Kadal

Upgrade version of Manirathnam

The thing to talk here is the story. Jayamohan did it once again much separated from Neerparavai. The story narrated by him was done in a single shot where a small child stands up on its own in Manirathnam style "wow".The next thing is the cinematography which makes us to think Hollywood is far behind from Indian film making.Editing and Vfx work makes the film too colourfull and falls apart from the movie.May it pushed the movie back.

ACTORS:

Arjun job looks amazing especially in climax where a Indian health ledger is seen. Aravindswamy with much more boost up carries the movie all over.I thought Mani sir took hero and heroine for a coincidence but he made them to adopt to their character.I am pretty amazed by both their performance. Gautham has his grand father and his father attitude. In a scene where he comes to the church after meeting the heroine"cool". Thulasi expression in mookil thotam was like a half sridevi.

I don't why do they expect a alaipayuthey in a fisherman's life do you think Manirathnam has only love Ideas.At last but not least the AR Rahman music carried all over the movie cleaning your ears We can hear a much more energy since it is a combo from the past.

The only thing that i am disappointed is the audience who are not patience to a slow movie like this.I went to 2 theater and couldn't tolerate those Intelligent genius thinking themselves as Aranofsky creating and giving tips to the director .So whats the fact is if you don't like the movie just shut the f---k up so that other illiterate like us can watch the movie.

So Kadal is a vast ocean for a deep dive or for a gentle swim that in your point of suggestion.on the way for Infinite awards.

Forgiveness or Revenge: When faced with the criminal destroying everything you stand for, which path would you choose? What leads to spiritual enlightenment, following a preacher formally educated in a religious discipline, or a peek into a heart filled with childlike innocence. Can a human truly be classified as being God or Devil, or are both entities inside each of us, and only the circumstances dictate who manifests outside? With a biblically inspired tale set in the backdrop of the lives of Christian fishermen in Southern Tamil Nadu, these are some of the questions director Mani Ratnam seems to be asking.

While the ideas of sin, redemption, revenge, forgiveness in cinema have been around since the beginning of cinema itself, the choice of the sea as a backdrop allows the director to use the various moods of Mother Nature to elevate the emotions in the depicted events, and credit, in this regard, is due to the cinematographer, Rajiv Menon. For a movie with seemingly lofty intentions, the actors do not disappoint. Arvind Swamy as the pragmatic priest who uses carrots and sticks to straighten a boy with an adverse past, Gautham as the enigmatic young hero in constant struggle to grapple with his place in the society around him, Thulasi the young convent girl who refuses to grow up, and Arjun, the man who made a deal with the Devil, and would stop at nothing to get ahead, all of them play their characters convincingly. The disappointments in the movie are the under utilization of some songs in the excellent soundtrack, and the final showdown which, although shot splendidly, could have packed a stronger emotional punch, either through better dialogue or by tweaking the storyline. Part of this could have also been an outcome of editing, and one hopes that an uncut version of the movie releases on DVD at some point that better explains these problems.

Following Thalapathy and Raavan, this is the director's third venture to be inspired by a religious epic. While the other two movies were more direct retelling of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, Kadal is not quite a reinterpretation of an epic, but characters and events were certainly inspired by the stories from the Christian faith (the betrayal, crucifixion, resurrection). Is it mere coincidence that the hero, born as a child to a woman named Mary, and constantly referred to as God's son in the movie, sported longish hair, mustache and beard on his thin visage almost reminding us of the Biblical son of God. Of course, if indeed the purpose was make a movie inspired by the story of Christ, then unlike Raavan and Thalapathy, why is religion an explicit element in this movie. Perhaps, since the question posed is that of choosing a path for life, a religious backdrop is inevitable. In a tale about forgiveness, Christianity may have provided the ideal landscape.

Director Mani Ratnam, it appears, has indeed traveled a far distance from his evergreen hits such as Mouna Ragam, Roja, Anjali, where the movie takes you through an emotional journey without necessarily asking you to stop and think about what you just saw. Movies such as Raavan and Kadal have through their sub-textual intent made us question our premises about their stories and possibly, our own.

KADAL(2013)

This is the film that I am waiting (a completely uncompromised original film) since long time (after Amritha) from Mani Ratnam. I feel it is near to his own heart and have true literary values and philosophy of life. It is more deeper than it seems. We must surrender to its magic to know it. It is an experience which I never imagined. Total surprise. Totally unique. Totally revolutionary. The film touches the soul, inner cores of heart. What an unbelievable experience...

Mani Ratnam is auteur...we shouldn't expect same from him again and again. Sometimes he is beyond our imagination and ability of understanding. We should be preparing for a total surprise.

What I mostly liked in this film is music of life, sadness in life, divinity in life. Way of life is mysterious. Now we can believe one can be transformed; one can grow in a life time. The film gives that hope to humanity. The world needs love and forgiveness. The people talk about these things are rare. That is why we respect Mani Ratnam. He expressed these true values of life in this film. They are subtle and deep. Sometime difficult to grasp.

Boy fishing scene is beautiful and beautiful and climax fight is technically superior and fearful. He used highest technical values for this fight. And it is not only a fight; he incorporated in it philosophy, and positivity of life.

Man is far higher entity than what he imagined about him. There is greatness in him hidden. Life will bring it out, sometimes forcefully. It is the way of life. We compare this story with world's greatest writer and philosopher Leo Tolstoy's short story "Saint Sargai", for its philosophy and literary standards. This kind of films are rare in India.

