is more a function of WHERE people are from, right? Even in an urban environment, you could have a lower-class section — say, the ones we see in Selvaraghavan’s or Bala’s film”
Based on lifestyle you divide people into “UPPER” class and “LOWER” class A? Nice feelings, nice mindset. Appreciate it!
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Praveen
April 20, 2015
Dear BR,
Forget about drama and melodrama this story revolves with “internal conflicts” of characters and not “external conflicts”. (Refer here for more : http://wp.me/p1SWNM-hf ). There is nothing at stake here externally. It is all happening internal to the character. I agree that this is not the best structure but Mani Ratnam has taken this as a challenge and created this story completely with internal conflicts. (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset.. types) and yet he made it appealing to commercial audience. They celebrate it. What you say is like a food should have definite amount of sugar, definite amount of bitterness, definite amount of spice. If a food is prepared with anything less, or without spice it is labelled as not so tasty food. But I see the majority audience enjoying this taste.
There are no cheap screen writing tool involved here like lead character meeting with accident, father passing away etc etc. Even Bhavani aunty is not used as cheap tool. She does not go missing at the climax, increase the dramatic tension to peak. The audience were revealed that she went missing in the middle of the story, the same happens again with some heightened intensity. No truck hits Bhavani aunty, she is not in hospitals, she is still the same when she returns home. Nor the lead pairs travel to different places. Their problem is the anxieties and fears they have in their mind before they separate. The whole story runs with internal conflict with less or no space to external conflicts. No one is a serious threat to the lead pair except their choices (Choices, read here as commitment phobic for Dulqueer, Nithya has a negative feeling about marriage because of her parents and the materialistic arrangements for marriage, she is not really a commitment phobic, she is a “paradox”. This gets clear when she talks with Prakash Raj sitting on the veranda and also when she asks Dulquer to come to Paris as he tells her to come with him to U.S.
I agree that marriage is not a solution to every problem in a movie. But here things are different. The boy is ambitious and so the girl in their respective career choices. They need each other but their aspirations differ. Their career choices take them to different places. Obviously there is no living together in long distant relationships. I would like to quote the ideologies of C S Lewis. He says like this. “Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also many things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go“
With marriage as the driving engine they can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. It moved them to a commitment and their relationships gets an identity.
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Prasanna
April 20, 2015
Someone commented that Mumbai in PC’s POV is refreshing and better than that in most Bollywood flicks. Definitely second that, but I wish MR had shown some love to the architecture in Mumbai. It would have tied in well with the fact that Tara is an architect and would have been an ode to the city.
The beach, malls and Gateway of India were over-utilized.
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Ram Murali
April 20, 2015
Shabaa…thaanga mudiyala…
(Typing with tongue firmly planted in cheek! To be read that way too!)
Dear Mr. Rangan,
On behalf of the self-anointed MPG (Not Miles Per Gallon but Moral Police Group), I hereby request you to refrain from using the word “class” in any of your write-ups. You may use the word “mass” but it has to be a discussion on weight (e.g., body mass index).
Also, please do not mention “urban” vs “rural” either. Because we will not tolerate anyone bringing their own backgrounds or experiences to add flavor to their write-ups. You may recall some people not being able to digest your positive review of “Vaaranam Ayiram.”
Do not mention any caste either. It has been brought to our attention that you have mentioned “brahmins” in some of your reviews. Please do not mention any sub sects either.
That pretty much leaves with you “male” and “female.” And, even when you do that, you are not to mention with any degree of affection the past work of any Directors. If we sense that you are reviewing works like “Kadal” favorably, we will accuse of you wanting to be in the good books of people who are wiling to have “conversations” with you.
In essence, our request is to not bring any subjectivity (to something that is inherently subjective in nature) to your write-ups. That pretty much leaves you with the option of stating bare facts. For that we can always stick to wikipedia. You could be a contributor there. Kindly consider our request to switch careers.
Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely,
The MPG
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sanjana
April 20, 2015
Bollywood usually dont have castes. They are usually punjabis. Mehras, Saxenas, Kapoors,Singhanias, Singhs etc. etc. balle balle.
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kadhalyaanai
April 21, 2015
Instead of looking it as a ultra light weight love story of youth, why can’t we look at it as a comparison of love thru three generations..
First generation is Ganapathy Uncle and Bhavani Aunty, who was in my opinion the best of three pairs shown in the movie, Love which starts in 70s with Love letters, pure at heart and stable till now showing that true love is not making passionate love at 20s its about caring for one another when they are incapacitated at 80s.
The second generation is Adi’s brother Vasu, (although shown for very little time) is the quintessential 90s Arranged marriage couple. They had their own aspirations buried under adjusting each others life for one another, they can understand the present generations love and commitment free relationship but they have difficulty accepting it until its rubber stamped with marriage.
The third generation is the ticket selling enchanting, (making single boys jealous) current generation Tara and Aadi. They are superficial, tech saavy, impatient, not strong in their ideals and easily influenced by physical intimacy..
I think thats what Mani Rathnam tried to show..
But the real kudos goes to ARR’s seamless BGM which blended right into every situation and made us feel totally at home..
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Karthik
April 21, 2015
brangan Oh..my bad…I read that sentence in the review with the last name reference and the target audience, and mistook the correlation induced through your writing for implied causation in the screenwriting.
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oneWithTheH
April 21, 2015
IMO, some uninspired casting has been a problem in his recent “failures”.
Guru – AB Jr, Ash
Ravanan – AB Jr, Ash(Vikram though was good)
Kadal – Karthik Jr and Radha Jr
They simply didn’t work for me at all.
This lended a non-Mani like quality to these movies. My perception of it was as if the material wasn’t good enough and they required stars/star kids to carry them through to the audiences.
Surprising, since Mani is quite capable of extracting excellent performances(Rajini in Thalapathi comes to mind).
Kannathil, Alaipayuthey, Ayutha Ezhuthu– all had a good cast who were “actors” and not “stars”/”star kids”. AE wasn’t quite convincing and it did have a star kid in Esha. That movie started the downward trend for Mani I think.
Good to see that trend being reversed with OKK. A big reason for it to work was because the cast felt like people we could relate to with no star baggage associated.
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oneWithTheH
April 21, 2015
ohh, and the songs in OKK! they weren’t sounding great for a standalone album but the picturization and placement in the movie couldn’t have been better. it felt imtiaaz ali-ish. I think his Rockstaar was the benchmark in recent times on how to put good use of a sumptuous music album in a movie.
Hopefully, Mani has finally moved on from the outlandish Adiye choreo days. He of all people would have realized that. Whattay disaster that was. I loved the track on audio but started hating even the audio after I saw the video!
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chandra prakash
April 21, 2015
Waiting to see the movie ….questions to those who have watched and to BR , is this the first Indian movie depicting a live in relationships s it’s being projected ? Or is it the first Tamil movie, if I remember “Salaam Namaste” was first, cleverly even Bollywood chose Australian backdrop since it was fist time for Indian movie. But wasn’t Pizza which had the two living in together premarital…and what’s so much hoopla about the way how Vairamuthu making statements about marriage institution being rewritten in 20 years and MR;s OKK being a icebreaker ….oru alave illaiya…….I am an hard core MR fan….and i believe positively that OKK will be a good movie for me.
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rahulandrd
April 21, 2015
I think BR tried his best to like this film or at least this is what I could conclude after reading this review.
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Raj Balakrishnan
April 21, 2015
@Karpagam, even Mani Ratnam’s worst work will be a million times better than Kanchana 2. The fact that Kanchana is drawing more crowd indicates that people in rural tamil nadu prefer loud, crass movies. I don’t know why Mani Ratnam bothers to make movies in Tamil with its limited urban audience. Movies like Ok have to be made in Hindi in order to reach out to wider urban audience.
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Rahini David
April 21, 2015
Ram Murali: Exactly what I wanted to say. It is not even that they say that he is classist or casteist or sometimes even sexist, it is that they pour out their own casteism with so much venom. It is like they think any brahmin should be ashamed to admit his caste and hide it in all possible ways.
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Reuben
April 21, 2015
This is the first Mani (Sir) film that I felt the balance between style and substance has been entirely skewed in favour of style.
The concept of Live in relationships is such a gold mine for dishing out conflicts and dramas especially if the protagonists are two independent minded people. This movie did not even try to take a peek at such a fertile ground. The only conflict that is dealt with really is whether “to marry or not to marry”
An earlier Maniratnam would have hit a massive home run with such a subject at hand.
Sigh… I guess the creative juices do dry up as you age.
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Santosh Balakrishnan
April 21, 2015
BR: Regarding, your link to TOI column and PIZZA example, could not agree more..
most of MR movies are glossy for sure.. but u scratch a bit deeper you realize there is not much depth to it.. its his compulsive need to compromise (either an item song or disconnected humor like in AN) as compared to breaking the boundaries.. but he managed to do this compromise so brilliantly until 2000 (i guess audience evolved more than what he presumed) that we considered his movies as benchmark.. in terms of visual may be yes, but in terms of content mostly clichéd..
the biggest give away of this behavior happened when he made Iruvar (still my favorite movie of his alongside Nayagan (only cos I cant put KH lower :)))… was his best chance to break barriers and venture into a new territory.. but unfortunately backed out and compromised as usual..
as my bro mentioned despite being considered on of the best, unfortunately he had to pick an urban love story with nothing much to tell (cos he decided dint want to) to make people go gaga bout his return to form..
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Anu
April 21, 2015
Today, someone mentioned that when Tara stands on the swing in “Parandhu sellavaa” it’s like Amala in “Thoongadha vizhigal rendu…”
Addition to greatest hit package – that shot of nithya with red lipstick in dil se and alaipayuthey too? I remember manisha s face in the dil se re song more vividly.
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bart
April 21, 2015
Incase you’ve missed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUPQ6c45rpQ
Madhan who normally does a vazha vazha kozha kozha interview, manages to get lots of insights from Mani. Inshort, it was close to a watching experience of a chapter about”OK kanmani” in Conversations with Maniratnam 🙂
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Shankar
April 21, 2015
One sentence verdict….Pottu vaitha kadhal thittam OK Kanmani! 🙂
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Qalandar
April 21, 2015
Here’s a link to my own piece on the film: http://qalandari.blogspot.in/2015/04/o-kadhal-kanmani-tamil-2015.html (Thanks for the invite Baradwaj!)
