Maryan

My review: Maryan

The most striking aspect of "Maryan" is finally we get to see a lead actress who can stand up to Dhanush as far as acting and screen-presence is concerned. "Maryan" is as much a Parvathy movie as Dhanush's. In spite of a patchy screenplay and inconsistent direction what makes this movie eminently watchable is the acting of Dhanush and Parvathy, along with it's music and visuals. 

Actually when you analyse the movie as a whole one would get to realize that "Maryan" is an unholy alliance between  a power-packed first half and stagnant, boring second half. Bharath Bala has done well in the first half and his mastery over the medium in evident. As the first half is made of patchy memories of the protagonist as he recalls his life in village and how cupid struck him screenplay is made of mostly significant events he could recall. Hence though it might look not that lucid, a screenplay which represents memory traces would have be like that only. It is when the events has to be told in a more coherent manner focusing on the present that the writer and director in Bala falters.

As said earlier first half is power-packed mainly due the bevy of top-rated actors the movie boasts. Three national award winners (fourth one is obviously A.R.Rahman) in Dhanush, Salim Kumar and Appu Kutty along with Parvathy (who is not a novice herself) make it a connoisseur's delight. Though there is nothing novel in the love story or for that matter the side plots that are woven involving family feud, lecherous villain and fishermen killing. Despite that fact the first half keeps you glued to the seat. There are many interesting scenes and couple of which are awesome. The initial phone conversation between the lead pair at the beginning and the scene in which Dhanush enters Parvathy's house when the Villain has come to talk about marriage right up to the ensuing fight, are couple of scenes that warrant mention. 

However the second half is ruined by lack of events and novelty. Nothing much happens in the second half except the terrorists torturing the captives and heroine longing for the return of her beloved. Hence after a point things get mundane and boring. Whatever is shown in the second half could have been cut down into 30 minutes even after which it would have been a great challenge to make it interesting. But still the second half is partly redeemed by two wonderfully written and excellently performed scenes. The first one is the telephone conversation between Dhanush and Parvathy in which Dhanush expresses his current situation and his anticipated fate masquerading as if talking to his boss in front of the terrorists. The second one in when Parvathy some how gets a sense that Maryan would return safely during which the Villain tries to take advantage of her who unmindful of the impending catastrophe is lost in that ecstatic state. 

Dhanush is once again brilliant after his recent "Raanjhana". His underplayed portrayal of emotions and body language is in keeping with the reputation that he is building for himself these days as a power-packed performer. He is one of those actors who are capable of showing myriad of emotions within few seconds. It is a pleasure watching him perform with such effortless ease. 

Parvathy who has excelled in her debut "Poo" but never received her due for that is back with yet another astounding performance with this movie this time with her own dubbing. She is unafraid of close-ups (there are numerous such shots) and portrays a range of expressions. As I said in the first para of this review it is really heartening to see an actress with substance and immense talent who is able to stand up against a performer like Dhanush. In spite being surrounded by three national award winners she is able to make the viewers take notice of her performance and in many scenes walking away with all the accolades. Now one really wonders how Tamil cinema uses such a natural actress who can really "ACT" ?!

Rest of the cast including Appukutty, Salim Kumar, Vinayakan, Uma Riaz, Jagan have done their parts well. The negative aspect in the casting is the actors who come as terrorist. They seem to be amateurs who have been chosen by the casting department for want of men in a foreign land.  

Movie has amazing songs and back ground score by A.R.Rahman. "Nenje Yelu" was such an inspirational song in the audio but when one sees the same on screen, the goose bumps which ought to arise fail to turn up. "Kadal rasa naan" is a fine song well placed in the movie while "Yenga pona rasa" is a haunting number. 

Marc Koninckx's cinematography is another astounding feature of "Maryan". Especially the underwater shots and the visuals in the "Nenje Yelu" song are superb. It is a visual delight.

In spite of having excellent actors at his disposal who have done exceedingly well, a world class music director who has given awesome songs and a cinematographer who has given stunning visuals, Bharath Bala fails to capitalize on these strengths. The love story is wonderfully written and executed but he fails in the abduction part and the escapades of the hero which form a substantial chunk of the movie. May be if he could have concentrated a bit more on the second half, "Maryan" would have been one of the most brilliant movies of the year. But sadly he falls way short of it due a lackluster second half. As a result "Maryan" ends up as yet another one of those movies which promised a lot but flattered to deceive in the end.

On the whole, "Maryan" in spite of boasting excellent acting from the lead pair, awesome music and stunning visuals, falls short due to a below average second half after a power-packed first half. 

Bottomline: Watch it for Maryan-Panimalar's love story. 

3/5