sesht
Most of us watching this today were apparently primed on the pairing of Salman and Menen in Mani Ratnam's upcoming 'OK Kanmani'. But that's some time away, and in the meantime, we have this.As always, for any specialty release (read - other than the local language/s, and playing only in 1/2 cinemas for 1/2 show/s for the entire week), there was little to no publicity, and no English subtitles in the showing I got to sit thru (not really bothered nowadays, but many people I watched it with were verbally abusive of theater management, and might well be missing next time around, but I don't think anyone cares).One concern I did have going in, was that this was gonna be the desi ripoff-of/homage-to '500 days of summer'. Phew. Thankfully not.Salman and Menen are getting together after not being in the same frame in 'Bangalore days'.The good parts:Very, very competently made, and slickly packaged. Every department complements the narrative, except perhaps for the departments/persons responsible for pacing (I do not want to single the editor/s out). It....flags....and how. It has almost been lovingly photographed, and both the prod and the art design are simple, yet sumptuous.I've never seen Salman so sure of his character and his performance. I have seen him grow over the movies I've seen him perform in, but in this one, he's in character throughout, and except perhaps for some forced angst in his scenes with his boss, and when it comes to his work, he was almost perfect.Nithya Menen, as she is wont to, right since 'Ala modalaindi', lights up every frame she's in, and this is consistent, especially when it comes to her intro in each and every movie she's been in. The magic does fade towards the latter half, but by then, she's had most of us hooked.The background score was alright, but 2 of the main songs 'Arike Pozhiyum', and 'Ninnekaanaan Kinaakkall' (the former more so) stood out during this viewing. But the overall feeling the music (and, to repeat myself on this, the cinematography) left me with was one of pleasantness. Like taking a vacation at a calm/natural habitat such as a beach or a hill station at an hour bereft of other hangers-on. There'll be no denying from any quarter that the movie looks, and sounds beautiful. 'OK Kanmani' has some living up to do in these departments, even though that happens to be a hallmark of Mani Ratnam, in spite of a few recent mis-steps.The main lead's sidekick has almost as much screen-time as the main leads do, and that's astonishingly progressive, at least to me, especially in the local milieu. It also helps that his characterization was well thought out and executed.Breaking the 4th wall: worked for this. A couple of sleight-of-hand maneuvers that I did not see coming, at important junctures in the tale. Augmented the main lead's characterization, and that's always a good thing, since having the audience field for the main leads is what the makers should be trying for always.The friendly manner in which the makers try subverting the local romantic genre's staples, while also unapologetically using the very same, while feeding us a spiel that it is not the case, seemed clever while watching the movie, but seems a tad weak now, since it is being done to death, and is not as fresh as, say, 'Dum lagake haisha'. The mainstream aspects are not overdone. That IS always good.Someone looked a little roly-poly this time around. Yum.However, it has to be said that the movie is not titled aptly, in addition to which there's not much meat, and there are quite a few clichéd moments in a movie purportedly demanding us to consider it grounded. Almost hypocritical, if only the makers did not keep drumming that message quite a bit. Certain threads go nowhere, and could've have been edited out (there may have been a good joke-in- the-making about the call to Mr. Nair, but I'll be damned if anyone else in the hall got it, and why the makers thought it was so funny - many were actually turning around and looking at their neighbors when it was pursued with in multiple sequences, including the all- important final moments of the flick - I'm missing a metaphor somewhere, perhaps). OSO's Kaanjaani (Aju Varghese) was not utilized t his potential, along with senior Vineeth's always-strong screen presence being wasted. Praveena, playing the part of Vineeth's wife and Menen's mom, who was such a strong force in 'Mili', surprisingly doesn't have much to do in this one. Also, making certain things obvious, like a supporting characters consuming alcohol at her own place, was like hammering a message that we do have progressive characters in this flick (don't bother to check for 'that' correlation, btw), so this is a nouveau-romance....blah blah. No matter how progressive the movie purportedly is, it gives the supporting female characters short shrift. I found that strange, especially since the casting was there (but perhaps the writing was not). And oh, all those annoying disclaimers on booze and smokes littering the beautiful frames throughout, along with blurring out the brands - I really have no idea when certain minds are gonna mature in this...............and have no hope either.However, if living with those irritants is bearable (along with braving the heat, traffic, crowded malls, non-functioning air- conditioning and rude staff et al), this is a good theatrical watch for the weekend. It does not demand much of you, in terms of grey matter, while it purports to be more than it actually is, and though that is misguided, it is not necessarily a bad thing.
