60 Vayathu Maaniram - A heartwarming plot and Prakash Raj in fine form !

Bharath Vijayakumar

Disclaimer: I haven't seen the Kannada original Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu

Radhamohan's film has quite a serious start. A rather moody looking Vikram Prabhu comes to meet his father (Prakash Raj), who is now residing in a home that looks after patients with Alzheimer's. The son carries a look that clearly implies that he is performing a duty and given a chance he would happily run away from the situation. So you sort of know where the film is heading to. A take on how today's youngsters forget to live their lives in their hunt for a financially secure future. I was a bit apprehensive that the melodramatic portions could reach dizzying heights. But Radha Mohan keeps it relatively simple. There are definitely a few melodramatic stretches but quite a decent dosage of humour creeps into the narrative and keeps the film lively. What threatened to be a serious film that doubles up as a tearjerker slowly transitions into a relatively light hearted take on a serious issue.

Prakash Raj is brilliant as the 60 year old battling Alzheimer's. The actor particularly nails the scene where he recollects his 'falling in love and fighting for it' days. The best part of the film is how it does not change the basic characterisation of its protagonist to garner sympathy. Prakash Raj is shown as quite an innocent person even before his condition sets in and so his child like demeanour never comes across manipulative throughout the film. It takes a whole lot of time to warm up to Vikram Prabhu. He seems too stiff in the initial scenes. The character that he is playing too isn't neatly sketched. He is shown as being too cold and then changes too quickly. His romance too isn't convincing. The 'asking out for a coffee' scene out of nowhere in the midst of something else was almost laughable. Samuthirakani is reliable as always but we don't get to understand much about his character as well. It is just that the change in the arc of these primary characters isn't entirely convincing. Whenever Samuthirakani is about to kill someone he stops. It is as though he stops because the director has asked him to stop and not because of something impactful on screen.

To give the film its due, few of the emotional scenes really work well. The comedy is typically Radha Mohan style - never over the top and nicely done. The film never wavers unnecessarily at any point of time. A little more care and effort in handling the support cast should have gone a long way in increasing the impact this film could have had. The performance of some actors who come for a scene or two is pure tele serial material.

Bottomline

Despite its issues, the film does manage to strike a chord because it has its heart at the right place.

Rating: 2.75/5