[3-2015] Anegan | Variables

A romantic psychological thriller presented in the most transparent way to satisfy both the class and mass audience. Everything was crystal clear and simple just the way KVA kept saying in few of his recent interviews “direct-ar point-ku vanga”. The story revolves around the four avatars of the lead characters through various timeline and how they interconnect between each other. Definitely not a flawless film, but personally, I felt it was one of the films in the recent time that had met the expectations of the audience. Yes

1. KVA’s script. Complex story in the simplest form. Numerous climaxes which are all equally engaging and important.
2. Kiran (art director), Om Prakash (cinematographer), Anthony (editor). Can’t even tell the difference between the sets and real places. Visuals were like a dream and the tones were very relatable. Slick editing.
3. Harris Jayaraj. Despite having several similarities to Ko, the background score of Anegan was excellent. It did not overshadow the scenes.
4. Amyra Dastur. Brilliant, knock-out performance. Innocent Samudra, eccentric Madhu, soft-spoken Kalyani, Amyra fitted amazingly into each character. She looks experienced, expresses well and shared equal screen space with Dhanush. A dream debut in Tamizh for Amyra. I would loveee to watch her in more films this coming year!
5. Dhanush. He was top-notch as Kaali, thou he resemble Prabhu Deva heavyly. Natural performer as Murugappa/Munaruna and Ashwin (the IT professional) subtly reminds me of Ko’s Ashwin (Jeeva).
6. The few minutes of mimicry by Dhanush. Worked big time.
7. The crux of the plot; whether it is indeed a love story that transcends beyond reincarnations or merely creative imaginations induced by the drug influence was left entirely to the audience.
8. Having a girl named Aung San Suu Kyi in Samudra’s class registry was a well-played move.
9. The final fight. Fight takes place in banyan trees area and the couple got buried under some branches for sometime (reference to Kaali-Kalyani), Ashwin made a jump towards the sea (reference to Munaruna) and he fought like a warrior too. Coincidence much?
10. Songs placement.

Personally, I would like to believe that it was a combination of rebirth (Munaruna-Samudra), creative imagination (Warrior-Princess), narration of  real-life incident (Kaali-Kalyani) and today’s reality (Ashwin-Madhu). Munaruna-Samudra : Story of Ashwin-Madhu’s past life. A fantasy twist by including the tree carving at the final scene and guruji insisting that Madhu is indeed having memories from her past lives. Warrior-Princess : A complete imagination of Madhu due to the medicine prescribed by the psychiatrist. The whole regression hypnosis session was recorded; and the information/details from Madhu’s story are used to create new online games. Also to be noted, Meera’s desktop was filled with ghost wallpaper to give the impression that Meera was indeed working on a game concept based on the ghosts. However, she suffered from paranoid delusion MAY BE due to the excessive work load/stress/usage of drug. This was also the only episode where the hero escaped from death, similar to the current situation of Ashwin-Madhu. Kaali-Kalyani : The whole incident was narrated to Madhu by Kalyani’s father through specific sketches on the wall of his room. Madhu identified the final resting place of Kaali-Kalyani through the sketches which has been strongly imprinted in her mind. And it was also through the sketches that she recognized Inspector Gopinath. Hence, the resemblance of Ashwin-Madhu to Kaali-Kalyani was only a coincident. Despite having huge scope of being a full-fledged physiological thriller, personally I am glad that it wasn’t or else the film might have lost its charm due to some ambiguities. And yeah, thank you KVA sir for saving the ladies from another round of woman-bashing songs. The characters of Amyra in Anegan were strong and sincere to their man and love. Even Dangamaari was excused from such comments about women. Also, for not giving us a clichéd ending of Ashwin remembering his past life and believing in Madhu’s stories. Thank you. Highly entertaining and engaging film. Love, JST

[9] Maryan by Bharat Bala : A Poignant Adventure of Love Across The Continent

 

Maryan literally means a man who does not die/ immortal, which suits the character played by Dhanush. Apart from that, the definition of immortal was justified in several more instances throughout the movie. As for me, I felt ‘the Maryan’ in the undying love of Panimalar towards Maryan, which was portrayed to be forever and forms the crux of the movie. It was a tale of pain and struggle faced by an individual and the power of love which kept him alive and the warmness of love that touched him every single moment throughout his life despite the geographical distance. That perennial feeling of love between Maryan and Panimalar is the real ‘maryan’ of the movie. 

Dhanush portrays the role of a fisherman who lives in Neerodi, a small village near Kanyakumari. He claims himself as the Kadal Raasa (Prince of Ocean), and has the ability to dive into deep sea and catch fishes in just one breathe, which is impossible to many others. He is greatly attached to the sea and regards the sea as his mother and can been seen mentioning it as ‘aatha/maatha’ as several scenes. We have seen Karuppu (Aadukalam), Ram (3), Karthik (Mayakkam Enna) and Vinod (Kathal Konden) who has managed to create a space for himself and stays with the audience for a long time. As for Maryan, he is another addition to the list and he is here to stay in audience’s heart for a longer time. In the scenes where Maryan and Sami (Jagan) tries to overcome their hunger with the imaginary feast, we have seen ‘the’ Dhanush whom we know. His ability to show multiple feelings and iterate from one to another in split second is notable in this movie. His transition from a happy-go-lucky fisherman to a romantic lover to a silent oil company worker to a terrified hostage to an escapee who is full of pain an agony, has defined Maryan, as another common man. As a person who has lost his best friend, he lashes out his depression at Panimalar. However, the violence against woman could have been avoided actually. These are the emotions felt by any individual who faces such circumstances. At times, we can’t help but notice Rajinikanth living through Dhanush.

