O Kadhal Kanmani (2015)

English translation: Oh, my Love!

Director: Mani Ratnam

Story: Mani Ratnam

Cast: Dulquer Salmaan, Nithya Menen

Music: A. R. Rahman

Time: 138 minutes

Bottom-line: Interesting concept to explore, but doesn’t quite have an impact on the viewer

Mani Ratnam’s drama, O Kadhal Kanmani (popularly known as OK Kanmani), explores a taboo topic in India: a live-in relationship. The film was supposed to be – and I quote – “a reflection of the modern mindset of urban India”, but while it certainly starts out that way, eventually it becomes like any other romance film. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen in the lead roles, with Prakash Raj and Leela Samson in the supporting roles.

Mumbai: Aditya Varadarajan (Salmaan) is a video game developer, working on a game Mumbai 2.0. The film starts with him saving a girl, Tara (Menen), from jumping on the railway tracks in front of a train, and he later meets the same girl at a friend’s wedding. They soon start to call and meet each other frequently and fall in love. Both of them agree that marriage will not work out, and decide to have a live-in relationship at Aditya’s place, which he has rented from Ganapathy (Raj) and his wife, Bhavani (Samson). Though reluctant at first, Ganapathy agrees to let her stay. A day comes when Aditya is called to the US to develop his game further; at the same time, Tara’s application for studying in Paris has been approved, but neither of them tells the other. Knowing that they have to part ways in a few days, what do they do?

 

Salmaan as Aditya and Menen
as Tara

The first twenty minutes or so are pure fun; the way Ratnam shows the bonding between Aditya and Tara is so natural and so relatable. Nothing fancy, just two adults chatting, going out and eventually falling in love. The part where he introduces the live-in relationship is where things get interesting, and make you keen to find out how things go. The story then explores this new type of relationship, and simultaneously also focuses on that between Ganapathy and his wife, an Alzheimer’s patient. Now the story gets complex and messy with more characters being introduced (Aditya’s and Tara’s families), and both lovers being confused about their future. Both of them are inspired by the love Ganapathy has for his wife, even though at times she forgets who he is! The ending tries to focus on too many things – petty fights between Tara and Aditya, Bhavani’s Alzheimer’s etc. and seems abrupt.

(Spoiler) The ending is what most audiences would want, but I felt differently. Seeing the older couple supporting each other against all odds, Aditya and Tara decide to get married and then pursue their lives in separate countries. This, to me, sort of moves away from what I thought was the main idea of the story. Had the two of them decided to just remember the memories and live separately – like say, Roman Holiday ­– that would have a tragic, but different, climax, instead of the general “happily ever after” one – the lead characters marrying each other. This is most other films do anyway – boy and girl constantly try to be with each other all throughout the movie, and in the end, everything works out. The whole “effect” of how a live-in relationship affects love, seems to dissolve in the happy ending.

Salmaan and Menen have given good (nothing "extraordinary", as other reviews say) performances, particularly in the first hour or so, when all their emotions flow naturally. There’s not much humour – although a lot of attempts at it – but I guess that’s how it is supposed to be; the scenes could have well been unscripted. I didn’t like Rahman’s score and songs that much either; he has done a far better job in other Mani Ratnam films.

So, the main reason I ended up being disappointed with the film is that when I knew that a new theme was being explored, I hoped for a different finale. Still, the film is fun and interesting to watch most of the way, and the acting is pretty good.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Guru (2007)

Director: Mani Ratnam

Story: Mani Ratnam

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, R. Madhavan

Music: A. R. Rahman

Time: 162 minutes

Bottom-line: A major success, with some minor flaws

Mani Ratnam’s drama, loosely based on the life of Dhirubai Ambani – a business tycoon and the founder of Reliance industries – Guru stars Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in the lead roles, with R. Madhavan, Vidya Balan and Mithun Chakraborty in the supporting roles. A major critical and commercial success, the film is known for its direction and musical score.

1951, Gujarat: A young boy, Gurukant “Guru” Desai dreams of making it big in future. Despite his father’s discouragement, he does not give up. An adult Guru (Bachchan) goes to Turkey to enter the spice trade, but soon comes back to India with the idea of starting his own business. He marries Sujatha (Rai) because of the dowry she brings him. Along with her brother, Sujatha and Guru go to Bombay to start a market in polyester, and Guru establishes his own film, “Shakti Corporation”. As Guru’s business expands, Manik Dasgupta (Chakraborty) – publisher of a newspaper, and a well-wisher of Guru – calls reporter Shyam Saxena (Madhavan) to investigate Guru’s business. Shyam quickly finds out that Guru has been smuggling machines and manipulates stocks in the relentless pursuit of profit. Shyam and Dasgupta plan to expose Guru, who, by this time, is also a family man. How Guru’s life goes on is what the film is about.

