Published by Aparna on 22 Jun 2010
I don’t have a clear answer either for the ‘How was Raavan?’ question or for ‘Did you like Raavan?’ Of course, the answer for the second question is definitely not a ‘No’. But it isn’t a whole-hearted ‘Yes’ either. And that’s why I didn’t even attempt to write on the movie all this while.
Spoiler Alert (But I guess this won’t matter since most of you might have watched the movie by now.)
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Published by Aparna on 18 Jun 2010
In the show ‘Mani Matters’ on CNN-IBN, talking about Alaipayuthey, this is what Mani Ratnam said,
“To me, that’s where a love story starts. After hard facts of life of having to get up every morning, not just when you are trying to impress somebody, where you can be on your best behaviour, when you can charming, when you can be intelligent.
The relationship grows when it is faced with reality, when it is started…the milkman coming in, I mean, that’s where the real relationship starts.”
Hearing these lines, I started thinking about how not just in Alaipayuthey, but also in many of his movies, Mani Ratnam has portrayed the ups and downs in the relationship between a husband and a wife. His lead pair, in most of the films, has always been a married couple and not just lovers. His lead pair gets married in the course of the movie and he has always shown an equal share of romance as well as the complexities involved in the relationship.
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Published by Aparna on 09 May 2009
Watching the last half an hour or so of Kannathil Muthamittal on K TV today morning, I remembered the post of mine that has been lying unfinished in the drafts for a long time now.
Sometime in June last year (this post has been in draft from that time!!), there was this thematic concert of T.M.Krishna that I went to. The theme of the concert was ‘Relationships’. As I heard a moving rendition of Mahakvi Bharatiyar’s ‘chinnanchiru kiLiye’(which he had chosen for the relationship between a father and his daughter) by TMK – how does he manage to bring so much bhava in everything that he sings! TMK rocks! 
–, I couldn’t help remembering the movie ‘Kannathil Muthamittal’ the moment he sang those lines in the song. As my thoughts drifted towards the movie, the first thing that came to my mind was what an apt title Mani Ratnam had chosen for the movie!
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Published by Aparna on 19 Apr 2008
At first look, this movie starts off as just another love story set in a village. A guy getting floored by the beauty of a girl – that’s all. Unlike Rishi (Arvind Samy) and Roja’s (Madhubala) in Roja or Karthik (Madhavan) and Shakti’s (Shalini) in Alaipayuthey or Manohar (Karthik) and Divya’s (Revathy) in Mouna Raagam or for that matter, even Gautam (Prabhu) and Anjali’s (Amala) in Agni Nakshatram, which are love stories where their initial courting scenes to the scene where they express their love for each other itself are some unforgettable scenes, with the dialogues making them all the more memorable, this movie doesn’t have any of those. Except for the scene where Shekhar (Arvind Samy) gets into the same boat as Shaila Bhanu’s (Manisha) and tells her of his love, there are practically no dialogues between the two of them. But that’s where the song, ‘Uyire’ comes in - there couldn’t have better words than the lyrics of the song to express their love for each other.
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Published by Aparna on 11 Oct 2007
This category has been screaming for my attention for a very long time now and I am back with a post along with a note to myself to keep this category alive by updating it with more posts regularly.
Thalapathy is supposedly the story of the man fondly called by his friend as his Thalapathy. But, is it just the story of that man alone? This is yet another movie in which Mani Ratnam portrays the emotions felt by each and every character so beautifully! As far as Mani Ratnam’s movies are concerned, even if the movie itself does not have a great script (of course, this is not the case with this movie), most of the characters nevertheless, stand out and so do a lot of scenes.
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Published by Aparna on 31 May 2007
The wedding:
If the wedding where Karthik and Shakti met first was so colourful and had a joyous atmosphere, their own wedding is not far behind in these aspects. Right from Madhavan’s blue shirt and Shalini’s maroon saree to the white garlands and the group of friends and Shakti’s sister pulling their legs and the Registrar making his presence felt through out his screen time, everything is picture perfect! Shot at Kapaleeswarar Temple, the wedding of Karthik and Shakti is the most beautifully picturized wedding sequence in Mani Ratnam’s films what with ‘Mangalyam’ scored by Rahman playing in the background. After Karthik cleverly manages to dodge Mrs. Prema outside the temple and runs in, the beat of the song starts and you have Karthik taking the garland in his hand. If Mani Ratnam doesn’t utilize the songs appropriately, who else will? 
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Published by Aparna on 28 May 2007
Here I am celebrating the movie Alaipayuthey and the producer of this movie is now no more! 
I was shocked to read about the sudden demise of G.Srinivasan, Mani Ratnam’s brother cum producer of Alaipayuthey and all the other movies produced under the banner of Madras Talkies. May his soul rest in peace.
Moving on to the post, starting with the first meeting of Karthik and Shakti, it couldn’t have been picturized any better what with the joyous atmosphere of a wedding, friends and relatives pulling the leg of the bride and the groom and an excellent song by Rahman in the background! There can’t be anyone who doesn’t enjoy the conversation between Karthik and Shakti.
