reva-8

Madhavan and Jyothika play a couple of young people at odds with their parents' decision to marry them off. Jyothika's character has ambitions of going for a college education and Madhavan's likes his free life in the city too much to get tied down. Madhavan has good flair for comedic as well as serious acting and he is well utilized: Especially the scene where he and Jyothika meet at the bridge over the railway where he expresses his concern with minimum dialog. Jyothika's talent is also well exploited as she plays the serious young girl; and it complements successfully Madhavan's portrayal of the lighthearted young man. I gave it a 9 because there are weaknesses and exaggerations in the ruses the couple use to put the inevitable off. But overall a well done and a very watchable movie!!

With the help of a superb cast Cheran (Senthil) looks back over his teenage and youth. With its various puppy loves and real loves, and the humor and pathos that they bring, this gaze is bittersweet. In these desensitized days, this is an achievement. Mallika is a natural actress, though I am sure she will be relegated to sister roles because in the venerable Indian movie tradition she would not be considered flashy enough to be a lead--though the Tamil film industry has resisted this trend somewhat successfully. In any case, it may not be a bad thing in the end for Mallika to play supporting roles, for the female leads in Indian films have rarely to do any real acting. Mallika's character in the movie is well conceived and true to real life. Gopika is also good and she carries off the character's transformation through the movie well. Kanika as the bride at her wedding reception is super. Very expressive face. (I cannot say anything about anyone's dialog delivery because most actors in Tamil films nowadays dub their lines in post production or have them dubbed by others who make a living out of this profession. Which is why sometimes, Jyothika and Nmaitha (and any number of others) sound alike.) But why the 9?: Though Sneha is passably good and her lines are very well written, it is the character I have a quarrel with. So aggressively self-righteously idealistic and so insufferable: I guess we are still reeling in the backlash from the portrayals of meek women in Indian cinema of the earlier decades.