 

Bachchan as Guru, and Rai as Sujatha

Guru seems to be one of Ratnam’s grander films, with a lot of detail given to the sets and costumes. From period settings to song sequences, the visual appearance is wonderful. The film also finds A. R. Rahman in full form, giving us beautiful songs like Tere Bina and Aye Hairathe. The camerawork is also another highlight, especially the technique of shooting continuously in 360 degrees – also used a lot in Iruvar. Guru’s speech towards the end, as well as several other lines in the film, are superbly scripted.

Madhavan as Shyam

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai have both acted really well, the former also surprising me a little. From the energetic, determined lad to the successful family man to the paralysed “criminal” on the verge of losing everything, Abhishek Bachchan rises to the occasion and delivers every time. Of course, the only flaw is that he should improve on his dance steps a little! Rai plays the quiet, loyal wife, taking her husband’s side come hell or high water, and what a performance it is! Madhavan and Chakraborty have also done well. Vidya Balan plays a small role as Dasgupta’s granddaughter and later, Shyam’s wife – Meenu. I still don’t understand the significance of her role, apart from being responsible for a lot of sentimental moments which we could do well without.

The structure of the story is quite solid: starting from Guru’s childhood, his small progresses, the setting up of his empire, then a slow degradation with the entry of Dasgupta and Shyam, and finally, the conclusion. Interspersed with this main track is the bonding and loyalty between Guru and Sujatha, and also between Shyam and Meenu. While the story drags around 20 minutes more than needed, the remainder of the film is brilliantly made: engaging, dramatic and inspirational.

My Rating: 3.5/5    

Frenzy (1972)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer (based on the book by Arthur la Bern)

Cast: Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Alec McCowen

Music: Ron Goodwin

Time: 116 minutes

Bottom-line: Grizzly and violent; far from the trademark Hitchcock

Hitchcock’s penultimate film, Frenzy, is the story of a serial killer/rapist wandering in the streets of London. Known for its infamous strangulation scene, analogous to the shower scene of Psycho, the film stars Jon Finch and Barry Foster in the lead roles, with Alec McCowen, Anna Massey and Barbara Leigh-Hunt in the supporting roles.

Covent Garden, London: The film starts with the corpse of a naked woman being washed up near the Thames; she is found strangled with a neck-tie, which is yet another death in a series of murders, where women are raped and strangled with neckties. Richard Blaney (Finch) is a man who has just lost his job at a local bar. His divorced wife, Brenda (Hunt), runs a matchmaking service. Blaney’s friend is a fruit merchant, Rusk (Foster), who used the matchmaking service, but was later blacklisted for beating up his dates. When Rusk meets Brenda, he rapes her while she prays, and strangles her to death. Suspicion falls on Richard, who is seen outside the building by Brenda’s secretary. It’s not long before Richard’s girlfriend, Barbara (Massey) is also strangled to death. How does Richard prove himself innocent?

 

Massey as Barbara and Finch as Blaney

Frenzy is by far Hitchcock’s most freakishly violent film; even the shower scene of Psycho and the bird attack scene in The Birds take the back seat to the scene here when Rusk rapes and strangles Brenda to death. The close-ups of their faces, the tie, the neck… it’s a painful half a minute to watch, and equally grizzly are the images of the other corpses shown. Hitchcock also reaches a new level of dark humour in the scene where Rusk hides in a delivery truck and digs out a corpse from a potato sack to retrieve his pin, to safeguard his identity. The ending, on the other hand, is tame; it is logical, but given the excitement of the film, I expected something more dramatic.

 

Foster as Rusk

Another thing I hated about the film is the “comic relief” track involving the inspector’s wife, as he discusses the case with her. Her character and the scenes were redundant. The film seems to have a more “colourful” appearance than other Hitchcock films. The cinematography is brilliant, and one notable scene is when the camera pans out of Rusk’s house, down the stairs and on to the street in one long take, which is an indirect morbid indication that he is going to strangle yet another victim. Goodwin’s score is skilfully composed.

 

Hunt as Brenda

Rusk is one of the most sadistic villains that I have seen; I am surprised he hasn’t made it into any of the “top villains” list. Barry Foster had to read about a real-life serial killer to get into character, and what a fine job he has done! Jon Finch’s acting was also pretty good. I liked his character’s entry, where first the corpse of a woman is shown with a tie around her neck, and in the very next scene, we see Blaney putting on a tie of his own!

So, while Frenzy is nothing like the classic Hitchcock of the 50s and early 60s, the film still delivers satisfying chills and thrills. Very offbeat and unconventional, but it’s worth a watch!

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 87%