A genius who lacks social skills falls madly in love with a girl and marries her. Before even starting his career, he loses his mind and becomes intolerable. The wife persists that her husband will come back to normalcy and eventually succeeds. No I am not describing the story of Russell Crowe starrer The Beautiful Mind but Selvaraghavan’s Mayakkam Enna. The similarity between the two ends there. Mayakkam Enna takes a mild inspiration from the Ron Howard classic contrary to the director’s claims.
Mayakkam Enna is a story of Karthik (Dhanush), a budding photographer who wants make it big in Wildlife Photography. He and his sister Ramya always hangout with a group of friends. Enters Yamini (Richa Gangopadhyay) in to the group as Sundar’s (Photographer Sunder) girl friend and her initial relationship with Karthik ends in a rift. As the rule says opposites should attract, Karthik and Yamini fall in love. After a lot of commotion, they both get married. Meanwhile, Karthik is cheated by his favorite wildlife photographer Madhesh Krishnamurthy (Raviprakash) and ends up in a freak accident. The tribulations that both undergo is depicted through a powerful portrayal of emotions.
The biggest strength of Dhanush is that he looks normal like you and me. His portrayal of struggling photographer is perfect. The moments where he struggles to choose between his friendship and love, the forest scenes and depressed moments are brilliantly done. But for me the star of the movie was Richa. Ably supported by an excellent characterization, Richa steals the show completely with her lustrous acting. The support cast is fresh and have done their job just right. Ramesh (Sundar’s Father) is a nice characterization. Ramji’s cinematography is poetic and most of the scenes can be made as wallpapers. GV Prakash songs are situational and they make better impact on screen than as individual soundtrack. The background score stays in your mind but it overpowers the dialogues in few scenes.
Selvaraghavan is known for showing the extreme emotions of human mind and once again he proves that he can bring the best performances from his actors. He definitely needs a pat in the back for his characterizations, casting and determination in depicting the true emotions instead of compromising for star value. On the negative side, the languid pace of the movie especially in the second half tests the patience of the audience and GV is not a music director who can hold the audience glued on to the screens with his music. ( Is there anyone other than the great maestro?). Intelligently done screenplay with sharp dialogues and excellent acting makes Mayakkam Enna enjoyable. The subtexts and thoughtful portrayals are for you to enjoy but the movie is not for those who expect a masala fare. Of course this is not 7Aum Arivu or Velayudham.
A 3/5 for Selvaraghavan’s Mayakkam Enna. It’s not a classic but definitely worth a watch amidst the craps in Tamil Cinema.
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Twitter: dashokkumar
Dec 01, 2011 @ 22:29:09
Sylvian, I expected an even longer review as that had been the style you’ve generally followed and was surprised that it ended so quick. Nice, short and made a good read.
Just one point of conflict even without seeing the movie I already started humming the songs especially Voda Voda Voda….
Thank You for the review.
Dec 01, 2011 @ 22:57:35
Thanks for the comment ashok. Tried a shorter review. Trying to find out what my readers want from me. Personally, I didn’t like the songs that much when the soundtrack came out. I liked the songs much better along with the movie :)
Twitter: ammrgocool
Dec 02, 2011 @ 21:35:54
i think selva has to tie up again with yuvan!:/
Dec 04, 2011 @ 11:51:33
A wonderfully taken movie. Selva captures the pulse and emotions of the urban youth and the ordeals faced by them. Superb review, patrick. Loved the brevity and pointedness of this. Waiting for your review on porali.
2011 Tamil Movies and Music Round Up – The best and the worst | Sylvianism
Jan 01, 2012 @ 02:23:46
[...] But it definitely made an impact in the national scene. So it does deserve a place here 3. Mayakkam Enna – I loved this movie. It takes the contrarian view to what’s normal in the [...]