How often have we seen some dark wild horses without any blinkers or a rein, going haywire and creating quite a mess in the racecourse? Well, Selvaraghavan belongs to the breed of such wild horses and does not believe in the conventional way of narrating a story! Mayakkam Enna is no different than his previous flicks and is told in a dark and depressing way.
Very few movie makers in Kollywood have the guts to traverse through the life and times of a loser all the way. Mayakkam Enna narrates the story of such a loser (well, almost a loser!) played by Dhanush (Karthik Swaminathan), who dons the role of a freelance photographer, struggling to establish his saleability and reputation to the world. He falls in love with Richa (Yamini), who is the girlfriend of his dearest friend. The rest of the movie is all about his struggle, post marital relationship and the success which eludes him till the climax.
I could not help get perplexed during the course of the movie as it kept me wondering whether it is an era of coming-of-age movies or is such a thing a reality in our current society. Selvaraghavan had always been quite liberal with the male-female relationship right from his ‘Thulluvadho Ilamai’ days, and his trend continues here too. A female friend getting abused when she is introduced to the gang of friends for the first time, a dear friend accepting his girlfriend to be married to another friend of his, a father who boozes along with the friends and encourages them to booze in order to sort out their differences – all can happen only in Selvaraghavan movies (at least as of now!).
Dhanush has given a riveting performance as the struggling photographer. His expressions, especially to portray a sense of emptiness and inability at times are simply top class. As a struggling carefree youth in the first half and an alcoholic husband with some mental disability and heavy mood swings during the latter has delivered an ace and might fetch him another national award. Apart from acting, Dhanush had also scored brownie points for the catchy lyrics that he had penned for someof the songs, be it the hunky ‘Voda Voda’ or the lilting melody ‘Pirai Thedum’. Hats off!
Richa Gangopadhyay is the luckiest few in the tinsel town to get such a meaty debut role. The manner in which she had managed to carry it on her shoulders was awesome. Especially her confrontation with Dhanush towards the climax, where she bursts into tears bringing out a sense of helplessness deserves applause. The character of that of a strong willed female was flamboyantly done by her and she is definitely here to stay.
Ravi Prasad, who plays the role of a veteran photographer, who oozes hatred on Dhanush and at the same time faking Dhanush’s work as his own has given his best shot.
The friends group including Sundar who plays the dearest friend of Dhanush were aptly cast and played their roles to perfection.
One of the pillars of the movie is Ramji’s camera. The photography has captured the essence of various scenes – especially the lush and green forest locales and other rural back drops.
G.V.P’s music and BGM is already a rage among the youth and the song picturization was nothing short of fantastic.
Kola Bhaskar’s editing saves us during the latter half, but the first half was slow paced, though they claim the film to be at only 2:25 hours.
One of the biggest setbacks of the movie was its inherent slowness, which majority of the times lulls us off, but at the same time it should also be conceded that such tales cannot be told at a rapid pace.
Overall, Selvaraghavan has managed to narrate a fresh tale, with a hint of optimism towards the climax and as always, straight from his heart.
PS: The movie is for matured audiences who can accept and digest the realities of coming-of-age movies and definitely not for the ones who fantasize run-of-the-mill commercial cinema.
Verdict: Worth a Watch!
Rating: 3/5
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