Harmless spoilers ahead!
O Kadhal Kanmani / Ok Bangaram is a warm welcome to the world of
Maniratnam tropes – rain and train, pain and gain, a bubbly lead pair, search
for your loved ones, a city trying to become a standalone character,
gift-wrapped visuals, refreshing music... and many more sans the heavy-duty
emotional drain that used to be a highpoint in his films – at least the ones
where LOVE took the centre stage. With this film, the director dishes out a
light-hearted version of ‘love’, tailor-made to suit the palates of the younger
generation. The end result is that your eyes are left dry and your expectations
run high and dry.
The protagonist of the film Adi
(Dulquer Salman) is a video game designer who chances upon an architect Tara
(Nitya Menen). Adi has a tight deadline to design a game called Mumbai 2.0. A
casual reference or the one that surfaces the intricacies of OKK, which can be safely called
Alaipayuthey 2.0 – a prequel and an upgraded version of the 2000 flick. The
film also borrows some traces from Siddharth and Trisha side of the story from Aaytha Ezuthu (Yuva in Telugu and Hindi). This is Mani sir trying to relive his glorious
past and recreating characters and milieu that made him a name to revere upon.
There were endearing moments in
the film between the young pair of Adi and Tara, and a stark contrast of them can
be seen when the camera swings to an older pair of Ganapathy uncle (Prakash
Raj) and Bhavani aunty (Leela Samson). Prakash Raj’s presence is subdued to an
extreme. Here, Mani tried to do a balancing act on his tight rope walk to
convince everyone. He showed the polarities of casual flings and serious
relationships, love and career, living for you and living for others et al.
The art director gets the trick
right in creating a Maniratnam ambience. There are cool office spaces that
allow you to walk-in and walk-out at your convenience and there are lodges and PG
accommodations that are aesthetically kitschy! Where else can you find such
beautifully designed set pieces? And wait; a sermon on architecture, by a doyen
in that field, for a bunch of working architects looks like a class for
freshman.
The city of Mumbai wears a
different look through the lens of P C Sreeram, but couldn’t stand as a whole
in building the chaos, tension or exuberance into the lives of the characters.
Unlike a Kahaani (Kolkata) or a The Lunchbox (Mumbai), here, the city
just remains as a prop. What Mani succeeds in is the way he piles many layers
of stereotypes and quashes them by unfolding something different at the end of
each scene. However, they too turn monotonous after a point.
Had it been a movie made by one
of the fresh breed of directors, I would have appreciated the content and
effort. But 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 with some cranky angles and framings, and lacing it with classical yet
refreshing music of A R Rahman is just a glimpse of the veteran film-maker I wished 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?? To be precise, ‘Where’s the story’?
OKK has a resemblance to many Telugu films like Swayamvaram, Orange and Anthaku Mundu Aa
Taruvaata and something like a Cocktail
from Bollywood. Many directors such as Gautham Menon made some better films
that operate in this format. Moreover, I presumed Mani sir would challenge the conventional
s of marriage and give us a different ending by not marrying the couple. But
the conservative personality in him came to the fore and that left me disheartened.
In a scene, Nitya’s Tara (getting
into the shoes of Revathi’s character from Mouna Ragam) asks ‘Is a marriage
certificate 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 hasty climax by marrying each other.
So, owing to all these
incoherences, Mani’s fanboy got disappointed.
My Rating: Expectation – 8/10; Reality – 5/10
