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