'Mayakkam Enna' (Tamil)
Director - Selvaraghavan
Cast - Dhanush, Richa Gangopadhay, Sundar, Ravi Prakash, Rajiv Choudhry, Mathi, Sony, Pooja Balu
A sensitively crafted screenplay, deft narration, stunning vignettes and montages, and a brilliant performance by the lead pair, makes ‘Mayakkam Enna’ a fascinating watch. Multilayered, meaningful and entertaining, it works at various levels, sending out a positive message.
The director’s take on human relationships, foibles and weaknesses, is tolerant and understanding. He has given space to his actors to play out their emotions, and the actors have given of their best. Dhanush has blossomed best under his brother’s guidance. Here too Selvaraghavan has extracted from him a performance a notch higher and more mature than his earlier ones.
The actor is riveting as Karthik, an aspiring wildlife photographer who goes through various turbulent situations, both personal and professional. The awkwardness and guilt when Karthik falls for his best friend Sundar’s girl Yamini (Richa); frustration when his talent goes unrecognized; depression, boozing binges and ill temper when he faces betrayal from Mathesh, a man he held as his idol (Ravi Prakash gets noticed), are all brought out splendidly by the actor.
Richa is a perfect selection and reveals amazing emotional prowess. As the woman in Karthik’s life (Deepa Venkat’s dubbed voice is in perfect sync and feel), who stands by her man even as she bears the brunt of his violent irrational temper tantrums, Richa is outstanding.
The final scene as the end credits scroll has a fine touch. The director has used dialogue to the minimum, and lets the visuals and expressions convey the mood. G V Prakash’s background score is judiciously used, silence conveying a lot. His songs are situationally placed and the phrases catchy, especially the Dhanush-sung ‘Oda oda’.
Kola Bhasker’s crisp editing and Ramji’s poetic visuals enhance the mood and feel. Breathtaking are the wildlife shots as Karthik waits to capture a unique moment.
There are flaws and glitches, but minor and negligible. For one, the boys and girls gang of Karthik and their group friendship have a superficial air to it. However, the male bonding has been well-etched.
The second half of the film slackens a tad. After a couple of ventures that did no justice to his talent, one wondered when Selvaraghavan, the ace filmmaker would mystify and thrill us with another exciting and creative work like his debut ‘Kadhal Konden’. ‘Mayakkam Enna’ comes as an answer to this. Warm and sensitively crafted, with a feel-good flavour, it’s a film that definitely warrants a watch.