Spoilers ahead…
If you’ve taken rides with app-based cab services in the city, you’d have encountered drivers from far-flung towns and villages, trying to fake their way through the urban maze. Charlie plays one such person in the Tamil drama Maanagaram (Big City) – but so does Shri, in a way. He’s no cabbie. But he’s equally lost in the city. He cannot understand the swearing. When a stranger approaches him with a sob story about losing his purse and needing money, Shri instantly reaches into his pocket to help – only to receive a rebuke from a friend who knows a conman when he sees one. In the film’s opening scene, Shri is being interviewed for a job in a BPO. He doesn’t fake it, though. He’s from Trichy, which isn’t exactly a small town – and yet, he admits that a job in Madras, one in an air-conditioned office, one that fetches him 25K a month, is something of a status symbol.
Read the rest of the review on Film Companion, here:
Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Honest Raj (formerly 'V'enkatesh)
March 10, 2017
Endru varumo Tamil cinemavin Mahanagar! 🙂
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apala
March 10, 2017
Dear BR, enjoyed the review thoroughly! I was so impressed with the trailer of the film and reading your review gave me this thrill going up my leg!!! 🙂 Really Enjoyed it!
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Jyoti S Kumar
March 11, 2017
BR sir, I see that some key sentences are given in quotes. Can’t the quotes be part of the writing itself, as in, it need not come twice, but flows with the review?
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Bharath Vijayakumar
March 11, 2017
BR, would really like to get a feedback of yours about the below two reviews
http://www.moviecrow.com/News/15386/motta-shiva-ketta-shiva-review—yes-this-siva-is-bad-indeed
http://www.moviecrow.com/News/15398/maanagaram-review—riveting
This might not be the appropriate forum for this but I am a little desperate in wanting to know what you think about these reviews. I believe the comments go for moderation and you would be able to delete this comment. But just in case you could drop me a message about what you feel, it would be great.
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brangan
March 11, 2017
The site has my video review, plus a brief interview with the director.
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blurb
March 13, 2017
Lovely interview!! Especially loved how the “Ayoo” creeped in while you were speaking 🙂
Pretty awesome how the director owned up to the song being there for the commercial aspect.
Ok, perhaps I am reading it all wrong, but the director seems so nervous and intimidated by you, BR. 🙂 And him calling you “sir” in that timid way just… made me smile. It also seems that you picked up on this and went the extra mile to make him comfortable? I say this because you’ve smiled more in this video than all your previous ones put together.
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blurb
March 13, 2017
My two cents would be to not have them call you “sir”. I watched it again; it plays out more like a Google interview than a FC one 🙂
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Maru
March 14, 2017
Brangan, thanks for the recco – I’ll try and catch the film at some point. I too enjoyed the interview very much. It was endearing that the director was in awe of you and I agree with blurb that you smiled your way thru putting him at ease and that was endearing too 😉 I hope you’ll include more of these interviews with directors whenever possible.
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doctorhari
March 14, 2017
Watched this based on your review and came out quite impressed. Unlike his previous short film, which was interesting but lacked depth, the director has taken a socially relevant theme and presented it with aplomb. A riveting watch.
The only gripe I had was, when the theme is the coldness and indifference among men we come across in large cities, why get too much into the dark underbelly side of the city and make it the center of the story? He could have just concentrated on common men and the umpteen daily life incidents they come across. This film could have been even more impactful and lingered for long in the viewer’s mind that way. However, this is surely a director to watch out for.
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Ananya
March 15, 2017
Brangan, I have one question for you not related to this review.
Is there any actor who you thought couldn’t act at all, but surprised you later?
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Lav
March 16, 2017
Enjoyed the review and the interview as well! I am glad you get to do interviews at FC. Its a different feel than just reading the interviews in paper.
And I agree with burb on most of the points 🙂
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Aadhy
March 21, 2017
What a bloody good movie this was ! Your review was the tipping point that made me watch this movie, after all the positive WOM buzz in social media. So thanks for that, BR. I also like this concept of plugging the interview after your review, as it gives it a lot of context and you can jump directly to your questions that you already raised during the review. Moreover, these kind of post-release interviews would be such a morale booster to new filmmakers, to see their craft being analysed and dissected, or more importantly, being taken seriously.
Regarding the criticism about the ending, I did not feel the open-ended climax to be a problem. It aligned itself well with the title/central theme of the film. the story of the city. The city never stops in its motion and you have to catch up instead of expecting it to slow down. Sri has finally caught up and he’s gonna move his, and the city’s story ahead. The song that plays at the end, “It’s a story on the urban ground”, also suggests the same (a bit similar to how Udaan ended).
My only problem was the relationship dynamics between the corrupt Inspector and the constable. It was unclear how it ended, especially after the constable not having acted according to the best interests of the Inspector.
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lowlylaureate
April 4, 2017
hi BR do check out our take on Maanagaram (more like notes)
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AK
January 4, 2018
The movie was a tad too careful and I just wish it had gone full throttle with the thrills. For instance the scene with the cab driver and the new recruit in the taxi where his phone has fallen on the floor of the cab was explicitly shown atleast twice which was enough to get an idea of the next few scenes.
The anonymity of the lead characters neatly complemented the generic title of the movie but both of these elements seemed at dissonance with the strong rooting of the movie in Chennai. Maybe the story wanted to tip a hat at the spirit of a big city like Chennai but it didn’t really come through.
Very much a watchable and engaging movie!
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