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Saurabh
April 21, 2015
Off-topic, but I wanted to highlight this because I really found it interesting- Atul Sabharwal, the director of Aurangzeb (and the recent doc In Their Shoes) has a blog where he puts screenshots of various films…the interesting bit here is that very often important Indian (and western) mainstream/popular (though there are Art films as well- Mirch Masala for instance) films are represented there, films like Mera Gaon Mera Desh, Agneepath etc…I wanted to point this out because modern Indian filmmakers usually treat these older popular Hindi films with disdain so it’s good to see someone like Sabharwal interested in something (of course that was clear from Aurangzeb itself).. would urge folks to check it out
Here is the link to the Mera Gann Mera Desh page- https://cineframesindia.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/mera-gaon-mera-desh-1971/
Agneepath- https://cineframesindia.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/agneepath-1990/
Mirch Masala- https://cineframesindia.wordpress.com/2014/08/19/mirch-masala-1987/
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Ram Murali
April 22, 2015
bart – thank you SO MUCH for posting the link. Very, very good interview. Ratnam’s response at around the 12 min point about “drama” vs. “moments” was AWESOME.
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Madan
April 22, 2015
Given the mortal fear our filmmakers have of courting the upper class audiences (and yes, also what’s called the upper castes), I’m saying this is a remarkable thing.
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Qalandar
April 22, 2015
On the point about Mumbai serving as a “distancing” device the way Australia did in Salaam Namaste, I would disagree: I am not sure if that “distancing” works with this generation of cine-goer– that is, I don’t think Bombay has the same aspirational vibe that it used to have (especially given that even in TN Mani is after an urbane and urban crowd — ie it isn’t as if this film is pitched to the (real or imagined) small-towner who imagines “such things happens in Bombay”… it’s targeted to the sort of Tamil film viewer who is conditioned to accept this sort of thing (at least in cinema), who probably watches films in at least two languages, and so on.
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Qalandar
April 22, 2015
Re: “Though I can’t help imagining how much more fun and rooted this film would have been set in Chennai. We could have still have had Bhavani aunty saying “Madras” and Adi correcting her saying “Chennai, not Madras.””
I do think there is an important reason for Mumbai/Bombay as opposed to Chennai/Madras: the latter does not carry the same right-wing valence that the earlier shift does, and given Ratnam’s own liberalism and the specific films he has made (one of which was of course toned down due to Bal Thackeray’s strong-arming him) it is hard for me to think that wasn’t on his mind. The immediate transition to the Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad (the only portion of the film not set in Bombay) was also a bit hard to miss, at least for me (given the politics of Gujarat’s tourism campaign over the last decade or so, where sites associated with Muslims have been conspicuously ignored, the ruling right-wing dispensation evidently not wanting any Islamic fragrance in “Khushboo Gujarat ki” (the Rani ki Baoli is an exception, but the Jama Masjid has been conspicuous by its absence; in fact I remember a news article on a tourist brochure published by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation that itself omitted the Jama Masjid; don’t know if that particular bit is true though). In true Mani Ratnam fashion I doubt he has thought this through in the way one would a polemic — it’s more like a tremor his radar picks up, and consistent with his skepticism of the state over the last couple of decades (in films like Dil Se, Raavan/Raavanan, and perhaps even Aayutha Ezhuthu/Yuva) — a far cry from “Roja” indeed.
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Qalandar
April 22, 2015
The constant racking up of “greatest hits” can be overdone: more than one famous director has visual motifs that recur from film to film, even if they don’t “mean” much (Scorsese’s women making entries in white, anyone?) I experienced these moments in OKK in that vein, as Ratnam’s calling card. To cite them as evidence of laziness is misguided (there might be OTHER reasons to call him out on laziness, but deployment of “signs” that have long been part of the Ratnam symbolic universe — from films past, the number “2”; the umbrella; the sea; the woman who surprises the man with the obviousness of her desire, are probably the most meaningful — is not one of them)…
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brangan
April 22, 2015
Qalandar: About the “greatest hits” thing, I don’t think anyone here is saying it’s a lazy thing. It’s in fact a good thing if a director has such strong signatures that they instantly show up as “hit.”
At least my intention behind the “greatest hits” categorisation is simply a fun, cine-philic, listing exercise.
And it is interesting to compare/contrast between films of an auteur, as I’ve done in my book. No one but him knows why these were done, but for the viewer it’s fun to trace the little signatutres.
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Shvetha
April 22, 2015
I loved the movie! It’s been four days since I watched it but the general cheer and joy I came out with have not dissipated (despite the interference of daily life, etc.). I, for one, did not miss the drama at all. In fact, I didn’t even view the live-in relationship as the issue that ought to have been explored more. To me, it was about two individuals falling in love despite themselves and all the moments that make that journey. So it worked perfectly, beautifully. I hear so much (well-deserved) adulation for Nithya Menen, but as fan-girl, I feel duty-bound to point out that Dulquer was every bit as amazing! Notice how he responds to Tara’s “appo rendu paerukkum orey room-ah?” with “cha cha..oru roomdhan irundudu”. His performance was nuanced, and very real, especially in the scene where they search for Bhavani aunty. The anguish, the irritation at being at the receiving end of Tara’s outburst leading up to him asking her to marry him…he certainly is not just a chocolate boy!
I’d just like to add that this movie made hearts beat faster and butterflies flutter amok in at least two viewers who have each been married for at least a decade. That, to me is one successful movie.
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Dandy
April 22, 2015
Madan is here but where is MANK, Berlin Branga’s other son.
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Priyangu
April 22, 2015
Slightly off topic. Yesterday I got a link to kinda flaming review about OK Kanmani from an NRI dad (who stays out of India physically half the year, and mentally the rest of the year.) Sometime ago I got a similar highly critical comment from another friend, another NRI, for the Shush Desi Romance movie. My observation is, somehow, many NRI’s seem to come to a conclusion that the “whole” society has now started producing whores (girls having pre-marital sex). Earlier I used to get worked up by these kind of comments. Now, I’m totally amused. Why can’t NRI’s take these things lightly (and logically)? I don’t understand. Is it because they see Indian society only through films? And why do they bother about us even if we were to produce a society full of sluts? They are no longer Indian citizens, so why bother about our society?
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Rahini David
April 22, 2015
Priyangu: Link please. Yes it is because they see this world through the only window available to them and yes it is not their business. They want a sort of “autograph” world. They will move out and change but their past town should remain beautifully unchanged for them to come here occasionally nostagalise, condescend and go back to their country smugly.
No place is going to remain in the 80s just because they left it during the 80s. They should learn to deal with it.
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Shalu
April 22, 2015
good review sir
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sanjana
April 22, 2015
Not all NRIs are permanent residents. Some of them comeback so that their kids wont become like western kids in their outlook and behaviour.
I have seen how they guard their culture by forming groups, by having cultural events, celebrating Indian festivals and serving coffee, tea instead of usual drinks.
Middleclass societies wont allow live in couples in their midst even in mumbai. Even now filmstars cant buy flats in certain high end societies.
NRIs usually wont invite live in couples for events and they react with them minimally.
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sanjana
April 22, 2015
I think basically rebel themes attract and create sensationalism in the arts.
As political rebel themes have become too dangerous, we have soft rebel themes like attacking godmen, attacking marriage etc. though this will not bring revolution on a large scale. Those who are serious about rebelling dont have time to watch films. They are rather on the field. People who watch message oriented films forget the message when the next film arrives.
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Pady Srini
April 22, 2015
Watched today. And I went with a very open mind, as I still am a big fan of MR. But this was disappointing. Not having big drama, screenplay etc is fine. But one has to feel for the leads. And there was nothing for me. The first half, I was just waiting for something interesting to happen – maybe even a joke. The second half was ok but nothing stood out. I am not even bringing up the obvious rehashes of his past movies in many scenes. Maybe the climax where the Alzheimer’s lady gets lost had something going, but again that was not a convincing reason for them to get married ( it might be convincing for the leads but the idea of a movie is to convince the audience that the leads are right ).
I know the MR fans really would like him to be BACK ( so do I ) but rediscovering oneself is the toughest thing to do. And he is just over the hill. I feel the current audience requires more intelligent movies mixed with emotions. As somebody rightly said, in today’s day and age, the movie Bombay will be considered boring.
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palanisamya
April 23, 2015
Dear BR,
off-topic, but as always interesting read!
http://postimg.org/gallery/bcabkka8/
(Vikatan Next week -4/29/15- interview)
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nomad
April 23, 2015
Lack of drama is very characteristic of the lead characters and their story line . Seriously , one has the to be in their twenties in 2010s to realise that.There is absolutely no drama in our lives.
What is very endearing about Maniratnam is the standards he sets for his male characters. In tamil cinema eve teasing and sexual abuse is passed off as romance. A guy has to earn a girl’s love and it is a timeless thumb rule . Tara might push against traditions but still she expects her man to possess the virtues of ganapathy . These sensibilities of MR set him apart. Maybe that is why his romantic stories always work .
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Priyangu
April 23, 2015
Rahini David, I deliberately refrained from posting the link because the review was in a religion-based blog site where that writer is a regular contributor of religious articles. This OKK review that he wrote was a one-off dump of his opinion, as he is not a regular movie-buff. He had painstakingly sent the link in an email to me and a few others, as I don’t normally read his other blogs voluntarily. The reason it prodded me to out pour my feelings here was that he had mentioned in the review that he was writing that review urgently soon after he saw the movie (in US), so that people are aware of the negative impact of it (like too much sex before marriage etc) and so should refrain from encouraging such movies (by not watching it). I was like “what the ….?” 🙂
Anyway, thanks for the response. My soul shall rest in peace! 🙂
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B Chandrashekar
April 23, 2015
A lot of comparisons are being made with alaipayuthey and siddarth/Trisha of ayutha ezhuthu.. But there are some parallels that could be drawn with surya/deol part too and their live in relationship ( though Mani didn’t threw it in our face, it was more like mentioned in passing).. Michael asks his girlfriend to live in with him because ‘marriage is for the society’ and ultimately she moves in with him (though she initially asks, “Yaaru room la, un Amma room la ya, thanga room la ya”.. He replies ” en room la”).. One difference though is, in AE it was a committed relationship while in OKK, they both knew that they had to part ways..
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DilSe
April 23, 2015
One thing which stuck me was how much Mani sir is involved in this movie’s promotion. Lot of interviews based on this standards 🙂 He has always been publicity shy to the point of being a recluse.
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Shankar
April 23, 2015
So, from what I can see, a religious bigot, who happens to be a part NRI and an infrequent movie watcher, pens a flaming review and the entire NRI community gets crucified. To boot, normally sensitive and logical commenters also join the crusade. Wow!
It’s so easy to stereotype all NRIs. Why is there so much angst towards NRIs? Usually it ranges from being defensive about an observation on India or being overly aggressive towards them at other times. The fact is, pros and cons exist everywhere, in India and abroad. We all make our choices for our own reasons. I understand that the said NRI made some arbitrary opinions but that’s the opinion of one person not all NRIs. There is good and bad everywhere. And as for the claim of seeing the world only through one window, at least the NRIs can claim to have looked at both sides of the coin!
Why shouldn’t NRIs bother about India and its society? By the same account, people in India should forgo anything that is a foreign brand, not watch foreign movies….you see where this is going. It’s foolish! A lot of the NRIs do a lot of good for India and its society in various ways. People forget that India and its society belong to NRIs as much as it belongs to them, whether they like it or not. Learn to deal with it!
