Mozhi (2007)

English translation: Language 
Director: Radha Mohan
Story: Radha Mohan
Cast: Prithviraj, Prakash Raj, Jyotika, Swarnamalya 
Music: Vidyasagar
Time: 155 minutes
Bottom-line: Radha Mohan’s best work, along with Payanam

   Radha Mohan’s career best performance (in terms of gross amount), Mozhi is a film that entertains you all the way, with a very simple story. The film deals with the unusual romance between an ordinary man and a deaf and mute woman. The film stars Prithviraj, Prakash Raj, Jyotika and Swarnamalya in the lead roles, with M.S. Bhaskar and Brahmanandam in the supporting roles. Several scenes from this film were also parodied in Thamizh Padam.

Karthik (Prithviraj) and Viji (Prakash Raj) are two best friends, who are keyboard players for Vidyasagar’s music team. Fun-loving and jolly, both of them are very friendly and enthusiastic. They come to live in a new apartment complex, full of interesting people. One day, Karthik spots a girl (Jyotika) in the road, and is attracted by her braveness. To his surprise, she lives in the same flat as him, but to his shock, the girl is dumb and mute. Through her friend Sheela (Swarnamalya), Karthik learns about the girl, Archana, and also learns sign language to communicate. Karthik falls in love with Archana, who only regards him as a good friend. What happens to this romance, and what happens to the other important characters who live in the building form the rest of the story.

The four lead actors together

The story is just a simple, though unusual, love story. From the first, what makes it interesting is the comedy in the film. The film does not have slapstick comedy all the way, but has fairly decent, sensible comedy. Prakash Raj is the main source of the jokes, with other major contributions from M.S. Bhaskar, Brahmanandam and Prithviraj. The dialogues are very funny, and few other ones are memorable as well. The story is mainly a funny family entertainer for the first half, and even for about half an hour into the second, after which it gets more serious. Towards the end of the film, the life of the father (M.S. Bhaskar) is dealt with. Until that part, his character will be a funny one, but when his wife tells Karthik about the problem the father is facing, you feel a little sorry for him.

Prakash Raj as Viji; Prithviraj as Karthik (right)

The acting by Jyotika is brilliant. Like Iqbal in Iqbal, she has no dialogues, but only facial expressions and of course, the sign language. Her expressions of anger, sadness, happiness and confusion are all equally splendid. This is easily one of the best performances of her career. Prithivraj and Prakash Raj don’t have any major acting role, but they have acted quite well and have provided some good laughs. Swarnamalya has done a fairly good job as a supporting actress.

Jyotika as Archana

The songs are excellent. The first song in the movie, Sevvanam Selai Katti is sung by Karthik as soon as he sees Archana for the first time. This song main portrays the various forms in which Karthik imagines Archana to be (for he doesn’t know anything about her at that time, not even her name!). The second song, Katrin Mozhi, is by far one of the best songs in Tamil that I have heard. This song mainly shows the good times the four friends have together. The lyrics of the song should be appreciated: they bring out the various languages of our surroundings. Kannal Pesum Penne is another song which shows how Karthik tries to apologize to Archana (the reason you will know when watching the film). The song has many funny scenes, and we see the various hilarious ways in which Karthik tries to say sorry.

To sum up, Radha Mohan’s Mozhi is one of the best films of Tamil that I have seen. The acting is superb, the songs are mesmerizing and beautiful, and the story is funny almost all the way. The portrayal of Archana’s deafness is shown in a moving way. After seeing so much of comedy in the first half, you may feel bored when the film gets more serious, but well, it is not so in my view. The film is a must watch for all families, and it is certain to win admiration and praise from people of all ages.

My Rating: 4.5/5