Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam - Well made but with a manipulative climax!!! 

Bharath Vijayakumar

A poetic title and a Selvaraghavan connection - you sense something about Maalai Nerathu Mayakkam. Apart from Selva's lone Telugu venture all his films have received polar reactions. Majority either love or hate his films. Very few occupy the middle ground. So what type of film has Geetanjali Selvaraghavan debuted with? Read on to find.... 


Plot: 

An unlikely couple get into the institute of 'arranged marriage'. 


Cast: 

Balakrishna Kola makes an interesting debut. At the outset we seem to think his character is a typical loser guy with ordinary looks. But there is more to him and the debutant does make an impression whenever he emotes. You cannot ignore his blushing grin when he sees his pair for the first time. Warniqa Gabbi is very good as the hot headed and egoistic (in her own words in the film) girl who is hell bent on sticking to her stands. The entire film hinges on the performance of these two youngsters and they do deliver the goods. 


What works? 

The film keeps you adequately interested and most of the humour is nicely done. The scenes involving the lead pair living under the same roof with different intentions work big time. Watch out for how the menace caused by the snoring of our hero is communicated to him.The film also touches upon marital rape, a topic that is very rarely seen on the big screen. The film almost always does not take sides. Both the the boy and the girl have their fair share of black and white shades. Their upbringing and circumstances are what make them behave as they do and nowhere they are painted as good or evil. 


What does not work? 

The disclaimer at the beginning that it is tough to narrate certain love stories is clever. But the end card that says 'Marriages are made in heaven' is a bummer. This is because it is not brought about in the film seamlessly. Characters are designed so conveniently for the lead pair to end up together. Take the case of Tarun who plays the ex of the heroine and to whom she turns up to again when her marriage doesn't seem to be working. He is shown as someone who has only sex in his mind and this looks made up so that the climax can easily fall in place. What if Tarun was a real genuine guy? What would have unfolded then? The cuss words and foul language fall in place at times but look forced down our throat at a few occasions to justify the 'A' certificate. 

Why would our leading lady speak the choicest of words against total strangers (the scene involving the house broker). Not that it is not possible but somewhere it all looks like the maker is wearing a badge proudly saying 'This is a modern film. We are cool in speaking foul language'. 


Bottomline: 

An intriguing love story for adults but with it's fair share of contrivances to make it all end well. So back to the question in the first paragraph. Guess this would also be a love or hate film for the audience. 


Rating: 2.75/5