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Pranesh
April 23, 2015
Thanks Shankar. I couldn’t have expressed my feelings as eloquently as you did.
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Siva
April 24, 2015
Playing Devil’s Advocate here. I find a parallel between the rational commenters’ rant about NRIs and the people beating BR with the “upper” class/caste stick here as well as in The Hindu comments section. Since the commenters who are aggrieved about the NRIs attitude seemed to support BR on the “upper” class/caste issue I sense a bit of hypocrisy there as well. The parallel is that of the majority view(Resident Indians in one case and “lower” class in the other) that the privileged minority(perception of the majority, not necessarily the truth) should refrain from making any statements or references that the majority consider offensive, smug, condescending etc., and taking one such statement to represent the whole section of the minority. In the case of caste, there has been a history of oppression and hence explicit references about the erstwhile privileged sections can be avoided to prevent possible miscommunication. But this rant against NRIs is misguided(Disclaimer: I am an NRI) and painting almost 15 million, oops 1.5 crores of NRIs with the same brush is akin to people here claiming BR to be casteist/elitist etc., – personal prejudice put across as truth.
Long time reader first time commenter. Sorry about the Kamal Hassan-esque answer. Starts somewhere, ends somewhere else, but goes absolutely nowhere with a healthy dose of self-aggrandizement thrown in too 🙂
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Siva
April 24, 2015
And about the movie itself, you are absolutely spot on BR. It is a very good movie with great production quality, excellent acting etc., but still lacked that drama that would have brought the characters closer. It felt like Mani was playing this inning like a cricketer playing himself back to form and confidence – potential drama scenes were kept as short as possible similar to a batsman leaving outside off deliveries alone. Yet he scores a century with 1s, 2s and the occasional boundary. It is not his best century but a century nevertheless. Hope he has regained the confidence to make his next venture a movie to cherish like Mouna Ragam, Anjali, Iruvar, Thalapathi, Nayagan etc.,
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Rahini David
April 24, 2015
Shankar / Siva: Am I the normally sensitive and logical commenter (a.k.a rational commenter) here? If so, thank you very much.
I don’t see my using “All NRIs” or “These NRIs always” in my reply, just “They”. So where is “easy to stereotype all NRIs” and “so much angst towards NRIs” coming from? Probably some people should stop taking offence when none was intended and generally take a chill pill.
That said, ‘the “whole” society has now started producing whores’ is not something I take lying down (pun unintended). I would have said the same thing even if I lived overseas for 20+ years or remained dead for 30+ years.
Siva: The parrallel you drew is interesting. But I have zero interest in NRI vs Resident debates. If any “Slut Shamers vs Non-Slut Shamers” thread opens up again, I will join the party. Currently the “Is BR confused about caste and class thread” appears juicier.
Once again, Thank you very much. Peace.
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ThouShaltNot
April 24, 2015
Isn’t NRI a caste? Somewhere in the upper echelons of the pecking order. If so, why is it shocking that these people exhibit group think?
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Madhu
April 24, 2015
Rahini: I honestly felt bad that I don’t have a WordPress account to “like” your comment. All I could do was to rate it up 🙂
BR: The new mobile layout is awesome, but not able to post comments from it, tried about six times now. I am still not sure if it is just my phone or if this is a general issue. Also, one kutty request – could you please bring the “post comment” section after the comments in the mobile layout. Currently, it lies after the post and before the comments and to post one after reading all the comments is a little awkward as one needs to scroll up. (Sorry for being a pest)
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lowlylaureate
April 24, 2015
Sorry, but we know we are late to the party (170+plus comments OMG!!), here is what we thought about Mani Ratnam’s latest Ok Kanmani. Thanks.
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Shankar
April 24, 2015
@Rahini David…Really? That’s your explanation? Sure, you can try to explain it away over a technicality but any rational person reading Priyangu’s initial comment and your immediate follow-up can clearly see what you meant. Besides, she started off about this one NRI person before commenting on the whole group and you replied “they”! You are welcome to your prejudices, as we all are, but at least stand by it.
Any rational person would feel highly repulsed by that “whole society of sluts” comment, just as I am. But that’s the opinion of one person. So, perhaps people should take a chill pill before responding so they can be lucid in their replies.
That said, I do really enjoy reading your responses because you always bring something to the discussion, except for this one time….Peace!
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Ayyappan
April 24, 2015
Enjoyed the film and the review. One line of the review (“Barring a handful of scenes, everything is organic, everything fits.”) inexplicably linked my thoughts to the church scene where the two meet and introduce themselves in whispers and sign language as the service progresses. I just want to know whether you consider this scene ‘organic’. The reason I ask is because I felt very uncomfortable as the sequence played out.
Once in church when I tried to whisper something to a friend sitting near me i had killer looks hurled at me from all over the place. I instantly dropped silent. But after a moment, when I tried to complete the sentence that I had begun earlier, the priest abruptly stopped his sermon and asked me to leave. The point is even a whisper is embarrassingly loud inside a church. And in OKK we have two people sitting in the middle of pews on either side of the nave, and separated by not a few faithful, straining to communicate from across the aisle.
I am not trying to say it is sacrilege but that it’s virtually impossible to carry on such a conversation without almost the entire faithful noticing. Profound silence, not just the ones created by the filmmaker but also the organically existing ones like the solemnity of a church, is a reality. I suppose a scene is choreographed around certain realities. Silence is as certain as anything tangible, say a moving train. Therefore, from a hard-nosed practical point of view, isn’t the setting a bit too far-fetched for a cute ‘first meeting’. (I appreciate the creative provocation to make the two marriage-phobic people meet in the background of a wedding.)
But is it that, as Maniratnam himself had said when he came to Thiruvananthapuram to promote Roja, logic should never come in the way of emotions. He was responding to an observation that he was taking his creative licence a lot far when he made the security forces take Roja to the hideout where the terrorists had kept her husband. Honestly, I still enjoy that scene; the ‘puthu vellai mazhai’ song i think begins from there. But in OKK, the setting did come in the way of my enjoyment.
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DhuBee
April 24, 2015
Not that one needs to add riders to what one feels about movies, but there is a distinct sensibility associated with each kind of cinema we make in India and Tamil films have that so much more! I have watched a very select few for this very reason ie if you dont have the sensibility you cannot appreciate it and i dont have it in me to appreciate a ROBOT/ENTHIRAN or a AAI or a SETHU. However KANNATHIL MM or IRUVAR or THEVAR MAGAN or ALAIPAAYUTHE i (notice how most of them were Mani Ratnam movies) I have enjoyed. Always considered him one of our most accomplished writer-directors who could set a story in almost any part of the country and still be able to pull it off just fine.
Alas I find that writer falter terribly here. Is he pandering to too many regional sentiments I wondered. This should have been a more universal story in both telling and filming and it seemed to hesitate. I like the protagonist is a game developer(ok that you want to be in with the new cool gang) but the effort shows the strain and ultimately falls a wee bit flat.
This has to be one of MR’s most boring films ever and I ahve not seen KADAL.
Very disappointed with the offering. At 2 hours plus this is a story that could have been a 1 hour narrative on a slot for television and probably have made a better impact.
Can the real MR please awaken and standup?
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anand krishnajeevan
April 25, 2015
excellent write up and i am late to party. i thought this was a terrific “FEEL GOOD MOVIE”. so why should we complain about lack of drama in the plot?.sometimes its good to play little safe the best thing about mani rathnam films are its accessibility for the non tamil speaking audience.the dialogues are short and effective in conveying emotions of characters. i am glad that this film had it unlike kadal.
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pravin
April 25, 2015
Many comments here have hinged on the film been less promising, boring or not having the drama punch to make it a classic. i think there is a reason why many did not subscribe to the film (though i personally feel it can be ranked in top 3 of MR)…
With regard to the perception of people residing in urban centers, it is generally believed that their thinking is more modern and forward-looking. However, they still tread carefully when it comes to making a judgement on live-in relationships. Even if we do accept that the film was made for upper middle class audience, that audience is yet to obtain clarity on this definition of man-woman relationship. So for all its forward outlook, this audience will only be reluctant to tag as right or as wrong. Maybe more wrong to side with caution when a film maker presents it to them.
One thing is clear. This film isn’t about live-in relationships alone. The bigger picture is about romance and companionship as is evident from the elderly couple’s life coming onto the center stage and given substantial screen time.
As with other brilliant films in the past – Pudhu Vasantham which dealt with friendship between man and woman, Pandavar Bhoomi which had a great song on that theme and some of KB sir’s earlier films – OK Kanmani aims to present one facet of a man-woman relationship. It was terrific on part of MR to keep out the physical side and concentrate more on the emotional aspects of relationships. The message it brought out subtly with fresh faced lead characters and the dignified humor of an elderly husband-wife. No frills. No advice. No nonsense. A film made for the 2010-2020’s. Maybe that’s why i felt OKK could be in MR’s top 3.
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auroravampirisa
April 25, 2015
I was insanely bored with this film – the only interesting couple seemed to be the older one, rather than the younger, twee-manic-pixie-couple. Everything about them seemed tedious, uninspired and absolutely messy. And not “messy” as in relationship-messy – I mean “messy” as in a hash of meet-cute events that jump-skip to petty quarrels for some reason and then end up with marriage, for some reason. I have no idea why the “tell me not to cry” scene from the dance club and similar scenes of its ilk (in the train, on the bus) were even in the film – unless they were meant to prolong OUR boredom with the thing the Adi-Tara had going.
Not saying the film is horrid, but damn, was I bored throughout except for the bits with the older couple. The only heartbreaking part of the movie regarding the younger couple was that Nithya and Dulquer acted their hearts out for this tedium. Ugh.
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Rahini David
April 26, 2015
Shankar: I should have known better than to use “they” and should have phrased it better. I am sorry I didn’t take the same time out to review my own response because I had used it from an iPad and did not have the luxury of a laptop. I should have started it with “narrow minded misogynists like him” or something. Even so your comment sounds just as mean spirited as mine does to you. But when I think that BR’s perfectly worded posts can be misread, why not my comments, I feel fine with a few folks thinking that I am a narrow minded what-not.
Madhu: After a comment that you really wanted to “like” my comment you went and created a wordpress account? That is very sweet.
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Rahini David
April 26, 2015
BR: I am curious about one thing. You must have predicted from the 180 thread or 18/9 thread that this is what will happen to your views if you use the word Brahmin. I did understand what you meant in your review about Brahmin references, but I don’t understand why you chose to write about it your review.
This is what I meant by defending the undefendable. From what I can see this caste and class discussion was completely pointless and did not make the discussion richer.
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MANK
April 26, 2015
Brangan, a little late to the comments party , but just had a great time reading them and much of what i felt has been already said in your review. So even with the tags like Brangan’s other son and brangan fanboy notwithstanding,i just didnt want to go on with ‘yes Brangan’, ‘right brangan’ ,’OK brangan’ thing. -considering all the hits your fanboys have been taking , here and elsewhere.But now that its 180+ cmts , guess nobody would grudge me taking some space here.
