Mayakkam Enna- An Intense Emotional Experience

 

Cast : Dhanush , Richa Gangopadhyay,Sunder Ramu

Music : G.V.Prakash

Cinematography : Ramji

Direction : Selvaraghavan

Production : Gemini Circuits

Review : Sai Shyam G ( The 70 mm Team)

Selvaraghavan, the cult film maker who has a unique fan following for his strikingly different approach to film making is back with Mayakkam Enna. His brother,Dhanush, plays the protagonist and Selva seems to have something extra-special for his brother every single time and this film is right up there. Quite often, movies with the simplest of storylines make a harder impact on you and Mayakkam Enna is one among them. It is a difficult art to showcase people as they are in films, but is a cakewalk for Selva and this film proves it yet again.

Story

The movie has a very simple plot wherein Karthik Swaminathan a.k.a. Genius (Dhanush) is a small time photographer who tries to make it big in wildlife photography. He is a happy-go-lucky guy who loves his passion and enjoys hanging out with his close friends and sister. He gets introduced to Yamini (Richa Gangopadhyay) who is dating one of his close friends Sundar (Sundar). Though they are at loggerheads with each other initially, Karthik and Yamini fall for each other. Their love story has a happy ending, but there are more twists in the story.

Meanwhile, Karthik's efforts to get a break in wildlife photography take a beating as his photographs are rejected by everyone. He is shattered even more when he finds that Madhesh Krishnaswamy (Ravi Prasad) whom he considers to be his biggest inspiration takes away the credit for his photograph. He meets with a brutal accident and his life turns miserable after that. Will Karthik get a new lease of life to chase his passion? Watch Mayakkam Enna for the answer.

Performances

Dhanush is the life of the film. One would feel that acting comes naturally to him after watching this film. He shoulders the entire responsibility to make this film work with the audience. The national award which he got earlier this year has done wonders for him. The scene where he works like a dog and the scene where he breaks down after his photographs are rejected are something phenomenal.

Richa Gangopadhyay is a great find for Tamil cinema. She emotes really well and the way she carries herself on-screen is mind blowing. The scene where she breaks down after losing her baby cannot be described mere words. Sundar has done a great job while Ravi Prasad looks more than convincing in the role of a world-renowned photographer.

Technicalities

G.V.Praksh Kumar's music is heart melting and adds so much value to the movie. The theme music which is used many a time is perfectly in-sync with the movie. The songs are good to listen but the picturisation could have been better. Cinematographer Ramji has done a splendid job in bringing out what the director had intended to see on screen. Editing by Kola Bhaskar deserves praise for making this slow paced movie interesting.

Director Selvaraghavan has kept things really simple. He has not tried to include unwanted scenes to increase the pace of the movie. He wanted to give a movie straight from his heart and he has done that with conviction.If dialogues like ' Pudicha velaya seyya edhukunga course lam padikanum ' command applause, scenes which show the complex human emotions without utterance of a single word command standing ovation.

Wow Factors

• Brilliant performances from Dhanush and Richa

• Director Sevaraghavan's earnest screenplay

• G.V.Prakash Kumar's music

• Slick cinematography and crisp editing

Oops Factors

• A tad too melodramatic at times

• CG not upto the mark

Bottomline

Mayakkam Enna is an intense emotional experience and it is a very special movie from Selvaraghavan. Go for it if you can appreciate a movie that relies heftily on human emotions which is backed up by riveting performances from the entire cast.