Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam

'It's difficult to narrate some love stories... We have tried' — This statement is what opens Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam, Gitanjali Selvaraghavan's debut film. Working from a script written by her husband, Selvaraghavan, the director has given us a film that, like most Selvaraghavan films, explores an aspect of romance that mainstream cinema finds queasy to talk about.

The film begins with Manoja (Wamiqa) being wooed by her one-time boyfriend Tarun (Sharran) and flashes back to narrate her life with Prabhu (Balakrishnan). He is, again, like most Selvaraghavan heroes, an introvert, who doesn't know how to behave with women. But as fate would have it, he gets married to Manoja — her cancer-stricken mother pretty much blackmails her to agree to this. But, on their wedding night itself, Manoja makes it apparent to him that she's least interested in being a wife to him. Earlier on, we see Prabhu's friends pull his leg saying that given that his life's decisions are taken by his dad (Azhagamperumal), he is going to end up with an 'ooru side ponnu'. But, it is Prabhu who is the 'traditional' one in this couple — he listens to Manmadha Rasa, asks for sambar rice in an Italian restaurant and when Manoja asks him about his previous girlfriends, says, 'Ellaame en wifekaaga-nu serthu vechurundhen'.

So, initially, when Manoja doesn't reciprocate his love, he thinks that she is being haughty (her boyfriends popping up now and then don't help), but later realises that she is put off by his lack of sophistication and his judgemental attitude. The manner in which they warm up to each other is beautifully brought out (of course, there is conveniently an illness that facilitates this change of heart), and just when we expect things to become alright, he rapes her under the influence of alcohol and she attempts suicide. She survives and even though Prabhu expresses regret and seeks her forgiveness, Manoja divorces him — he did commit the heinous act. They drift apart but cannot eras...