Watched the film for the third time and hence posting. With each viewing , i have come to like the film less and less.. So at least from my POV , this film is going to be more of a footnote rather than a milestone in MR’S illustrious career.To emphasis this, i re watched iruvar and thalapathy , 2 of my favorite MR pics in between and was still dazzled by them.
When i watched it for the first time, i really liked it – just for nithya menen alone and of course the over all feel good factor, technical,values-, but come 2nd and third viewing , the fact you mentioned about lack of drama really kicks in. you become aware of The hollowness of the totality of the product. But if we could just take it as an instance as MR’s making up film – for the audience from whom he had staid too far in his last couple of outings-, i think its a very well done pic.
As you said – no pandering, no cheap talk,targeting a niche market.- Hopefully with the confidence of Audience and Distributors in him restored, MR will try something significant next time.
Brangan, you had it all out with the surnames of the leads – and all the heat that it has generated in this post and the next-, i wonder what you make of their christian oops Hindu names.Mani always chooses meta mythic names for protagonists- like gautam & Ashok, Arjun& surya or Kartik & Shakti- wonder if you find any significance in protagonists being named Adithya and tara,- as to signify day and night(and still being the same ,scientifically i mean!) . .Leela samson being named Bhavani , who is primarily a maharashtrian deity of worship(Me thinks!) and Prakashraj is Ganapathy. There seems to be an oedipal link to that(Bhavani & ganapathy being mother and son in mythology)- as seen in the film , their marriage seems to be more like son taking care of his mother.The choice of profession of lead pair also intrigued me as both being similair and different, creative designers, but one architecture-the more rooted in reality and the other video games-more fantastical.
The hollywood pic,Notebook seems to be a key reference for MR for this movie. The older couple James garner-gena rowlands – with the women suffering from Alzheimer and the younger couple Ryan Gosling-Rachel mcadams- with a pushy manipulative mother , joan allen transposed to nithya menen’s mother- Their final discovery of total love for one another .Here MR splits them into 2 separate couples but still leave enough clues that that 2 couples could be mirror image of one another..
MR’s films have always been technically path breaking. The lighting in nayakan and agninakshathram. The way he shot close ups in thalapathy, the use of deep focus in 35 mm. in IRuvar . But his last few films have been quite lackluster on that front – they were all very well shot , but they didnt feel very cutting edge to me-.but this film breaks new ground again especially about shooting scenes in closed confined spaces- the bedroom, the kitchen , inside the church, office spaces, restaurants.Usually the films that one recommend to be watched in big screen are those big epic movies with grand sets and sweeping camera moves and caste of thousands, but this is a film that is totally devoid of all those frills, but still needs to be watched on the big screen. as you mentioned about PCS’s photography.in contrast to more flashier outings like ‘I’, this is more rooted, and to me the more magnificent.invoking mood and texture.All brightly lit frames in the beginning, and the first flash of passionate red when the enter the lodge room in ahmedabad, and the full blown red in their love nest, whatever coyness he displays in graphic details of their sex life, MR makes up in the aesthetics. MR the story writer and story teller may be facing turbulent times, but MR, the visual artist & master technician is still at the peak of his form.
Nithya menen- who is truly a knockout in the picture both in beauty and acting chops. Its a privilege to finally see a heroine in tamil cinema who dresses and speaks like a normal women, lips firmly in sync with the dialogues. I dont blame PCs camera for being so in love with her , she is lit up like a goddess in frame after frame with a white halo of light on her head .i am totally smitten and have been seeing her everywhere since i have seen the film.
A word about dulqar- somebody mentioned here about all the star jrs (AB Jr,Kartik Jr.)spoiling mani’s films and that is true to an extend, but Dulqar, being Mammootty jr, is a rare breed in his own kind.All spontaneity and ease and a 360 degrees opposite an actor to Mammootty -who is as Method an actor you can get. I think its a specialty of Malayalam star kids- Prithviraj,Fahadh fazil,vineeth srinivasan- that they create a screen presence and choose films that is totally different from that of their fathers’ and their films.
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MANK
April 26, 2015
Also its nice to be missed.Hope this answers to the questions about the whereabouts of brangans missing son. I just thought of reading &relaxing for a while rather than writing & regretting. But old habits die hard, i guess. Hope big da(n)ddy approves.
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brangan
April 26, 2015
MANK: Ha. I hope you keep visiting though, despite that new nickname. Yours is a valuable voice in these parts.
About the film, I’m seeing it a second time today. And I agree. It’s astonishing craft-wise. It’s easily one of the great “interior” films I’ve seen — and I include films from all over the world.
About the drama, yes, I guess we are in the minority. There’s a great moment before the live-in happens, when Tara tells Aadhi about her father, her family. That’s the extent of drama I wanted in the “after the live-in” phase too — a bit of tartness, a sip of lime juice to contrast with all the cotton candy. And I was puzzled that despite the closer quarters, there wasn’t anything remotely close to this moment in the second half.
PS: Reg, your mention of Malayalam actors, I saw “100 Days of Love” and “Oru Vadakkan Selfie.” I didn’t care much for the former, but I loved “Selfie.” Simply amazing screenwriting. Makes you think you’re watching a light, “Velai Illa Pattadhari” type film and then takes a sharp U-turns and goes to unexpected places. I was stunned by the way the heroine was written. Really good stuff.
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Madhu
April 26, 2015
Rahini: Kaasa, panamaa, sollunga, WordPress account dhaaney, created one 😀
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MANK
April 26, 2015
@Rahini, i agree with you about the discussions about caste and class , that was pointless. But that doesnt make the piece irrelevant now does it?. and pray why should past experiences deter Brangan from writing about those issues in his review. Sorry to sound like a gushing fanboy again, but thats why i am here in the first place. He surrenders to his creative muse without worrying about the consequences.You may find several faults with his views (so do i), but Inconsistency is not one of them. He definitely has his idiosyncrasies and is persistent about a lot of things, but thats what gives his writings such texture and an unique flavor. You got the context, i did too.The fact that somebody might not/does not want to understand the context of his writings is not the writer’s problem and should not be a deterrent. It hasn’t deterred him before and hopefully it will not deter him in the future.
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MANK
April 26, 2015
@Brangan,Oh you did watch Vadakkan selfie, It was terriffic! that was written and produced by Vineeth srinivasan- i was mentioning about-, the son of legendary Srinivasan.- the noted actor,director and writer. Great writing. Dont know if you have seen his earlier films like Thattathin marayathu He seems to have inherited his father’s sense of humor and the ability to narrate serious subjects with large doses of natural organic humor, but the source from which they derive and direction in which they drive this humor are totally different
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Prasad
April 26, 2015
HI BR
“Aadhi, meanwhile, is a video-game developer who wants to make it rich like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg. (By now, that distributor has fainted.)
Was wondering about this point on Zukerberg. Hero claims he wants to be one which IMO is not revolutionary thing aftre the extent of usage if Face Book and also a very acclaimed “Movie ” also made after him.
My Point is Manirahinam has not always shied away in throwing these things. Just to quote a few.
AravindSaway in Roja in a Cryptologist. Considering the movie was released 23 years back it was a big progressive thing to hear at that time. I still remember you know we use to discuss in the school what is that Profession about.
“Trigonometrikkum Adi Othai Kuthukkum roomba thooram” ..Revathy tellas this to Karthk.
The way Madhavan finds out that “How many doctors travel in Travel between age group of 25-30”
There is always some lines in his movies which doesn’t insult our intelligence which is usual trademark style and there’s nothing too great about IMO.
Considering the fact that we’re being immersed in Internet/Global media I don’t think it way too ahead that “Distributors can Faint.”
Definitely yes, Urban audience can relate better to this movie but again we can’t ruile out tha fact that anybody will enjoy the movie.
Sorry BR, I don’t want to sound bragging about this. But look at these lines Interview Scene in “The Adversary” Movie was made in 1970 . I treasure this movie and this scene particulary. Speaking about “Mitochondria ” Viertnam War and look at the way how Ray brings in the “Triumph of human Spirit. YES. This can make DISTRIBUTOR AND ALSO VIERWER FAINT.I would agree. But Not Zukhberg that too in 2015!!!:)
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aparna
April 26, 2015
The heroine is commitment phobic because of her childhood trauma, while the hero needs no such excuse. Surely an attempt to justify why a “nice” girl prefers a live in relationship to marriage. Isnt there sexism here?
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Sam
April 27, 2015
“I loved “Selfie.” Simply amazing screenwriting. Makes you think you’re watching a light, “Velai Illa Pattadhari” type film and then takes a sharp U-turns and goes to unexpected places. I was stunned by the way the heroine was written. Really good stuff.”
Dang, wish I had heard this sooner. I think I just missed seeing this in the US.
Ever think of doing a quick roundup of films that you saw but aren’t planning on writing about? Like a weekly bullet point list or twitter page where you give quick thoughts? I’m like you in that I feel that reviews should be a way of engaging with a film rather than a consumer guide…but sometimes I do like a consumer guide, particularly when it comes to industries that I’m not tuned into.
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Govardhanen
April 27, 2015
@Sam:
Selfie just came out in the theaters a month or so ago it looks like. Hopefully it will be available in your local Indian store or shady website shortly.
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Raj Tarantino
April 27, 2015
Reblogged this on Raj Tarantino.
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Shankar
April 27, 2015
@Rahini David , sometimes, one gets into a tit for tat attitude, despite knowing that it’s not the best thing to do. Two days ago, your comment seemed so unfair, not so much today. My points may still hold true but I would probably express them differently. Apologies if I came across as casting any negative aspersions on your outlook. I don’t know you enough to speak about you from that perspective. What I do know, from here, is that you are a valuable member of the discussions here and I respect that. Thanks.
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sanjana
April 27, 2015
One comment and we try to judge others immediately without thinking. And then trying to defend it. I was misquoted and I was misunderstood. Haha. It happens with all of us one time or another. We rush where angels fear to tread and we dont want to express regret. We are stuck in defensive mode.
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Jeeva Pitchaimani
April 27, 2015
My thoughts on OK Kanmani
http://theblurringline.blogspot.in/2015/04/when-was-thelast-time-i-watched-movie.html
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Udhay Sankar
April 27, 2015
I know I am silly,but let the honor for the 200th comment be mine…! great review and an pretty good movie..! 😀 ….
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brangan
April 27, 2015
Speaking of the number of comments, a reader wrote in via email that not many people read the comments section and therefore it might be useful to… I’ll let you read for yourself.
Any thoughts?
Just read the comments to your befitting review of OK Kanmani. What wonderful conversations. Lot’s more drama than the movie! Great read. Made my day!