Great music, great visuals and sheer poetry…it is KADAL.

After Raavanan, Mani Ratnam has returned behind the camera and has delivered us Kadal (English: The Sea), a drama film which revolves the story of the life of Indian-Tamil Christian fishermen. It features an ensemble cast that includes Aravinth Swamy, Arjun Sarja, Ponnvannan, Lakshmi Manchu and débutantes Gautham Karthik (son of actor Karthik Muthuraman) and Thulasi Nair (daughter of actress Radha). The film's score and soundtrack were composed by the two time Academy Award winner A.R Rahman and the voices were lent by A.R Rahman, Vijay Yesudas, Sid Sriram, Abhay Jodhpurkar, Harini, Shakri Sri Gopalan, Haricharan, Chinmayi, Tanvi Shah and rapper Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam. The lyrics were penned by Kaviperarasu Vairamuthu, his son Madhan Karky and rapper Aaryan Dinesh Kanagaratnam. The film was written by Jeyamohan while Rajiv Menon and A. Sreekar Prasad handled the cinematography and editing. It was produced by A. Manohar Prasad and Mani Ratnam.

The film has two story lines that become one. The one features Father Samuel Fernando aka Sam (Swamy) and Bergmans aka Meesaikaaran (Sarja) while the other one features Thomas aka Tom (Karthik) and Beatrice aka Bea (Nair). The film marks a comeback for Swamy. He was last seen in Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey which was released 13 years ago. We can say that Aravinth Swamy owns the film even if the main actor is Gautham Karthik. The film's strongest point is the screenplay which was handled by Jeyamohan. The screenplay was simply amazing, specially the childhood scenes of Thomas. Both the child and the teenager who portrayed the younger Thomas have done a fabulous job. Both Karthik Muthuraman and Radha can be proud of their children. They have delivered a wonderful and neat performance. Specially Gautham Karthik. His acting skills, dance skills and action are pretty impressive. Thulasi Nair is natural, but I didn't feel that Beatrice was a suitable role for her. Aravinth Swamy was at his strongest performance after Bombay (1995). He was simply the perfect choice to portray Father Samuel Fernando. Arjun Sarja, the action king who has delivered a bunch of successful action- packed films in the 90's has portrayed Bergmans, the main antagonist. Sarja has played a role with negative shades and has shown us another side of his acting skills. Ponvannan who portrayed Thomas's unknown father has also done a good job.

Rajiv Menon, the cinematographer has pictured the whole film beautifully, specially the songs Elay Keechan, Moongil Tottham and Adiye. You will still have the shots of Thomas as a teenager when he surfs in the ocean in your mind even when you leave the cinema. A. Sreekar Prasad, the editor, deserves to be praised for his work as well.

A.R Rahman, who has been Mani Ratnam's usual composer since Roja (1992) has given the film a soundtrack with different genres. Chittirai Nila describes the difference between life and death, Elay Keechan has a farmer-humpback tune, Adiye has a jazz feel, Nenjukkulle, a romantic touch, Anbin Vaasale, a religious song, Moongil Tottham, a slow tune of Nenjukkulle and Magudi Magudi, a Hip-Hop track which gives energy in the action scenes. Kadal is the third best album of the Mani Ratnam - A.R Rahman combination.

Overall Kadal is a beautiful journey you never want to miss. It is a story that tells us about the good versus the evil. It has emotions, action, love, heart melting music, extraordinary shots of jumping waves, a good message and a small piece of comedy. It may not be a usual Mani Ratnam flick, but if you want to look and experience something different, then Kadal is definitely the right choice.

Strongly recommended for everyone. Specially non-Mani Ratnam fans.

Being an ardent Mani movie follower and an avid AR music lover I couldn't afford to miss Kadal, and didn't. Expectations ran high; and for a while with a thunderous opening sequence and a riveting exhilarating first half, the film held fort, only to fall away gradually in the second half and by the climax sequences and the anticlimaxes, the collapse was complete.

The film does start off well with the much Mani Ratnam traversed- social discard, orphaned child growing up in a low key environment - path, not very dissimilar to Nayakan or Thalapathy, and promises a lot while establishing the premises of how the light of good and the claws of evil manipulates the rawness of youth and innocence of love. But one couldn't escape the feeling that the master story teller having penned the film, had failed to draw starkly the lines of the characters, a task which he is usually so accomplished at, in particular that of the heroine and to some extent that of the antagonist. Incomprehensible is the heroine's character, and unjustifiable the antagonist's; both of whom the audience fail to identify with, and the method in the madness unbelievably unacceptable.

The film does go on however, shouldered by excellent performances by the artists, Arvind Swamy the stand out, Arjun, an admirable transformation in spite of a few hollow links, and a very commendable Gautham Karthik.

To his rescue Mani does have an ever reliable AR Rahman whose magic outscores the film itself, though with Nenjukkulle and Moongilthottam, it appears one song too many, but then no one is complaining; and the dependable Rajeev Menon whose visual treat had the audience in trance for more than a handful of occasions, with the hitherto unseen splendorous portrayal of Kadal(The sea) in all its enormity, tranquility, majesty and menace.

An appropriate end to the story seemed out of reach of the director, and the climax appeared tweaked, more an emotional compromise than a logical culmination; thus ruining the foundation of the story itself; and leaving many stones unturned and many fates undecided.

The film ends however, not before the audience is enthralled by some magical Mani moments - the burial scene, the tape recorder scene and the birth scene to name a few – but sadly you go back taking a few moments with yourself; and not the movie.