Self-indulgence is my second name. Guess Who?
Well, Mr. Mani Ratnam from almost a decade seemed to make movies to please him than deliver a film which the junta can love and appreciate. Of course, all his recent films had one thing each that the film could boast of say ‘visual brilliance’ in Villain, ‘message’ in Yuva and so on. But, post Amrutha, there was not even a single film that scored marks as a “good film”. OK Bangaram also has only a handful of good things it carries.
The story unfolds in Mumbai. Unsurprisingly, the first shot of the movie opens in a railway station. Adi (Dulquer Salman) arrives in Mumbai to work in a gaming company as a video game designer. He meets Taara(Nitya Menen) at his friend’s wedding and they get attracted in no time. Unlike ‘unlike poles attract each other’; they both are like poles who get attracted. They believe in the philosophy that marriage is for fools. Before, each of them fly off to US, Paris respectively for their aspirations, they decide to go for a live-in. How they deal with each other and their internal conflicts while the separation date is nearing forms the rest of the proceedings.
First things first, the movie has some great crispy and wonderful lines by the dialogue writer. Dulquer and Nitya perform flawlessly in their roles. The pair performed with great ease representing ambitious youngsters. Their chemistry is brilliant. Nani’s dubbing for Dulquer made the impact only bigger for the Telugu audience. This is a big advantage to the movie when it has a completely new face as the male lead. The pair of Prakash Raj and Leela Samson was absolutely wonderful too. In fact, Leela with her Alzheimer’s , had a better screen than Prakash Raj.
Coming to the cinematography department, there is nothing extra-ordinary but the genre and the setting didn’t need it either. Rahman’s score was impressive, but they could have easily avoided a couple of songs. A good editing would make this movie work, but unfortunately, the editor was too liberal. Art work was splendid!
Its NOT OK Bangaram
Now, the biggest antagonist of this film is its lazy writing. Well, there was some freshness as it dealt with live-in relationship. Also, refreshing was representing a young pair not just as black or white but practical ambitious chaps along with empathy and sympathy. However, other than this there was nothing unique or interesting. The moments are monotonous with a lethargic pace. In every other scene in the movie, you can find traces of Mani Ratnam’s previous films, especially Sakhi (Alai Payuthey) and Yuva. There is no substantial story in the movie for the viewer to get hooked to the seats. At the end, the movie looks like just a dump of beautiful montages put together. The first half is painfully stagnant. Only during the last 45 minutes, there are some meaningful proceedings that actually deal with what the movie wants to narrate to the audience.
The irony of this film, is in order to make this love story a classic, there was an over-usage of alluring montages, which in turn made the film lose its grip. Not to forget, his obsession with trains in manufacturing these montages.
And the bottom line is ….It’s NOT OK, Bangaram.
P.S: One really good thing that makes Mani Ratnam stand apart from many other Tamil directors is that he doesn’t create tragedy unless there is a need.