Is there any way, you can pull this all out of your comments thread and make it like a user-friendly bulletin board? There are plenty of free online tools that make it possible. I think there’s a need for Baradwajrangan.com (BTW, it’s available). Think about it. Your adda is way too cool.
I asked him:
Thanks. But how would that be different? Even now, whoever wants to join in can do so in the comments space, right?
And he replied:
It looks the same. But will be different. The difference is currently no one has a clue that such a vibrant adda exists. It’s all buried. I know a lot of people who read your reviews and go away. They don’t bother to click the comments section.
As I said, any thoughts?
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hari
April 27, 2015
Should be put as a separate post BR for more discussion
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brangan
April 27, 2015
hari: You’re right. I’ll make this topic a separate post. Thanks.
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Rahini David
April 27, 2015
BR: if he can give a link to one of these user friendly bulletin boards, It may give us an idea how this newly minted concept works.
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kans345
April 28, 2015
Hi BR, have always enjoyed your reviews. Just wanted to make a statement though, do give me your opinion on it. I feel songs in cinema, irrespective of wether they are being enunciated or not, I feel should act as an abstract flourish, rather than standing out as a distinct stroke. I have always enjoyed mani ratnam’s movies, however I have persistently had my qualms about the way songs are incorporated in the screenplay. He occasionally employs them with great sense of aesthetics, as in “eh ajnabi” in Dil Se or “behne de” in Ravanan or “Pookodiyin Punnagai or Narumugaye” in Iruvar and yet does not hinder the laminar flow of the screenplay. However in movies such as agni nakshatram or Bombay there are too many songs that stand out as distinct artistic tangents, irrespective of thier aesthetic value they seem out of place in the movie. In OK kanmani I felt the whole film, was shot and cut with a great sense of aesthetics, the chemistry between the lead pair was really organic, however the climax seemed contrived, in the end it felt like I had watched a well shot AR rahman musical. To capture the essence of today’s youth Mani having sorted to depict dulqer as this hyper cool gamer just did not gel with the otherwise superior aesthetics of the movies. Did you feel the same way, if not why so.Ciao
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kans345
April 28, 2015
Cinema I feel is an artistic medium. The director as a creator makes a film to satisfy his creative urges. How come more people are concerned about the social implications of cinema rather than the aesthetics involved. Mani ratnam & PC Sreeram duo have provided us with a visual spectacle to sense, feel and appreciate not to analyze, nit-pick and argue about. Being politically correct would kill the creative urges in a film maker. Watch Nymphomaniac for instance, it is a movie that is so beautifully crafted and sculpted however if you churn the surface all you would sendup with this scum. Guys tin is high time we develop sense of aesthetics. Casteism, religious and racial discrimination are part and parcel of Indian society when someone, who is indian, makes a sincere attempt at creating a film rooted in an urban Indian milieu there are bound to casteist and class echoes. In fact I would be antagonized and call a creator a hypocritical and insincere if such affectations where non existent in his work.
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brangan
April 28, 2015
kans345: My only criterion for songs is that they be used well. So the scene before the song has to lead into the song. The song should feel organic to the proceedings (even if it is an outlandishly stylised video like “Satrangi”). And when the song ends, we should be deposited neatly into the story, without a jolt. With the exception of “Kadal,” most Mani Ratnam films have done this well.
I didn’t have a problem with the hero being a game designer. It gave him something young and cool to do. It went with his personality. And even if you look at it from the “Alaipaayuthey”-update angle, it’s an update of the Madhavan-being-a-software-guy premise.
Regarding you statement about artistry vs political correctness, I always keep going back to “Lolita.” Dreadful premise of a man having the hots for his teenage step-daughter. So politically incorrect. But what artistry in the story, in the language. If you stay away because of the premise, you are losing out on so much beauty.
To denounce (or find problematic) one aspect is not to find the piece of work worthless at ALL levels. This friction between what we like and what we dislike is what makes art so interesting to grapple with.
Also, Nabokov has written a novel from the POV of ONE abuser. But in the politically correct climate today, he’d probably be accused of endorsing child sexual abuse.
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kans345
April 28, 2015
Well said BR. I loved watching and reading Lolita. Kubrick was one of these film makers who didn’t give a damn about political correctness. This could be one reason for the sincerity of the aesthetics that permeates his films.
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itzsanta
April 29, 2015
Another addition to the list of similarities/greatest hits – Tara posting a selfie of their angry faces to FB to let the world know of their first sight.. like Shakti putting the X mark on the calendar..
Surprised at the lack of mention of how Aadhi evolves from thinking he can never be like Ganapathy uncle to saying that he can take care of Tara in the same way…
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neena
April 29, 2015
Very late to the comments section, yes. But, I was surprised that any comment on the ‘climax’ of the movie – where Adhi & Tara look for Bhavani aunty in the pouring rain and end up discovering themselves – was in fact on the negative side. I mean, yeah, it’s a cliche. But, it was so well done – the build up of tension between them. I was beginning to get restless with the parts after when Adhi goes ‘missing’ and it was this searching for Bhavani sequence that made me come out of the theatre with a smile on my lips. It was a way better climax than Alaipayuthe’s moral of learning what marriage is about from Arvind Swamy’s support of his wife who crashed their car!
Also, Varadarajan is defy not only a typical Brahmin name. It is common among many castes. And I think MR deliberately makes his characters caste-ambiguous and class-specific. Karthik and Shakthi were defy from different classes, of course – the railway colony, the kanneer anjali for Shakthi’s father etc. But, their castes – not sure, though Karthik’s family and acquaintances did seem to fit the Tambram bill. No, the ambiguity is not because of the meen kuzhambu! I was going through an older BR post on MR and was reminded of the Agni Natchathiram differentiation of Vijaykumar’s wives’ classes. But, hey, Gautam was not exactly portrayed Tambram.
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Blasta
April 30, 2015
OK Kanmani = OK Mani Ratnam.
In OK Kanmani Mani Ratnam rediscovers what his audience had always known, and have patiently waited for. A fact that he in his urge for national coverage and international masterpieces seemed to have forgotten.
That he is better Master CONFECTIONER than (wannabe*) Parotta Master.
Forget the Rojas and the Raavan’s, let those whose precinct it be patrol it, and come back to confection, come back to infusing charm and meaning into our lives. How we wait to taste, how we wait to be seduced!
Like an old artisan returning to a trade long ignored, not really sure of his touch, but willing to try, in OK Kanmani Mani Ratnam marries the sweetness of being with its lightness and gives us a dish that is best savored in repeated viewings. This is a rainy day movie.
Old timers may claim that the old taste is missing, give him some time, will you?
Rahman returns to glorious form, at least in the BGM, he tickles, he soars, he gurgles, he even copies Anirudh, but he carries the movie through. The songs are good, but not worth his talent or promise.
Mani Ratnam chooses four shoulders to carry his movie and they have not disappointed him, only that Leela Samson, and Nithya Menen seemed to have contributed both of theirs. Dulquer has some of the old and easy Arvindswamy charm, and he does seem effortless, a relief when compared to his father’s highly athletic efforts. Nitya Menen owns the movie, and how.
She does overact, but does it with so much consistency that you feel that she has really lived it. That the screenplay does not offer her any more challenges is not her problem.
Hers is a face difficult to classify, as if Baroque Architecture got married to Barbie doll, that gloriously Medusan hair, those picture perfect eyebrows, and those baby boa lips that want kissing, it does make your life difficult if you are to be her Dulquer, and more so when that face carries a luminescence that even PC cannot hide; even her crinkles take delightful meaning.
However she needs to lose weight, she doesn’t have that plush Saritha kind of weight, but one that distracts, and in the few scenes where she walks full frame and in frontal, she is walking pigeon. Thankfully the director carts her around in wrap around dresses, some one in the audience commented that she did look like Sonia Hayden, a fair comparison I thought, at least around the middle.
Perhaps the most welcome change in this Mani Ratnam movie is that the dialogue flows freely, even if he cannot at times help slipping back to his old contrived. Many of his earlier movies had staccato dialogues that sounded like they had had painful exits from constantly constipated goats. Perhaps it was a Sujatha thing, long live Sujatha. Now if Suhasini too could take a hint.
The casting is close to perfect, and this includes the Dulquer and Nitya gangs, the brother and sister in laws and Nitya’s mother, carrying on her Kanimozhi like face the understated arrogance of “Having”. Lovely!
There are quite some things missing, in the script and the screen play. That however seems not the major problem, it is the intervening ennui that seems to have turned some of the older generation off.
Aaama, vanthittanga, rendu perum thiruppi kadhal panna” came a comment from two patties in the back bench, and two outraged elders were seen to walk off. It is not that they did not like the living together, it is just that there seemed too much living together. To each their taste.
There is also this seeming lack of story telling, or strong plot points, or points and angry counterpoints, or contrived surprises, in Murugadas fashion. Wherever there are or arise, they were quickly squelched, as if by status conscious relatives keeping iron holds on public behavior.
Thankfully Leela Samson’s forgetful wandering provides a way to work out whatever little dissonance there was, in the script and between the characters, but when the end came, there was this lingering sense of dissatisfaction that Mani Ratnam may like to take note of.
The editing is borderline paranoid, is this the new style? From the audience reactions one gets the idea that Mani Ratnam forgets to linger, and at times lingers at the wrong places, the passage, at least in the first half is quite jolt-ish.
To compress this recent effort into one line, the blend seems right, the end not quite.
At least for this young and upcoming generation Mani Ratnam has given them an idea of what the hullabaloo was all about, as to why he was one whose movies and direction were aspired to, by an entire if older generation.
In trying to create a movie that attempts to give voice to what seems their aspirations, and suffusing it with that much needed gloss of Cassatta Cake Romance, he has given them and their love lives something to treasure. Trips to the gynec?
*Rahini
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Notchauvinist
April 30, 2015
However she needs to lose weight, she doesn’t have that plush Saritha kind of weight, but one that distracts, and in the few scenes where she walks full frame and in frontal, she is walking pigeon
Brangan – moderation #failed . This is not a comment you should allow on a public platform 😀
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Anon
April 30, 2015
MR answers “Why Mumbai” here –
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/mani-ratnam-i-dont-believe-in-giving-advice/20150430.htm
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Naveen
May 3, 2015
Hi Baradwaj,
I’ve been following your reviews on your blog for quite sometime now. I must say I do enjoy reading your reviews whether I agree with them or not.
I just want to make a few points.
a) You say the movie is an “enjoyable romance” but frankly, I found the movie irritating.
b) Where is the romance in the movie which is supposed to be a full length romantic flick? I feel there was more romance in ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’ which is not a full length romantic movie.
c) Does anyone addresses one’s lover as ‘Kanmani’ these days? I found that forced and artificial.
d) Please don’t take potshots at the distributor, if you want, blame the audience.
e) “… at some point I wouldn’t be surprised it was taught in film schools as an example of how to make a 2:20 hr movie about practically nothing at all but people hanging out.” Are you serious?