No matter who his co-stars are, Dhanush has always managed to steal the attention at one go almost instantly with his next-door boy look and spontaneous act. However, in Maryan he had an equal competitor, Parvathy Menon (Panimalar) who is flawless on screen. Parvathy lived as Panimalar and she has set the benchmark very high and scored brilliantly. We don’t often get to watch Tamizh movies where the female lead is given importance from the very beginning till the end of the movie. Panimalar’s existence and warmness can be seen and felt in each and every scene of the movie and that is the biggest success factor of Bharatbala sir, IMHO. After a long wait, Bharatbala sir has proved that women is able to carry a bigger and impactful role in movies rather than just being used as treat for eyes without proper characterization. Panimalar’s character is carefully engineered from the very beginning to effectively portray the intensity of her love and affection towards Maryan, whom she adores dearly. Parvathy has given the much needed definition that Panimalar possessed and she aced at it brilliantly. Everything about her was natural and as a woman, I could relate to her feelings easily. As a woman who is head over heels in love with Maryan, as a bold woman who is not shy to show her affection towards Maryan, as a woman who believes in her love at any point, as a woman who is waiting for the return of her man after 2 years, as a woman who’s heart is shattered into pieces knowing Maryan is captured by the terrorist, as a woman who convince herself despite the hurt and pain, Parvathy scored beyond words. From Poo, Parvathy has blossomed into a full fledged artist in Maryan. 

All through the movie, Panimalar is seen to be in a beautiful love trance which Parvathy brought out passionately through her eyes and attitude. After hearing the news of Maryan being held hostage by the Sudanese terrorists, the amount of pain and hurt Panimalar felt was portrayed brilliantly by Parvathy. Despite being beaten and ferociously hurt by Theekurisi, Panimalar was still in the ecstasy, after sensing the escapade of Maryan from the Sudanese terrorist, thousands of miles away from Neerodi.

The slow pace of the first half gives us the time to understand, accept and indulged in the intense love between Panimalar and Maryan. The affection between them grew slowly over time and audiences are able to feel their emotions effortlessly.

The calmness during the reunion of Maryan and Panimalar was the most beautiful reunion scene that I have seen recently. No hustle, no bustle, no long lengthy dialogues. The mind-blowing BGM did all the talking needed for the particular scene. Panimalar slowly realizing the return of Maryan and his physical presence by gently grabbing his leg and later on holds onto him tightly and finally retiring into his arms. I couldn’t imagine any other way of ending an epic love story as this.

There are no lengthy dialogues, but the play of word between Panimalar and Maryan is poetic.

Adutha muchike irupe nu sonneh? Inni ellam muchum onnode tan di..

Ellam ennaleh thane… Illeh, unnale ille unnakage tan..

Varanum Pani..

Pani kitte sollitein…Ini kavali illeh..

Vaa..vanthere..

 

Enga Pona Raasa and Kadal Raasa was used as the BGM throughout the movie and it worked magically to give the much needed feel and mood for the movie. Maryan and Panimalar were given the looks which managed to stay with us for a long time. Be it Maryan’s moustache or Panimalar’s hair or her kohl-ed eyes, it defined the characters aptly. Mark Koninckx, the Belgian cinematographer has given us breathtaking visuals whether in coastal sea view or the dried sandy dessert, each and every scene was a string of poem.

I Love My Africa : Portrays the living of Maryan is Sudan, where he works for 2 years and how well he has mingled around with the live there.

Sonnapaareeya : being the introduction song of Maryan, we are exposed to the lifestyle of Maryan in his native place, the sea, as a whole and Panimalar is shown trying to get Maryan’s attention all through the song.

Naetru Aval : Most beautifully visualized song of the movie which made justice to the brilliance of the song. Love, separation and pain can never be depicted this enchantingly. The chemistry between Maryan and Panimalar is exposed intensely and I personally felt that the song was placed at the most appropriate moment in the movie.

Nenjae Ezhu : Another spell bounding visual, Maryan being motivated by the love and the care of Panimalar in order to overcome the struggle is shown effortlessly. The blend of bright pink of half saree of Panimalar is shown as the sole point of hope for Maryan.

Innum Konjum Neram : Enhanced the sweet, intense love blended within the lifestyle of Maryan and Panimalar.

Kadal Raasa : shows the agony of Maryan being held hostage and tortured and his desperation to get back to his lady love.

My favourites :

1. The phone conversation between Maryan and Panimalar, where both of them were counting the days for their reunion and marriage. The exchange of words and love were simple yet beautiful.
2. After being harassed by Maryan, Panimalar starts ignoring him and this makes Maryan to realize his affection towards her. Nothing new but it is sweetly shown.
3. The way their love grew through the ‘Thottal Poo Malarum’ song and the fish curry made by Panimalar.
4. Ellam ennale thanneh…Unnale illeh, unakage Pani.
5. The moment when Maryan confronted the Sudanese terrorists.. Money..no! Nee yellai..nangelum yellai. Partha therille..
6. Instead of talking to the oil company he his working for, Maryan chose to call Panimalar to inform her about his situation. Pani kitte sollitein, ini kavalai illeh..
7. Visualization of Naetru Aval. A lovely poem it was.
8. The final reunion of Maryan and Panimalar.

However, the lines mocking Ra One and Hindi films could have been avoided. As I mentioned earlier, for me, the immortal was not Maryan. It was the love and affection across the continent between Panimalar and Maryan. It was the emotions and believes that both of them had held tightly throughout the struggles. Maryan may be the man who never dies, the prince of ocean as claimed but pushed into the middle of sandy dried up land, he was a vulnerable man. What kept him to overcome and to live on were Panimalar and their desperation to reunite at any cost. 

Love, SJT