Review: Meyaadha Maan
Director: Rathna Kumar; Cast: Vaibhav, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Vivek Prasanna, Indhuja, Arun Prasath, Amrutha Srinivasan
Film: Meyaadha Maan
Director: Rathna Kumar
Cast: Vaibhav, Priya Bhavani Shankar, Vivek Prasanna, Indhuja, Arun Prasath, Amrutha Srinivasan
Music: Pradeep Kumar and Santhosh Narayanan
Cinematographer: Vidhu Ayyanna
Director Rathna Kumar’s Meyaadha Maan is a light-hearted romantic comedy that works big time, primarily because of some really funny dialogues and some sterling performances from its small but commendable cast.
The story revolves around ‘Idhayam’ Murali (Vaibhav), a small time singer from the lower strata of society. He makes his living by performing with a band at small functions and events.
Murali is called ‘Idhayam’ Murali by his friends Vinoth (Vivek Prasanna) and Kishore (Arun Prasath) for just like in the film Idhayam, in which the hero doesn’t have the nerve to tell the girl of his love, Murali too hasn’t mustered the courage to tell Madhu (Priya Bhavani Shankar), the girl he has been in love with for the past three years, of his love for her.
Under these circumstances, Madhu, who is hardly even aware of Murali’s existence, let alone his love for her, gets engaged to a boy in her community.
On the day of her engagement, an inebirated Murali threatens to commit suicide. Fearing for his life, his friends, Vinoth, a mechanic by profession, and Kishore, a relative of Madhu, make their way to her house.
They explain the situation to her and plead with her to take part in a sequence that they intend to enact over the phone to save Murali’s life.
Poor Madhu reluctantly agrees. They make her read out passages which give the impression that she is an arrogant person, who is consistently insulting both Vinoth and Kishore who are there to plead Murali’s case. The plan works. When Murali hears her humiliating his friends who are begging her for his love over phone, his love turns to anger. He begins to love his friends even more on the one hand and on the other, declares that he does not need her love.
The friends are overjoyed. They tell Madhu that she can now get on with her life and that Murali can get on with his.
However, little do they know that life isn’t that simple and that Madhu now has second thoughts about getting married to the person she is engaged to…
Director Rathna Kumar must be given credit for handling such a sensitive topic exceptionally well. Usually, such issues, while being presented in a comical way, can backfire big time if not handled with precision and care. To his credit, the film does not come across as being offensive. Rather, it comes across as being entertaining. One of the primary reasons is some of the dialogues of the film, which work big time.
The other big reason is the cast of the film which does a fantastic job. The film has at least three exceptional performances and one reasonably good performance.
The first of the exceptional performances comes from Vivek Prasanna as Vinoth. He steals audiences’ hearts as the loyal friend, who eventually turns into Murali’s brother-in-law. Prasanna does a sterling job as Vinoth, standing firmly by his friend through thick and thin. His equation with Sudarvizhi (Indhuja), his friend’s sister is also equally laudable.
The next impressive performance comes from Indhuja, who plays Murali’s sister Sudarvizhi. With just the right expressions and some great dancing, Sudarvizhi makes an impression instantly. Her performance stands out, making it hard for one to not notice her effort.
The last but not least of the exceptional performances comes from Priya Bhavani Shankar as Madhu. Priya, who has had stints as a newsreader and television actress, might be making her debut as an actress with this film but then, her performance in Meyaadha Maan gives no indication of the fact that she is a debutante.
Priya’s face is full of kindness and yet she has a commanding presence.There is something very dignified about her that makes her unique. Her measured responses and her graceful way of expressing her thoughts make her performance the highlight of the film. Without doubt, Tamil cinema has a star in her.
Vaibhav, as always, delivers a good performance as Murali. Playing a temperamental, love-struck simpleton isn’t easy by any standards and Vaibhav does a good job for most part.
The songs of the film are terrible. In fact, they are unbearable. However, the background score is brilliant. There are two music directors for the film and it is unclear who has done what.
Vidhu Ayyanna’s cinematography is just perfect. His shots and lighting are just about right for a comedy.
On the whole, Meyaadha Maan works big time, if all that you are looking to have is a good time at the theatre.