Of course, you were slightly critical about the movie saying that there is no drama in it etc but one gets the impression that you have approved of this movie in your blog.
If it were for another filmmaker, I’m sure you would have ripped him/her apart.
I guess they were right- Love clouds one’s judgement.
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Madhuvanthi Badri
May 4, 2015
I usually read your reviews only after I watch the movies you write for. This time was no different. I came home to read it immediately after the show. And my! It was so refreshing to read a Bharadwaj Rangan review for OK Kanmani that echoed my thoughts!!! Love you for that. One of the director’s classy outings with a superb cast and an excellent crew. Can’t imagine what made him cast Leela Samson as Bhavani Aunty. The 4 protagonists still linger in my heart and mind. That is what Maniratnam does to you. Apart from Kamal Hassan and a handful of young directors like Karthik Subburaj, I don’t see anyone making movies from the heart without compromise. Only can wish for more such sophisticated movies to be made.
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Blasta
May 4, 2015
Not Chauvinist: Is it all right to think of you as aesthetically challenged? From Rahini, who is one of the more cogent commenters on this blog, I certainly expected better.
All that was said is that there is an optimal shape which is attractive, irrespective of gundu or olli, what was pointed out was that Nitya Menon’s shape was sub optimal (for a romantic drama heroine), and celebration of the heroine’s beauty (or any character’s beauty for that matter) is part of the cineaste / romantic / artistic aesthetic experience.
Nitya’s face and structure don’t match, her walking is definitely duck like, walking pigeon being euphemism. Notice that it is for her shape than her indifferent comedy that audiences laugh with and at Aarthi Ganesh, the supposed comedienne. Also notice that Saritha’s shape was spoken of in a positive light rather than negative.
If gender was what bugged you, note that the same will be said of any male character who is sub optimal, Ajith’s bleary eyed close up’s (while being simultaneously described as handsome) in Yennai Arinthal being a classic example. There is a beauty aesthetic and that seems universal, even babies are said to recognize it.
Is it not silly that one cannot speak their minds these days, getting bugged is increasingly getting to be an enforceable right. You may retain the right to be hurt, avoid denying others the right to comment. Forum Nazism better not than. If every damn thing is moderated, wouldn’t life be one of averages? Grow up!
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Blasta
May 4, 2015
Naveen: Movies need not be always about story telling, it can sometimes be a celebration of something. No film maker could have avoided making social comment, given a subject like this, like in that movie where premarital sex results in a pregnancy, but still the lovers split. It would have become a bore.
However Maniratnam, despite using the subject matter as cover, is actually celebrating romance, romance without the tie downs, which he tends to agree that in an Indian context is finally unavoidable. It was boring, in places, but five days after the movie, if some images of the couple manage to hover in your memory, his success as a film maker is assured.
As to your Kanmani comment, Mani Ratnam’s romantic movies were always about sugaring, with artificial dialogue and manufactured situations, but that is his charm too. It hardly works in other situations, but does work in romantic situations.
Like Oscar Wilde and the Happy Prince, such an outrageous story, but also a spell binding one. Which is why I call Mani Ratnam a confectioner. In OK Kanmani he is yet to get his mix right, but the result is not bad enough to be completely boring.
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anandkumarrs
May 4, 2015
I agree mostly. Mani in his familiar terrain is back and back in full form. While on this pls read my post, written after watching OKK “Ok, No more Mani!!! – http://wp.me/p1dZc2-oM
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Rahini David
May 4, 2015
Blasta: I do not quite think that you should have been moderated out of that comment. “Have opinion, will post @ BRs” is always my policy too.
I also do not think that an actresses’s weight gain or looks should never be commented upon at all. I after all did comment that Ajith is not as handsome or charismatic in YA as it is apparently required by the script. Anushka falls for him at the first sight and deeply too and this happens only if the guy is drop-dead terrific looks-wise and Ajith just did not cut it in my opinion. Also, BR made comments about the various chins of an actor and was actually recieved quite well. I remember he once commented about a heroine who had clearly started relishing her breakfast, lunch and dinner. In those cases, the comment seemed justified (from where I stand).
I haven’t seen OKK or any of this girl’s movies yet. I do not know if she has the “romantic heroine material freshness” or not. Maybe she is fat. But from what I have seen of her (in trailers and stuff) she does not qualify for the comment you made. If you really think she was fat enough to actually distract you from the story, then I am just surprised.
All that said, if you think comments like “However she needs to lose weight … blah blah” is not really about you being so aesthetically unchallenged. It is a plain rude, un-thought-out statement. You could have (and should have) rephrased it. As long as a 24-inch waist is a requirement to star in a love story, you will get only alabaster automatons. For some of us, unrealistic body proportions in the name of aesthetic apeasement is what can pull us out of the narrative. Women in normal stories should look like normal people, which is probably why MR chose her.
I did not have the time to type this out and so “like”d a comment that you should have been moderated out. It is the equalent of a thumbs down. And your comment seemed to cryout aloud for a few thumbs down.
Cheers.
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Madhu
May 4, 2015
Oh God, did I just type that?! BR, please, please, delete that previous comment!
Blasta: I didn’t even delve that deeply into your comment, as Rahini obviously has. I cannot obviously talk for NotChauvinist, but I read the comment and took the “grin smiley” to mean that it is playfully poking your comment.
As for the “optimal weight” and “aesthetically challenged”, I personally found her absolutely gorgeous, but hey, to each her/his own. As for whether it actually matters in the context of this movie – totally not; she has done her role like a dream and is a treat to watch.
Do we need moderation for comments – anyone other than BR’s opinion on this is irrelevant.
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NotChauvinist
May 5, 2015
Madhu & Rahini: Its so easy to talk to intelligent people. 🙂
It would be so nice if people who accuses others of being aesthetically challenged, review their own aesthetics from time to time 😀
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brangan
May 5, 2015
Blasta: I think the objection was more for your comment… “However she needs to lose weight…”
The implication that comes across is that a perfectly healthy-looking and normal-looking (not to mention vivacious, charming, and with acting chops to boot) girl like Nithya Menen is somehow not the ideal lead for a rom-com.
Naveen: My criticism that there is no drama is about CONTENT.
My observation that “I wouldn’t be surprised it was taught in film schools as an example…” is about FORM. In fact, the review, too, talks highly about FORM, the organically flowing sequences etc.
Two different things.
My criticism is only about the CONTENT not the FORM, which is actually so superlative that I was almost able to brush aside my issues with the CONTENT in the second half — at least during the first viewing.
It is also about what matters to you in a film. I can live with a film — i.e. I won’t grumble too much about it — if it functions well as a piece of cinema and is done with care and craft, but isn’t great on content.
By craft, I mean not just the cinematography, but also the direction, the way everything comes together an organic whole.
By care, I mean the detailing.
After the “Naane varugiren” number, check out Dulquer’s face. He’s got that precise lids-half-closed look that says “I’ve had great sex and I’m feeling drowsy now.” I can’t recall, readily, another film that’s shown us this post-coital sluggishness.
Or take Nithya’s Stetson-like hat. It appears during the “Parandhu sellava” number. And then, when they return to Mumbai and get out of the cab, she’s clutching the hat.
Now, no one is going to ask: “OMG, what happened to that hat?” We are trained to accept the appearance and disappearance of props during a song as inevitable. But here, that silly hat reappears. And we see it again in their bedroom. It’s an — that word again — an organic part of her life, not just a stupid prop during a song.
These are things that are very rewarding to me in a film. It shows the presence of — as I said — care and craft.
Of course I understand that some people may care only about the story and what happens etc. But for me, even if a film is somewhat weak in the “what happens” department, it can make up for it in the “how it happens” department. OKK is a great example.
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Madhu
May 5, 2015
BR: This reminds me of a scene in Kannathil Muthamittal. Post the beach scene, where Madhavan tells Keerthana that she has been adopted, all of them come home heavy hearted. And the grandfather asks why the girl is looking dull and Simran explains while making dough for rotis. Now, no one is going to ask about what they are having for dinner, but it is a part of day to day life that needs to be made. Lots of such beautiful scenes – folding clothes when shouting at her daughter and so on. The same here in OKK as well – the scene where audience are informed about Leela Samson’s Alzheimer’s – she tells prakashraj to wash the vessel well since it has burnt and as part of the dialogue Prakshraj will ask Dulquer to leave it soaking. Oh those little details of everyday life which MR incorporates, muaah!
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brangan
May 5, 2015
Madhu: Oh, you’ll find things like this in all his films. He always knows that the characters on screen aren’t just puppets to recite dialogues and go through emotions — they are living-breathing people who recite dialogues and go through emotions AS LIFE HAPPENS AROUND THEM, even if it’s something as small as making rotis or people opening and closing the door while they try to have a private conversation.
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Priyangu
May 5, 2015
Hope Mr.ManiRatnam doesn’t take seriously BR’s comment of “lack of drama”. Mainly because of such lack of drama and just simple classy coolness all through the movie, my 75-year old mom made me take her to the theatre twice. I saw through the corner of my eye the way she was laughing like all the teenage crowd around us. And she is ready to see it once more in the threatre! She is doing this repeat-viewing in theatre long time after “Hum aapke hain kaun”. She said she liked this movie better than HAHK because it doesn’t have even a single sad scene, like the death of Renuka’s character in HAHK, which was the only drama in HAHK in my opinion. Thanks to Mr.MR and hope he takes a note of this.
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Blasta
May 10, 2015
Guess I was having a duck day! Lots of middle muddle.
In defense, notice that I did say that Nithya’s face is as gorgeous and as fluid as her performance, them that noticed that missed this. Not Chauvinist is trying to make a statement of sorts, so be it. Apologies for any hurts caused, it was non intentional.
Rahini, did misunderstand your like!.
Coming from you, it assumed a greater merit, so! Strangely it was the first time I had hovered the mouse over that button, I promise not to again, not worth the bother.
Rahini: Nithya’s middle distracts, not from the story, but from our imagination of what she could be. She makes it so easy for you to become a fan, and therefore you care. BR? (hint: the righteous response would be “I don’t”)
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Blasta
May 10, 2015
BR – rom com lead – Nitya Menen owns the movie, and how / Hers is a face difficult to classify… face carries a luminescence; even her crinkles take delightful meaning. So much to dis-imply?
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ranjibunji
May 19, 2015
Reblogged this on ranjibunji and commented:
Loved your thoughts….. 🙂
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sify
May 27, 2015
Nice rant:
http://www.sify.com/movies/why-was-ok-kanmani-so-conservative-about-live-in-relationships-news-tamil-pfzmsIibgfcef.html
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Utkal
May 30, 2015
Someone said this of Mani Ratnam’s films: It is love in the time of …..fill in the blanks. Insurgency in Kashmir. Bombay riots. Terrorism in the North East. The Eelam movement in Sri Lanka.
