ஒ காதல் கண்மணி
Today it’s two films for me. The first is Maniratnam’s new movie “O Kadhal Kanmani” (ஒ காதல் கண்மணி) starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen. The story is about an young couple who get together in a live-in relationship as the heroine has no belief in the institute of marriage due to a failed marriage of her parents. To play it safe Mani has shown that they are living in Mumbai and not conservative Chennai. As expected they both fall in love for each other, want to get married but their individual ego preventing them from openly acknowledging it.
Nithya Menon as Tara comes out so lively & bubbly, her big eyes full of joy, I love seeing this girl on screen. Dulquer Salmaan as Adithya provides the contrast to Tara, making the pair come alive on screen. Seeing through P.C.Sreeram’s lens the historic “Rani ki vav” in Gujarat was breath-taking. Mani’s signature was clearly visible in many scenes throughout the movie, like when Arjun’s sister in law after visiting him in Mumbai while leaving, discreetly calls in Tara and shows her the closet of Arjun filled with Tara’s dresses.
I really liked the first half of the film, the light pace it was moving, the second half felt to have been stretched long making the 2015 film feel like a sequel to a emulsion of Mani’s earlier on screen couples – Karthik (Madhavan) & Shakti (Shalini) of Alaipayuthey (2000) and Arjun (Siddarth) & Meera (Trisha) of Aaytha Ezhuthu (2004). The characters of elderly couple Prakash Raj as Ganapathy and Leela Samson as Bhavani was pure cliché. Overall a refreshing love story proving Mani’s mojo is back.