Recommended
It’s wonderful to have Ilayaraja writing for the guitar again, and these understated passages beautifully capture the ebb and flow of Ravi’s inner world. But elsewhere, the music is too dramatic. The story is steeped in matter-of-fact philosophy. The score keeps saying, “This is a nail-biting murder mystery.” Manikandan’s sensibility is starker than the scores for Kutrame Thandanai and Kaaka Muttai suggest. The music sentimentalises these films – perhaps intentionally, to make them more “audience-friendly.” But I can’t shake off the feeling that the truest way to experience this director’s vision is to watch his films on mute.