So what about OK Kanmani? At one level it is love in the time of …well, love. Because all it does is captures through a sort of Kirlion photography the budding of romance between Adi and Tara, the flowering of full blown love and passionate physical intimacy, and the ripening of the relationship to one of deeper commitment.
But wait, the backdrop hasn’t completely vanished. Because what meaning has love got without a backdrop? Leave a man and a woman in air-conditioned home with a hundred year’s supply and you have no love story. And when the backdrop has a sense of loss, of death , of devastation; the feeling becomes more poignant. That’s why ‘ Farewell to Arms’. That’s why ‘ English Patient’. That’s why ‘ Love In The Time of Cholera’.
Closing lines of Mathew Arnold’s ‘ Dover Beach’ :
“Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.”
No Certitude, nor peace, nor help from pain.
Bhavani to Ganapati: You say I will get better. I cannot find the way to my own house. My music drifts away slowly out of the window. And you say, I will get better. Ganapati, one day will I fail to recognize you?
So OK Kanmani is also love at the time of …Alzheimer. And with what loving, slow strokes has Mani painted the total devastation that Alzheimer can bring to one’s and one’s companion’s life! And the only response can be ‘ Ah, love, let us be true…’
It is also love in the time of torrential rain. And have you seen anyone capture the Mumbai rains in all their ferocity, in all their beauty as Mani does in OK Kanmani? As Adi and Tara go looking for Bhavani in this blinding rain, bickering, pointing fingers at each other , resigning themselves to hopelessness of their effort and then prodding on with hope, you can sense a certain realization taking shape within them. Yes that kind of rain can allude to the end of the world, pralay, and the only Noah’s Ark available to you is …love.
Mani does not articulate these meanings overtly in the way he stages these scenes. He is far too subtle, even fooling you into thinking nothing is happening in the film. But be assured there is plenty happening in the film. Because what is happening in the film is LOVE. And in no other of his film of his in the past has Mani or any other Indian director I can remember has captured the heightened joy of two young people in love in such detail, allowing us to look on voyeuristically. Never before has Mani shown such insights into the phenomenon of man-woman companionship ( barring perhaps ‘Iruvar’) and no other film has he detailed the progression of the heart’s journey with such accuracy. Only Imtiaz Ali among the current directors manages to peek into the inner nooks and crevices of a man-woman relationship with some success (‘Cocktail’ was directed by Homi Adjania but the stamp of writer Imtiaz was there all over the film.). But Mani proves he too can be as good in mapping what happens when love happens.
The most enjoyable part of OK Kanmani is the many different levels at which Mani engages and entertains you in this outing of his. As in the best of Mani, he tells us more through language of cinema, rather than just words. There is PC Sreeram’s cinematography and AR Rahman’s music melding seamlessly into the storytelling as does the wonderfully written conversation that is witty, warm and yet not contrived at all.
Take this scene where Ganapati is telling how he used to go to listen to Bhavani’s wonderful singing of Carnatic classical music. “Tell them how was I to look at’, Bhavani prods. Ganapati tells about his tone-deaf doctor friend who used to go to her concerts just to ogle at her. “And you used to listen with your eyes closed…haan?” she quips. Touche!
There are many low-key but charming and flirtatious conversation between Adi and Tara giving us the flavour of their love play. In the middle of their resolve to paint the town red, sitting together on a boat on the seashore, Tara asks Adi to say something that he really feels deeply about. Adi tells her: But we swore not to get sentimental. Tara: Suppose there was no restrictions of any kind. What would you like to say to me now? Adi (after pausing for a split second): A hot omlette would be perfect now!
The way Mani maps their journey from their first dramatic meeting at the station through the first real making of connection through the mischievous introduction during the church wedding to their first night of physical intimacy Mani lingers over each moment lovingly allowing us to savour the leela almost in real time. In Cocktail, Homi-Imtiaz construct the scene at the beach dance with Saif and Diana Penty which leads to the acceptance of their physical attraction towards each other and which Diana takes forward with her flirtatious action where she pushes him into the water from the culvert playfully. There are no bare shoulders and shuffling under the bedsheets shown. We see them the night after, outside in the open, fully clothed, talking. The way Mani sets it up in OK Kanmani has a similar arch. They share a room in the lodge in Ahmedabad after missing the train. They explore each other’s compatibility quotient through the song (Paranthu Selaa Vaa / Let us fly) which is spun off from Adi’s experimenting with rhythm loops. They return to Mumbai next morning. Adi surprises Tara by dropping in her office the next morning and in a show of male aggression almost abducts her and they ultimately spend the night in Tara’s hostel room to the song ‘ Naanu Vaargiren’. There is a bit of talking afterwards. Tara asks, “Do you like me? Or is it just this love-lust ( prema-kama) ?’ Adi: ‘ I like this love-lust. But I like you a little more.” Tara: ‘Little more is okay. Too much more would be a problem’. Still on guard. Still testing the waters, Still playing the no-commitment game. Next we see them, they are at Ganapati-Bhavani’s house, Adi asking Ganapati uncle to let Tara also stay as a paying guest.
At this point let me get out of the way the sarcasm loaded in the remark made by some, “ Oh, I must learn carnatic classical if a mere singing of a song could let Bhavani change her mind and let Adi and Tara stay.” The people making such remarks know nothing either about the human mind or the art of storytelling.
In a much admired short story ‘ Chef’s House’ by Raymond Carver, Wes, a middle-aged man, goes to live by the ocean as he tries to recover from his alcoholism. He rents a house from his friend Chef, and calls his estranged wife, whom he has not been with in over two years, to come and live with him. She does and they have a happy summer together until Chef tells him they have to leave by the end of the month so that he can give the house to his daughter, whose husband has not been found after a surfing accident. Wes, who has attached the success of his recovery to the house, takes the news badly and is on his way to succumb to drinking again.
You see Chef’s house becomes so much more than just a house. The house had become a talisman for his recovery from alcoholism and reconstructing his life with Edna. He could always have got another house. But no, the human mind does not work that way.
So there. Singing of a Carnatic classical song in a perfect pitch with the right amount of feeling can tilt the decision in your favour. Tara’s singing of ‘Malargal kaettaen’ is a cipher for many things and we judge people based on such ciphers. And in the light of the philistine behaviour that Adi has shown while accompanying her to the kutcheri, she might be saying to herself, Tara’s presence will do her as well as Adi some good. Remember, as someone steeped in the carnatic music ethos, she could as well have developed the ESP to divine a person’s character from the way she sings. Maybe.
Some have found fault in the film for lacking in drama. My complaint is the opposite. The film did not need the drama involving Tara’s mother and all the family imbroglio. But I guess Mani had to put that in to make it look like a ‘story’ which so many seem to need in a film. Thankfully these twists and turns take up a small part of the film which is mostly about Adi and Tara, with Ganapati and Bhavani providing the counterpoint.
So does the goings on have any tension? Not really. No matter how much the two young lovers may talk of not believing in commitment, what we see on screen tells us otherwise. Adi may talk of his fifteen other girlfriends, we know he does not have any. As for Tara, she is not like Veronica in Cocktail swinging it out. So there is no reason on earth really for them not to take their relationship to the next logical step. The business of his going to US and her to France could easily have been accommodated into the scheme of things. It is to Mani’s credit that he creates a kind of artificial tension and manages to stage a dramatic climax when nothing really was in doubt.
But as I said the chief pleasures of the film are in just watching the many splendours of love. We see one facet of it in the early rush of passion, in Adi and Tara, warm and sunny; bright and blazing; and the other in Ganapati and Bhavani; mellow and melancholy, sweet and solemn, in the fading light of advancing age.
Like in vintage Mani the film stands on its own as a beautiful work of art, quit distinct from its different components like plot, narrative, cinematography, music and what have you. He has got rid of some his failings that had begun to creep in to his film so of late. Unlike a film like Raavan there is detailing in the interaction between characters, drawing us into their world. In the lodge in Ahmedabad, where she is in her nightie, she puts on a little mini-jacket over it before she comes to Adi to listen to the demo of his music loop. Then later, we see her taking off her ear stud before going to sleep. Then there is the scene where Adi and Tara are in a restaurant and Adi’s boss and office colleagues walk in. Adi must make a quick exit and he drags Tara from her chair. At the doorway, Tara turns back . ‘ My phone,’ she says as she retrieves her mobile. These touches are a new for Mani’s cinematic language, not at all essential for the narrative, but built in to add texture and give a lived-in feel to the film. The mention of the architect Balakrishna Doshi and making him actally appear in the film explaining the salient points of the mosque in Ahmedabad is a part of similar narrative design, or I should say, architectureof the film.
Mani has shown a lot of good sense in the way he has picturized the songs in the film. I am glad that he has realized that stopping the narrative to stage a beautiful but outlandishly choreographed song has passed its sale by date. With the proliferation of song promos on TV , songs can be tolerated in a film only if they are well integrated into the narrative. So the songs here are choreographed against the backdrop of Adi and Tara’s everyday life. ( No ‘ Khuda Hafiz ‘ on exotic seas. No ‘ Chhaiya Chhaiya’ on a hill station train.) But that does not stop Mani from revealing his masterly touches in song picturization. Look at the way he uses space, including the verticality, within the room in the lodge during the song ‘Paranthu Selaa Va’. Or take the song ‘Theera’ with its throbbing bass lines. While a similar song ‘ Fanaa’ in ‘ Yuva’ ended up being just a disco song here it is a wonderful montage of Adi and Tara expressing their inner feelings.
The cinematography too has many magical touches. A scene of Ganapati reading the newspaper under the chiaroscuro sunlight filtered through palm frond becomes a photo essay on Ganapati’s character. The filming of the car carrying Adi and Tara through Mumbai’s pouring rain in search of lost Bhavani is an amazing feat.
The performances are pitch perfect. Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menon are great finds as the young lovers. Ditto for Prakash Raj and Leila Samson as the elder couple. All four of them live their roles, and I find it difficult to pick any one out of the four for special praise. They were all wonderful.
The most satisfying aspect of the effort is how all these elements – the writing, the cinematography, the music, the performances – all combine to create a complete whole…a beautiful film. Mani Ratmam is back and how!
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karrvakarela
July 29, 2015
Watched this one earlier – I’m on a Tamil movie marathon, apparently. Mani Ratnam is the king of the date night chick flick. This one is slick and has everything going for it. Completely agree that it echoes both Saathiya and the Vivek Oberoi-Kareena Kapoor arc from Yuva. It’s almost as if Mani Ratnam took the latter and expanded it into a full-fledged bon-bon flavored movie. I’m not complaining, though. It’s an engagingly distracting movie. Good visuals, appealing actors, great music. I watched a poorly subtitled version but I’m sure the dialogue was appropriately quick and marketable. Everything else is put together well enough.
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Rahini David
July 29, 2015
Blasta: Regarding the “Rahini, did misunderstand your like!. Coming from you, it assumed a greater merit, “.
I had somehow missed this until now. Thank you very much.
