This Tamil movie as usual is superb on the technical aspects as most movies these days especially movies directed by Gautam Vasudeva Menon. Awesome photography, great picturization and some stunning locations. San Francisco, Berkeley, Jaipur, Kashmir, Delhi and even our Singara Chennai have been portrayed so beautifully.
The songs are wonderful and melodious. 2 Songs are mediocre. Most songs have a lot of guitar either the classic air guitar or the electric guitar. No meaningless words to add the rhythm only meaningful lyrics. All genres are there from semi carnatic in Annul Maelae, rock in Adiyae Kolluthe, jazz in Mundhinam Paathaene, pop in Oh Shanthi to note a few.
Surya has acted extremely well and portrayed each phase of a man's life very well. He looks just like a teenager, a college grad, young adult and a senior citizen. He has taken great pains to physically reduce, gain weight and then loose weight again for each phase of a man's life. His portrayal of every emotion is also very sincere and there is not an ounce of over acting except possibly in senior citizen's phase. Even that can also be noticed once you leave the movie hall and retrospect.
Among the heroines Simran walks away the clear winner but not because the others did not act well but rather that she acted well. Every one has done his or her part with diligence and understood their characters well and performed well. Makeup is good, but minimal and realistic.
Regarding the authenticity of the periods in the movie from the 60s to present is really great. In the 50s the Globe theatre in Chennai was very famous while in the 60s the Pilot theatre was famous. The Iron Bridge, cars and horse carriages were there. One can also see the chronology of fashion in the movie. Everyone can relate to all the periods from the old to the young. Superb graphics to depict them too and they don't feel like graphics until you look very very closely.
The human emotions like the confusions, the infatuations, the small successes, are shown extremely well. I guess all our parents have told that they had a period in life when they had no money but enjoyed life thoroughly and you can hear the same statement here too.
The movie though was a bit illogical in a few places which takes it short of a classic. Like the awesomely stupid scene in the US Immigration office, the stupid move to come to the US in search of love (which is core to the movie) by a boy from a middle class, the age at which one can join the army considering the time he has lost and also as to how he has managed to join the army considering he has flunked Heat and Mass Transfer paper over 3 times (All mechanical guys remember HMT, awesome subject and awesome memories). Too much usage of English to portray the current middle class households and this overuse looks unnatural occasionally. Do not look for a story as you will be disappointed but to relate to the incidents.
The movie is about the impacts one one on another person's life.
But with all the negatives the one thing the movie is successful is to make you relate to your childhood, college day which I think is the most important aspect in a period movie spanning the last few decades. You come back with resurfaced memories of one's own life. The things we did and we did not. The crushes, the fights, the successes, the disappointments etc come to mind.
All in all it is really a very nice movie and I guess most will like it. Do see it and in the theater. Even if you don't see the movie listen to the songs (especially the ones I mentioned above).
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