Recommended
But of course, this film is made for a much younger audience and at least in the theatre I saw it, they weren’t complaining. One reason is surely that the romantic scenes — Aadhi and Tara meeting cute across the aisle during a church wedding, or his panic one morning when she refuses to wake up — are so delightful. While reviewing Aaydha Ezhuthu, I wrote “the pushing-fifty Mani Ratnam proves once again that there aren’t many better portrayers of young love – or of youth itself.” More than a decade later, this still stands. And it helps that he has this cast. Dulquer Salmaan checks off all boxes in the Can You Be The Next Madhavan? questionnaire, but it’s his co-star, really, who makes the movie. Despite my issues with it, I couldn’t stop watching — she’s so good. She even sings like the song (Malargal kaetten) is coming out of her, with joy and with just the slightest musician-like affectations. We’re all going to have our favourite scenes with her, but let me leave you with the moment where she’s recording the interiors of a historical structure on her iPad and stops when Aadhi comes into the frame. She has this vague smile. It says everything. If Mani Ratnam keeps employing actors like her, he may not need to write those zingers anymore.