O Kadhal Kanmani

The pre-release buzz around Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani was that it is a sequel to Alaipayuthey and while the maker has denied this, nonetheless, the film does feel like a spiritual cousin to the earlier film. The circumstances that led to the films couldn't have been any similar. At the time he made Alaipayuthey, Mani Ratnam had delivered a couple of films (Iruvar, Dil Se) that did not work at the box office and questions were raised on whether this avowedly mainstream filmmaker was not connecting with his audience. This time, after the failed experiments of Raavanan and Kadal, these questions are being raised yet again.

And the filmmaker shows that his touch is in tact and he can still make a romance come alive on screen. With some help from PC Sreeram, whose gorgeous, superbly-lit frames capture the beauty of both Mumbai and the cramped quarters of the lead couple, and AR Rahman, whose hip songs and background score, keeps the scenes throbbing, Mani Ratnam has given us a romantic film for this generation. Unlike Kadal, which never came together as a whole despite some standout moments, the scenes here flow organically, and let us soak in the breezy romance between Adhi and Tara (Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menon, who sizzle on screen).

There are scenes that seem to mirror, as if purposefully, Alaipayuthey. As in that film, the meet-cute happens at the railway station and at a wedding. The pair woos each other on the train. Even the financial background of their families (Tara is super rich, while Adhi is a middle-class boy), and their fashionable jobs (if Alaipayuthey's Karthik was working in an IT startup and Shakti a medical student, Adhi here is a video game designer, while Tara is an architecture student) are similar. Like Shakti, Tara goes on a study tour (here, it is Ahmedabad) and like Karthik, Adhi follows his lover there. There is also an older couple as in that film informing their romance. And, there is even a search for a loved one that fina...