A fanboy’s defence of this very different Mani Ratnam movie.
Prologue
As a Tamil boy who grew up in Delhi, my first experience of Mani Ratnam was Nayagan in 1987, which I saw in Bangalore while doing engineering (caught up with Mouna Ragam later). If that hadn’t blown me away enough, the next year at a cousin’s place in Madras, he played me the ‘Raja’ song from Agni Natchatiram on his home theatre & we couldn’t repeat watch it enough! I remember being delighted when that song blared from the rooms of North Indian hostel mates; the movie itself went on to become the cult ‘youth Tamil film’ of that time.
Over the engineering years, Geetanjali & Anjali cemented me as a die-hard fanboy. Of course, after Roja, he became a national treasure. I grieved when Thiruda Thiruda did not get appreciated enough. I danced when Bombay was a hit in all the languages it released in, Tamil, Telugu & Hindi. I marvelled at Iruvar, was caught in a dilemma, to commend or complain about Dil Se, rejoiced with Alai Payuthey, could have kissed him for Kannathil Mutthamittal. Yuva was zingy, Guru was solid.
After that…it’s been a bit iffy. I found Raavan tepid, Kadal tedious. Ok, O Kadal Kanmani was a likeable attempt to capture the romance of the times. But then came Katru Veliyidai where I had serious reservations about both the protagonists in the romance. Three out of the last four data points were pointing to a trend that the famed director was losing touch with the masses.
And I have to admit, it depressed me. An icon was slipping.
Coming to CCV
Rumours had been floating for many years, about him toying with the idea of making Ponniyin Selvan, an epic historical fiction novel by Kalki Krishnamurthy, with a stellar star cast coming together. And then came rumours of it having been abandoned. Those rumours starting gaining ground afresh, looking at the new ensemble cast, that he’s so singularly adept at handling – from Agni Natchatiram, to Dalapathi, to even Yuva.
The two trailers told us it’s an all-out, testosterone filled, guns & gangster drama.
And before I watched the movie today, the reviews came screaming in. People saying, it’s too fast paced, too racy, too violent. Sketchy relationships. You hardly get invested with any character. So uncharacteristic of Mani Ratnam, they said.
Some of that is true.
But after watching it, I don’t think this is that kind of a film. Maybe, he doesn’t want us to empathise with, or feel for most of the characters (apart from maybe 1 or 2). Maybe he feels they don’t deserve it.
They say, it’s too plot based, and is hinting at too many references & packing in too many twists and hurtling from scene to scene. I enjoyed that! And I guess that is also to be expected. When you pick the overall theme from an epic like Ponniyin Selvan (if you don’t believe me, even Baradwaj Rangan acknowledges that in his review here), there will be complex backstories, intricate palace intrigue, a piling body count – and all compressed into a tight < 2.5 hour running time.
No signature Rahman songs to dance to (all songs play in the background). No lingering romances. No time even for some lines to land long enough.
Maybe, Mani was a little impatient to get back into being ‘popular’ in mainstream cinema; at 62, you can’t grudge him that. In CCV he’s come back with a vengeance.
He’s tried retelling epics before – Roja was Savitri-Satyavan set in the Kashmir insurgency, Nayagan was an ingenious adaptation of Godfather, Dalapathi was Karna’s story from the Mahabaratha (with a populist twist in the end), Raavan was the antagonist’s version of the Ramayana. But he’s never subverted one.
Dispel all memories of his previous movies – he’s never done anything like this before. Go without those expectations. Then, my guess is, you might be able to enjoy the movie. And that startling and magnificent climax!
If you are a Tamilian, this is Mani Ratnam with a daringly dark & deceptive subversion of Ponniyin Selvan.
If you are not, then this is Mani Ratnam gatecrashing in from the cold, with a rat-a-tat, twist-a-minute Netflix type crime drama, complete with English subtitles.
Go watch. And then, maybe one more time.