Director : Bharat Bala
Producer : Venu Ravichandran (Aascar Films)
Screenplay : Bharat Bala, Sriram Rajan
Music : A. R. Rahman
Cinematography : Marc Koninckx
Editing : Vivek Harshan
Mariyaan is the Tamil directional debut of Bharath Bala has Dhanush and Parvathi Menon in the lead besides, national award winning actor Appu Kutty and comedian Jagan in supporting roles. The technicians of the film are the major highlights. AR Rahman has composed the film’s music, Marc Knoninckx has handled the cinematography and editing touch has been given by Vivek Harshan. The film which was mentioned with the spelling of Mariyaan till the release has suddenly undergone a change as Maryan (we really wonder why it has happened).
Story:
The story is based on a real life incident where three oil workers from India were kidnapped by the militants in Sudan in the year 2008. Dhanush plays the role of Mariyaan, Jagan plays his co-worker. Parvathi Menon is his lady love, while Appu Kutty and Imman Annachi play supporting roles as fishermen. Mariyaan, who keeps on neglecting his mother’s advice to go abroad to find a better occupation, decides to leave his hometown for the sake of his lady love Parvathi Menon. The struggle which he undergoes at the work place and for escaping from the militants of Sudan to get back to his home town forms the rest of the film.
Review:
Director Bharat Bala, through his first Tamil film, has taken a very sensitive issue, which is the plight of uneducated Indian workers abroad, (which needs our attention) as the core and has fabricated it with the lace of love. For bringing on screen, something which Tamil audience have not seen before (and only heard in news form), director Bharath Bala’s efforts become instantly appreciable.
The story has its own value, but it is the screenplay which makes the travelling of any movie silky smooth. Considering this, screenplay penned by Sriram Raja and Bharat Bala has fallen flat in the first half as the narration isn’t that interesting and engaging, except for the fact that it holds certain solid reasons (justifications) for Mariyaan’s unwillingly travel to Sudan.
End portions of the first half is where the film switches over to the serious mode, when Mariyaan and his co-workers get kidnapped by militants of Sudan. From here, it is Dhanush all the way throughout the end with Pravathi Menon chipping in at regular intervals through sequences penned for her struggle to reach Mariyaan.
Dhanush has proved his acting prowess with Mariyaan once again. Mariyaan is one such film like Aadukalam and Mayakkam Enna, which has completely tapped out the acting resource stored inside Dhanush. His expressions, be it an ignorant lover, a hostage fearing the militant, or as a courageous escapee, is realistic and draws applause from the audience.
On the other hand, Parvathy Menon unlike her average performance in ‘Chennayil Oru Naal’ (though it is a small role), has bettered it by a mile. The actress has performed well, as we don’t get into a state of disinterest when the actress is seen in tight close-up, especially during emotional scenes. Parvathi Menon has tried her best to compete with Dhanush, with her lip syncs and , natural emotions and has succeeded in it partially.
Actor Jagan, who travels along with Dhanush as a hostage has played a perfect supporting role and is a worthy time off for us to take our eyes off Dhanush for a while. Villains Christopher Minnie and Dagbeh Tweh are the best handpicks made by Bharath Bala for the role of young (teenage) and upcoming militants of Sudan, who indulge in kidnapping for their money.
Coming to the technical aspects, it is undoubtedly AR Rahman and Marc Koninckx who come into play, but the technician from Belgium has scored well than the composer. Marc Koninckx has maintained tight close-up shots for the scenes involving emotional overflow between Parvathi and Dhanush, while the slow motions are the mainstay in the songs.
His work is best felt in the fight sequences where he has manually carried his huge lens on his shoulder to capture it in the best realistic way possible and the underwater shots. Right from the breezy oceanic locations of the village to barren and dry lands of Sudan, Marc Koninckx’s lens work plays a big role in capturing the in depth beauty of the locations.
Double Academy Award and Grammy winner AR Rahman hasn’t given the best of his music for Mariyaan, which is one of the known facts already. The composer has however, given some memorable situational tracks like ‘Nenjey Ezhu’, ‘Innum Konjam’ and Yuvan’s Kadal Raasa Naan which gels along with ‘I Love my Africa’. After watching the film, we must say that Nenje Ezhu is the best track among the list as it showcases how love acts as an elixir and positive catalyst in bringing the last and the best effort out of a man even if he is in the verge of being knocked down. The background scores are appropriate according to the moods of each and every scene.
Verdict: Not a complete entertainer of sort, but a must watch for Dhanush fans and people who are open to something new.
Movie Rating: 4/5
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