I know I am a bit late in watching the movie. The internet is probably scattered with reviews about the movie. But I really had to write about it.
I watched the movie, with my family (minus my brother).
Half an hour into the movie, I had planned to pen down my views. From that second, I began analyzing every scene, every move and every word. And I can only say: WOW!
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen beauty in a movie. Beauty in the sense, natural scenery. As the movie continued, I mentally made note of what I wanted to write.
But be warned!
You won’t find a clear review here. I am not going to be neutral. What you’ll find here is a sheerly biased views. You are free to disagree.
About the movie. Yes. I saw Raavanan years ago. I was stunned by the landscapes. Kumki and Prabu Solomon have given the Raavanan crew a heavy run for their money’s worth.
There aren’t many breathtaking clearings in Kumki’s woods in comparison to Raavanan’s. Still, the trees, trees and more dense trees give the viewer such a feeling of longing. Sometimes it even made me wonder if there are any such forests left. Such was the greenery.
There was one remarkable waterfall in the movie. (Jog falls in Karnataka) The real effect was brought in front of the eye because of the angle and height in which it was pictured. Just brilliant. Every where throughout the movie, the cameraman’s eye has been purely extravagant. I’m blown away and am surely not the only one.
When has a Tamil movie survived without music? Seriously, wonderful music. Good and captivating lyrics, nice picturisation and soothing music all over.
Another highly significant factor, in my opinion, is the use of words. We could hear some rarely used Tamil terms which were good to the ear.
Well, that’s about it, I think.
No. Wait, I forgot – Vikram Prabhu.
I thought I heard someone say that this was his first movie. Hard to believe. He appeared to be easily comfortable in his role. His acting was natural, and he made me feel that no one else would have best suited the role. He just perfectly fitted in, like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
It was also good to see some decent costumes in Tamil cinema. At long last! The story demanded it, of course, yet, I liked the fact that even the songs were well covered.
From the positive side, this movie is a must have in every collection.
Now, moving on to the undesirable features of the movie. There’s not much I can say, considering that I liked the movie.
First thing that struck me as quite odd was the elephant (hero’s உடன்பிறப்பு). Nothing wrong with the elephant, but I was a bit worried that the hero didn’t speak much to his so-called brother. Unlike a conventional movie, the hero had only a limited number of people and his elephant around him. There were no friends. Naturally, I expected the elephant to be the hero’s best companion.
The lack of intimacy between the elephant and the hero was unusual. I mean, usually, when a hero is madly in love with a girl, he bores his friends. Our hero too did that, but I felt the elephant was left out of the story for some time.
Another thing I wasn’t crazy about, was Thambi Raamaiya’s comedy. Yes, there were some parts where he did well, but the not-too-great comments actually subdued the good parts.
Finally, the graphics at the beginning scenes of the wild elephant. It was a bit too obviously artificial.
Those are the negatives, from my point of view.
Well, after reading all this, if you ask me if this movie conveys a social message, the answer is , yes. It does have a message, though I am not sure if it was intentional.
~Never place others’ lives (especially the ones you love) in peril for your own pleasure. The outcome may be devastating.~
Haven’t seen the movie yet? Come back after you do and share your views.
Enough said.
