OK Kanmani (aka) O Kadhal Kanmani Review

Looks like the season of love is here, no, it’s not Valentine’s Day but the wizard of love Maniratnam is back with a bang in ‘OK Kanmani’. If Alaipayuthey showed the trials and tribulations of a secret marriage,  OK Kanmani takes up the flip flop life of a couple living together that traverses through their relationship and finishes off convincingly. When Maniratnam brings a script about relationships to the screen, it more often than not connects emotionally to the audience. The simple yet realistic dialogues, soul drenching music, some artistic lens work, and tailor made cast elevate ‘OK Kanmani’ to a higher level.
 
The Plot:

Adhi a happy-go-lucky lad,  bumps into Tara, a bubbly girl loaded with energy and predictably fall in love. The duo have plenty in common and the most striking one is that they both hate marriage. So after a bunch of flirty dialogues and color combed tunes, they move in together. Their jolly go stint rocks on until that juncture comes when they have to answer the big question of whether to move forward or not.

The Masters in Full Flow:

Maniratnam does not linger on the point of what the society might think about “Living together” but concentrates more on what the couple go through and what decisions they want to or forced to make and that’s what makes OKK a stirring concept.

The film’s major strength is the down to earth simplistic dialogues, that moves the story along swiftly.  To quote a few, the first scene when Adhi meets Tara they talk about marriage, a flow of one words, but effective, he says “Kalyanam, Kamam” and a prompt response from her “definite ah kamam”. That’s just too realistic. There is the scene when they decide to shun marriage, then Tara drops the bombshell of taking Adhi to her mother , the mood gets so pensive and finally turns funny and here we get to witness the master of direction Maniratnam, in full flow.

The film is absolute democracy, yes for the youth, to the youth, by the youth, and we may not be wrong in calling Maniratnam, AR Rahman, PC Sriram and Vairamuthu youth, for it seems that the veterans have just kicked off their sandals and sported sneakers. The Mental Manadhil song and Kaara are enough examples to show why they are truly the wizards of their technicalities, a razor sharp camera work sporting a chic color, lyrics that any youth can connect to, out of the box music and screenplay that whirls through.

Rahman’s presence is felt throughout the movie and his music lures the audience into the story making one forget the fact that it’s a staged composition and the BGM just kicks in silently yet creating the perfect ambience for the situation.

In all the previous Mani- Sriram collaborations of the past, they work in tandem to bring out subtle nuances in the performances of the artistes.  Here too PC works on all angles to make Dulquer look a perfect Romeo especially when he tries to do that light hearted flirting. The same goes for the heroine Nithya Menen who walks around in all innocence, then suddenly fizzes out some ravishing chirpy attitude that any guy would want to fall head over heels for her.

MounaRagam, Alaipayuthey, Bombay and most of the Maniratnam movies have a major portion of scenes within the four walls of the couple and requires the perfect  interiors to convey the various moods.   OKK too gives a lot of importance to art work and it is just spot on with crafty curtains, chic costumes and speckle free wood work.

Dulquer and NithyaMenon:

Maniratnam’s heroes are classy, tongue in cheek fellas who burst open like the redbull can, Dulquer fits the role to the T and like the previous leading men of Mani such as Karthik, Arvind swamy and Madhavan Dulquer as Adhi too will be long remembered.  Nithya Menen proves that she is not just another heroine running behind the hero,  but an actress of substance when she pulls her boyfriend’s leg, crawls out through the back door, makes us laugh the wits out, and mouths the dialogues to great effect.

Prakash Raj and Leela Samson as an aged couple who still look out for each other prevailing against all odds, do perfect justice to their roles.

A Few Things That catch the Eye

• The trains, the old couple in love, the buses and the songs all remind one of Maniratnam’s previous movies.
• ParanthuSellava song looks misplaced and causes a minor glitch to the screenplay.
• The sort of confusion when Adhi goes missing is uncalled for, or rather never explained convincingly.

 
There are quite a few other minor drawbacks that hinder the narration and so will OKK be the classic Maniratnam movie we want it to be? Well, to an extent for sure!

Verdict :  Pops out like a fresh popcorn
 
Star : 3.25/5