Thinking Out Loud

I was surreptitiously wiping my eyes as I left the cinema, overcome by melancholy. I had just witnessed Kamal Haasan's (KH) exploration into his own mortality and superstardom. I have to provide an unbiased review. I should... but the emotionality is so overwhelming I find myself holding back tears as I reminisce on the utterly magnificent "Uttama Villain" (UV). The meta-nature of the film strikes multiple chords with KH's own life. Reality and art become so hard to distinguish, they start to merge as one. The narration switches between Manoranjan's life (as he tries to come to grips with his imminent death) and "Uttama Villain" (the film-within-the-film that parallels Manoranjan's life). The following are rather my observations than a review. Synopsis: An ageing superstar (*cough* *cough*) diagnosed with malignant brain tumour, chooses to act in a film in which the protagonist (Uthaman) inadvertently cheats death and is hailed as a "Mrityunj

Did OK Kanmani break new ground? No. Has Mani Ratnam pushed the envelope? Maybe. Is Mani Ratnam Back? Yes! Ahmedabad. A. R. Ameen's voice pervades our subconscious with the haunting rendition of "Maula Wa Sallim". Thara (Nithya Menen), a student of architecture, films what seems to be a place of worship. As she pans her iPad, capturing the immense beauty of the structure, she films Aadhi (Dulquer Salman) - who had ingratiated himself in her trip - leaning against the structure. The camera zooms in on her face that registers multiple emotions for a few precious seconds and that is one of the many scenes in O Kadhal Kanmani (aka OK Kanmani, aka OKK) that proves Mani Ratnam leaves nothing to chance to cement his comeback in this most memorable, light-hearted tale of love. A master storyteller can captivate audiences with a wafer-thin storyline with his magic. And who better than Mani Ratnam, a genre unto himself, to pull it off? He has come up with a colourful mixture of a G