RAMAN THEDIYA SEETHAI MOVIE REVIEW
>> Wednesday, January 14, 2009
While a romance in Tamil cinema immediately brings to mind a young couple trying to overcome
some sort of obstacles, there have been some mature romances that dealt with the affairs of the heart of older couples. Raman Thediya Seethai is a solid addition to this small list. Chronicling the many twists and turns in a man's search for his Mrs. Right, it is a natural, feel-good film.
Venugopal(Cheran), who owns a wedding invitation store, isn't having much luck with getting married. While the first girl he meets, Ranjitha(Vimala Raman), says "No" since she doesn't feel like marrying him, the second girl, Vidya(Ramya), elopes with her lover on the day of the wedding. Vidya's father, dejected over his daughter's act, takes it upon himself to find a girl for Venugopal. With an alliance in hand, he takes Venugopal to the girl's village but life has a few more surprises for Venu.
Director Jagannath goes the Vikraman way in filling his movie with people who are good. The characters in the film are the kinds who help out people who haven't exactly been nice to them and go out of their way to help people they don't really have to. They are selfless, self-confident and optimistic and their hearts are filled with goodness. Even a character(who was shown to be a drug addict earlier) who is in jail is there because he was upholding his wife's honor. So, though these people have their own troubles and miseries, the film works as a feel-good tale because the way the characters are shaped and their basic attitudes in life. We watch the film with a warm feeling in our hearts and that's always a good thing.
At the same time, the film doesn't go overboard in portraying these characters and their goodness. The things they do and they way they react to situations feel extremely natural and down-to-earth and we don't need to suspend our disbelief to accept that people like this do exist in the real world. The director also handles things in a low-key fashion and avoids portraying anything in a dramatic fashion. This extends right upto the climax, which works better because of it. These two factors - the authenticity and the low-key nature - make it easy to swallow the string of coincidences the movie throws at us after Cheran arrives in the village. They feel like natural turns of a story rather than contrivances forced in to move the story along.
The film devotes substantial chunks of time to the tales of Pasupathy and Nitin Sathya but avoids making them feel redundant by creating links to Cheran's story(though Nitin's story has a much more direct effect on Cheran's life). Still, the naturalness that accompanies Cheran's track takes a bit of a hit in these segments. The characters(the blind man with a zest for life, the reformed thief) and the situations they go through(a fight with rowdies, a marathon) feel more cinematic compared to what happens to Cheran.
Cheran has no problem playing the goodhearted man in search of love and the role fits him like a glove. Vimala Raman surprises us with a very natural, well-tuned performance. She is able to express her feelings without indulging in theatrics and that's exactly what the movie needs. She easily earns our sympathy during the conversations with her mom about her true feelings. Pasupathy's body language and diction are perfect for his character and Nitin Sathya impresses also. Gajala looks a bit plump and aged while between Ramya and Karthika, the former makes more of an impression because her role has more substance.
some sort of obstacles, there have been some mature romances that dealt with the affairs of the heart of older couples. Raman Thediya Seethai is a solid addition to this small list. Chronicling the many twists and turns in a man's search for his Mrs. Right, it is a natural, feel-good film.Venugopal(Cheran), who owns a wedding invitation store, isn't having much luck with getting married. While the first girl he meets, Ranjitha(Vimala Raman), says "No" since she doesn't feel like marrying him, the second girl, Vidya(Ramya), elopes with her lover on the day of the wedding. Vidya's father, dejected over his daughter's act, takes it upon himself to find a girl for Venugopal. With an alliance in hand, he takes Venugopal to the girl's village but life has a few more surprises for Venu.
Director Jagannath goes the Vikraman way in filling his movie with people who are good. The characters in the film are the kinds who help out people who haven't exactly been nice to them and go out of their way to help people they don't really have to. They are selfless, self-confident and optimistic and their hearts are filled with goodness. Even a character(who was shown to be a drug addict earlier) who is in jail is there because he was upholding his wife's honor. So, though these people have their own troubles and miseries, the film works as a feel-good tale because the way the characters are shaped and their basic attitudes in life. We watch the film with a warm feeling in our hearts and that's always a good thing.
At the same time, the film doesn't go overboard in portraying these characters and their goodness. The things they do and they way they react to situations feel extremely natural and down-to-earth and we don't need to suspend our disbelief to accept that people like this do exist in the real world. The director also handles things in a low-key fashion and avoids portraying anything in a dramatic fashion. This extends right upto the climax, which works better because of it. These two factors - the authenticity and the low-key nature - make it easy to swallow the string of coincidences the movie throws at us after Cheran arrives in the village. They feel like natural turns of a story rather than contrivances forced in to move the story along.
The film devotes substantial chunks of time to the tales of Pasupathy and Nitin Sathya but avoids making them feel redundant by creating links to Cheran's story(though Nitin's story has a much more direct effect on Cheran's life). Still, the naturalness that accompanies Cheran's track takes a bit of a hit in these segments. The characters(the blind man with a zest for life, the reformed thief) and the situations they go through(a fight with rowdies, a marathon) feel more cinematic compared to what happens to Cheran.
Cheran has no problem playing the goodhearted man in search of love and the role fits him like a glove. Vimala Raman surprises us with a very natural, well-tuned performance. She is able to express her feelings without indulging in theatrics and that's exactly what the movie needs. She easily earns our sympathy during the conversations with her mom about her true feelings. Pasupathy's body language and diction are perfect for his character and Nitin Sathya impresses also. Gajala looks a bit plump and aged while between Ramya and Karthika, the former makes more of an impression because her role has more substance.