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V Anand
November 15, 2015
Looks like you didn’t want to jeopardize your proximity to the Maniratnam gang by specifically avoiding to mention the words ‘Friends With Benefits’!
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Nott
February 8, 2016
Best scene in this movie was when Tara was confronted by her friends about the fact that she turned up a day late from Ahmedabad…. tsk
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anon
April 13, 2016
Gotta say – the comment by Qalandar on this is the most WTF thing I have ever read. Mani said he set the movie in Mumbai because both leads are away from family, easier to establish the moving in together narrative – that’s all there really is to it. The incredible far fetched communalised thinking in your comment is insane. Leave us South Indians out of this BS.
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blurb
April 17, 2016
Her childhood trauma: this is tricky. She states it as a reason to not ever want to get married. But it’s actually Mani asking us not to judge her for.. how do I say this.. getting to know him in the biblical sense?
Why give her the sob story? To justify the moving in.
All else the same, HE could’ve have had the sob story, and she could’ve wanted to be the “jolly free bird”. Double standards tsk tsk 🙂
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lyricalbeautyblog
July 27, 2018
I totally agree with your comment on Nithya Menon. She is an absolute delight to watch. Sometimes, it was difficult to take eyes from her.
OKK is a light movie. Sit comfortably, may be with a cup of coffee or cake and watch it without any prejudices
As usual, great review BR.
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madhusudhan194
April 20, 2021
Hi BR, when will the video of your FC front row session be made available? Breathlessly awaiting it.
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anonymousviolin20
February 7, 2023
I’ve seen all of Mani Ratnam’s films Thalapathi onwards (save for Thiruda Thiruda, Iruvar, and Kannathil Muthamittal), but this has got to be the only one that I’ve seen more than seven times in its entirety.
As much as people here lament the “lack of drama”, I personally don’t really see it, or see it as that much of a problem. It makes this film that much more rewatchable for me, that I don’t have to feel so incredibly emotionally taxed by the characters/plot. Just turn the movie on any time, and enjoy the charm of DQ/Nitya/Prakash Raj/Leela Samson. And boy do they bring it in spades. Every scene is such that you can’t help but have a smile on your face as you watch these characters fall in love.
The other aspect of this film that probably makes it resonate with me so much is that it is targeted to my generation. Some would say that it’s actually not progressive enough for people of my generation, but it’s actually so scarily accurate how much it fits the bill for me. This must be what Alaipaythey and Mouna Ragam felt like for their respective generations(both of which I enjoyed, but ultimately through the lens of “people back then…”).
Finally, the soundtrack my god. I listen to Sinamika and Parandhu Sella Vaa as much in 2023 as I did in 2015, and I’ve grown to love Naane Varugiren, and Theera Ulaa over the years as well. I’d rate it easily among ARR’s top 3 albums of the decade, and probably among my top 10 favorites overall. And not just the songs too, the score is also fantastic. Count me in as one of the fans of the Bhavamulona dubstep remix! And the flute theme of Naane Varugiren. But most importantly:
The bgm that plays at 3:38 when Adi is chasing after Tara right after she takes a picture of their first fight and leaves (can’t find the scene on YT). I’ve seen that sequence over twenty times at least, and I could watch it twenty more.
I could keep going on and on, but I suppose it’s apparent how much I love this film (probably more than what it’s worth lol)
Time for another rewatch 🙂
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KK
May 20, 2023
What do you feel about the following points?
1- We are told in the beginning that the girl’s parents got divorced when she was a child and that her father died in an ashram alone. So clearly, there’s some trauma which of course is the reason why she doesn’t want to marry. But then why she agreed to marry at the end? What resolved that childhood trauma? And no, it’s not Prakash Raj’s character’s marriage. If it is, then it’s terrible. Cause are we really supposed to believe that they have never met anyone who had a good marriage? Same for the boy as well. Though I was happy they didn’t give him a similar backstory to explain his commitment phobia.
2- Why was Mumbai needed? I mean apart from those repeated shots of gateway of India there’s hardly anything that suggests that it had to be in Mumbai. Why not set in Madras and show us how the so called conservative Madras takes to live in relationship? It’s not like no one in Madras is involved in live-in.
3- For a movie about young people, why was there a need to include the parents in girl’s case or brother in boy’s case as a way to create conflict? That plot point is from 80s. Why not take a clue from the Bollywood and let the couple create their own conflicts.
4- For a movie about romance there was hardly any intimacy. I am not talking about sex per se, but I didn’t find any moment that was really romantic either. Their romance seemed more like that of teenagers than people in their mid 20s. Though this could be because I don’t understand the language.
5- And finally the comparison with “Shuddh desi romance”. I found SDR to be far more brave in its handling of live-in and commitment phobic people than OKK. It never resolves that phobia but it makes us understand why they think marriage is a bad idea.
Any response from you would be highly appreciated. And apologies for the delayed and long comment.
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madhusudhan194
May 20, 2023
@KK: “So clearly, there’s some trauma which of course is the reason why she doesn’t want to marry. But then why she agreed to marry at the end? What resolved that childhood trauma? And no, it’s not Prakash Raj’s character’s marriage. ”
Tara resists the idea of marriage because her parents didn’t have a good one. There’s also a hint that she grew up witnessing domestic abuse. With Adi, she realises that he’s very unlike her mother or father. And being around Ganapathy and Bhavani makes her realise that it is possible to have a good marriage where the couple stick by each other through all highs and lows. And when Adi promises at the end that he can be like Ganapathy, there’s no reason for her to not trust him. Unlike Tara, Adi doesn’t really have a strong reason to resist marriage and probably thinks he’s too cool for it. And when things get serious, him changing his mind doesn’t come as a surprise. It’s Tara who gets the bigger emotional arc.
“2- Why was Mumbai needed? I mean apart from those repeated shots of gateway of India there’s hardly anything that suggests that it had to be in Mumbai.”
Being away from home gives them the freedom to do what they want (i.e. live in) and be themselves. It could have been Delhi or London but Mani Ratnam probably had logistical and aesthetic reasons to set it in Mumbai.
“3- For a movie about young people, why was there a need to include the parents in girl’s case or brother in boy’s case as a way to create conflict? That plot point is from 80s. Why not take a clue from the Bollywood and let the couple create their own conflicts.”
For Tara’s mother, the answer lies in your own first question. It’s through her we get to know about Tara’s childhood. In Adi’s case, there’s no conflict as such from his family to their relationship. Their real conflict is very much their own. They initially agreed to keep it casual but when things get serious, they try to cope with it.
“4- For a movie about romance there was hardly any intimacy. I am not talking about sex per se, but I didn’t find any moment that was really romantic either. Their romance seemed more like that of teenagers than people in their mid 20s. Though this could be because I don’t understand the language.”
Possible. I for one thought the romance was intimate, beautiful and convincing. The writing and performances make it quite convincing.
“5- And finally the comparison with “Shuddh desi romance”. I found SDR to be far more brave in its handling of live-in and commitment phobic people than OKK. It never resolves that phobia but it makes us understand why they think marriage is a bad idea.”
I haven’t seen SDR but as BR has pointed out in the past, Ok kanmani isn’t really about the live in relationship itself. It’s actually about two different kinds of love. A young, rosy and candy floss romance vs a mature love that has stood the test of time, failing health and has sailed through several phases. It’s about how the people in the young love see the value of sticking together through thick and thin and finally take the leap of faith.
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KK
May 20, 2023
1-But that was exactly my point. The whole subplot of Ganpathy is manipulative at best. It’s like a story that starts out by trying to examine radicalization in organized religions and then coming to the conclusion that every religion has some good things to offer. I mean that was so not the conclusion. It’s a vanilla fact that should be obvious to anyone with an IQ of 3 digits. And didn’t she realize that her father and mother could have made a similar promise before marriage? The whole point of a commitment phobic person is how do you know things are going to remain the same? The boy can change due to thousand reasons that are unpredictable. That’s what happened in her parent’s marriage. So yes the resolution is terrible.
2-Still Mumbai by itself doesn’t add much. It could have been any city.
3- That plot point could still have been axed. It doesn’t add much to the story. And what problems do they create? That they want to go to different cities? Internet was still a thing back then. So they could have remained connected even if they weren’t in the same city. Why was this not the solution? Why was separation seen as some sort of conclusion of their relationship? They wanted to stay together and could have done so as long as they felt like it. That would have been a far more plausible ending.
4- A teenage romance can be beautiful and convincing, for example, Dhanush and shruti in 3. But these were just supposed to be older.
5- The SDR comparison is very much valid. It has similar characters and similar storylines. The overall arcs are same. If it’s using live-in as a trigger to start a relationship and that one of them has serious commitment phobia, we must examine how the movie deals with it. Every movie sets its own rules and hence must be judged accordingly as well. So this movie in the beginning set up live-in and commitment phobia as primary plot drivers. Hence I am judging it on that aspect.
PS: I wouldn’t have minded these things in an Imtiaz ali or an SLB movie since their movies, by their nature, are not realistic. This on the other hand leaned a bit closer to reality and hence this cribbing.
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brangan
May 21, 2023
KK: Am not sure I can answer your questions. To me, they don’t seem to be “plot holes” as such — more of creative choices that are not working for you. That’s fine, but that’s a taste/expectation issue, and it cannot be rationalised or argued out, IMO.
For me, the film works better now than it did upon release — and the soundtrack is an absolute favourite. I found many scenes quite romantic (though again, this is subjective).
As for ” It’s a vanilla fact that should be obvious to anyone with an IQ of 3 digits”…
Then most films will not exist — because the end-result, a lot of the time, is a “you really needed a movie to tell you that”? It’s not WHAT the ending is but HOW it is arrived at — and also, I am perfectly okay with the fact that something that is obvious to me need not be obvious to a character on screen. And I submit myself to their mind, their world — instead of asking them to step into my world and cater to my opinions.
To give you the example of a less popular Mani Ratnam movie, you could ask “Why does Aditi put up with Karthi’s abuse in KAATRU VELIYIDAI? I would have walked out the second time he shat all over me!”
But that is the character — and I do know people who put up with abuse for quite a while because the love is so much.
That’s why I said it’s hard to rationalise or argue out these things. If OKK did not work for you, it just didn’t. 🙂
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Rahini David
May 21, 2023
KK, this is not a movie that felt very right to me. But romances quite often start with a character going “I’m not the marrying kind” person. So I didn’t think it was off. I didn’t see it as a deconstruction of a live in relationship anyway.
But regarding Mumbai, I felt that these 4 people became close in a mildly alien land. I believe that happens, no? Like the Hindi boys in my office became very close in a family away from home, so did the Telugu guys. They would plan weekend together etc.
I am not talking about why the couple got close to each other. But to the older couple.
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KK
May 21, 2023
Thanks Rahini and Brangan. Okay, those are good insights. I am still not happy but maybe a second viewing will be more rewarding with all this in mind.
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