With
or without reverence, very few of most Indians have eligibility and right to
comment on Mani Ratnam’s movies. I would
have preferred if people did not ask me how the movie Kadali was. I would never
like to tell someone, if on some day my mom’s cooking was not up to the mark.
Just like Mani sir’s movies are metaphor based, analogy related, rich in deep
philosophies and understanding of life, i will narrate a small incident / story
to say how i felt about the movie.
One
Mr X is deeply in love with a beautiful talented lady who one day goes off to
USA for 6 to 9 months and comes back, having achieved something big and is a
celebrity now. Our Mr X was waiting to meet her, see her, hug her and talk to
her. His situation was worse than the dead man in her absence. She had no time
to postpone the press meet after she came back. Hence she calls everyone the
same evening. The friends, the relatives, press, media and everyone known and
unknown to her turn up for the celebration. Our X who waited for so long also
goes there. He gets to meet her, talk to her, even manage a hug, shook hands
with her, held her hand for a significant time and spent more than 4 hours. He
then comes out and meets his best friend Y. When Y asks him, how he felt,
meeting her after such a long vulnerable and desperate meet, X has no answer.
Was he sad? Was he unhappy? Did she not treat him special? Did they not spend
time together? Did she not acknowledge his love? Didn’t she reciprocate? The
answer was no to all and it was all positive. There was nothing wrong about the
meeting and he could not point any flaw in her or the evening. Yet he did not
have the fulfilment, his thirst was not quenched and he did not soulfully feel
good.
The
same thing happened to me after watching Kadali. Was it bad technically? No.
Did not the actors perform well? They did. Was there a flaw in characterization
or story or logic? No, not at all. Cinematography, editing, BG score, new pair,
just about everything was class, beyond most Indian movies. There were many
spell bound visuals, tear jerking scenes and very sensitive dialogues. But as a
whole, the weaving to give that cinematic experience was grossly missing.
People talked about pace being slow. But did we not appreciate several movies
of Mani ratnam that lacked pace and yet we appreciated and accepted. We cannot
exactly say what, but the missing factor for commercial cinema space was too
conspicuous.
Mani
ratnam’s fascination, obsession for depicting the dynamics between good and
bad, the discovery of life’s truth thru
his stories in movies, constant high references to illegitimate child as
hero, love emanating out of self insufficiencies is again dealt in this movie
and probably more deeply than necessary for a medium like cinema. We cannot
take away the impression that arjun’s character creates and his dialogues like
, “bad comes to humans as easy as walking to them , but good is like flying and
needs wings and hence great efforts” are good and hitting.
He
makes a strong statement yet again that, the quality of good is to suffer in
this world and bad dominates to suppress good. But good has to triumph finally,
even if people lose hope. Such strong philosophical treaties in a cinema and that
for this generation in 2013, is not probably ok. This age cinema is like Pokiri
dialogue, “ ee tokkalo meeting yentannayya.. Neekentha, nakentha? “ .. The
movies also are done, and accepted the same way. Message has to be inherent in
the movie and not as dominant method in the narration. People like light
hearted themes or styles, with exceptions of course, albeit at the cost of
being silly and thrash also.
Is
this piece a criticism or post mortem of the movie? It is neither. But, this
movie is not fit for the commercial space and not in the trend for the current
movie patrons. But is it a bad cinema? Is it an art movie? No it is not? Does
it have an entertainment? Is it vulgar or violent? None of these apply to the
movie. But then should you watch? Please do not watch if you are a patron of
regular entertaining movies. Watch without fail if you are a devotee of Mani
sir and if you are a student of film, or a budding, aspiring film maker or want
to have some lonely time for yourself. Yes, cannot go with the company who are
not intellectually in sync with you.
But
this movie is like a literary classic book and also in that format. Except
being visually extra ordinary, it cannot qualify as a regular movie and is more
a poetry, read and enjoyed by people who love classic tastes like Scotch
whisky, cold coffee, Ayn Rand books, theatre, western classical music etc. Is
any of these things bad? Certainly not, but these are not for everyone like
KADALI too.
Audiences
and their tastes have changed and Kamal hasan, Mani ratnam need to know the
audiences and make their movies if they want to get their money back or make
classics for fewer people without compromising on their style, form and passion
but in a low budget. We salute them and also pity them for they fail to know
their audiences well. But seriously,
Kadali has to be seen by people who are ardent film buffs and not in a hurry to
judge. It is must for people who involve in deep thinking about life and are
eternally striving to find meanings. This is one such way and that too in a
poetically enriching manner.
There
is an urge to quickly see his Geetanjali, Sakhi, yuva, Bombay, Dilse to
reassure for ourselves that, indeed this great man knows the audience pulse and
that too the deep sensitive audience pulse and make them think and stir
emotions. How could he have super imposed such a great song like Gungukunna
when hero and heroine are getting to know each other and actually talking
sense? The dialogues are missed and so is the song. This is a blunder? Mani
ratnam is known to present songs well. This is third major disappointment.
Jaage in guru, Bahenedo in Raavan , and now this song is not pictured well. Surely one best thing that can happen
is the arrival of the new hero for Tamil industry. Kartik son has made an
impact on his debut. Even the heroine is good but Seemed like mani ratnam made
her act well. Second movie of her will decide how good she is.
