Drenching in Mayaanadhi
Suhansid Srikanth
Mayaanadhi is one of those rare Indian films that talk about a love that's so gloriously hidden beneath layers and layers of hate. It probably has my favorite debut performance of an actress. It probably is my favorite love story of this decade. It probably is my favorite film where two genres twin together with so much depth and yet doesn't overdoes one another. But.. Mayaanadhi is always about this painstaking punch in the heart when Maathan asks Appu, 'Don't you feel an iota of love towards me?' and she replies with all the coldness in the world, 'Can you get lost, Maathan?'.
Thinking of Mayaanadhi, I constantly get reminded of this stunningly deep poem of Pavana Reddy.
"It's terrifying how much I feel for you and you don't feeI a thing.
Last night, an earthquake tore apart my hometown.
On the news, a woman tells the reporter she didn't feel anything back in her neighboring village.
I thought of you."
That's Appu to Maathan! Appu gives him a space. Yet draws a line. She lets him put a hook to her dress. She also stops him by her doorsteps. She lets him walk her to her home. She looks at him from afar when he is eating production food in her ad shooting. She wonders what this boy is up to. Yet the line that she draws between them is forever there. At times, one might even get a sense of feeling that Appu exploits Maathan's love for her. But.. it is that story! It is that story of two people wanting very different things from love. Does it make one superior than other? No! But.. it is what make us root for them to be together! Like Richard Siken wrote.. "Someone has to leave first. This is a very old story. There is no other version of this story."
Aashiq Abu directs the film with a style that's constantly throughout but still hardly popping up. Love scenes in the film shed off all the beauty we usually associate with them and still spells out intimacy like we have never ever seen before. Appu in a walk with Maathan asks trivial questions as 'You go to gym these days?, How many pushups you do?'. Maathan tells 'Hundred' and blushes. Appu asks him about why he blushed. Maathan brushes it off. And the next thing Maathan asks is.. 'Can I kiss you?'. And, Appu tells something that we don't often see in films. She tells, 'Not yet!'. It is not 'No'. 'Not yet'. The whole sequence just plays out with no intentions from the writer - director to scream the beauty of it. Its all subliminal!
One thing that keeps coming to your mind when you think of Mayanadhi is the brilliantly conceived Rex Vijayan's 'Mizhiyil Ninnum'. How the mood builds up to the song.. how it is shot.. how it winds up. Its sheer poetry! We don't see the first time they make out in the sequence. Its trickily cut as a quick kitchen sex. Only the next time, it beautifully blows into this aesthetic, trance of love making. Shyju Khalid's cinematography stamps a wetness of rainy weather in the closeted space. Throughout the film, the sodium-vapour light tones of Kochi streets and lush green mood in the investigation set an arresting ambience!
There are several instances in the film where the writing breathes life and realism poignantly. Look at the scene where Appu's star friend and roommate, Sameera is introduced. She gives her used gown for Aparna and get busy in opening a portrait of her. Appu tells her 'Thanks'. She doesn't hear it. And then, she slowly fades her voice and murmurs to herself, 'You didn't hear it, huh!'. This sort of insecurity that constantly wobbles within her is terrifically pulled out by Aishwarya Lekshmi.
The first time we see Appu and Mathan together in the film, Appu is waiting in front of a closing restaurant and waits for her parcel of food to be packed. Two labours from the hotel come and place the trash in front of her. It is just a routine work you could notice in everyday to day life of any given hotel. But the touch it adds to the character's state of mind is brilliantly pulled together in the film. Subtly there are several moments seeded throughout the film by the makers. The writers Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair consistently weaves the melancholy of two people who are doomed when it comes to 'being together'.
Who could forget the classic Bawara Mann sequence? About an hour and forty plus minutes into the film, we hear why Maathan is being the way he is. The sequence opens with a clean-shaven, black and white passport picture of him. His tragic past hits as a heavy chunk to take in. Appu tells he is a survivor and he survives like a cat. When asked about why can't she just settle with him, Appu calls him 'Paiyan' and claims he can't be trusted. And what's the next thing we are cut to? A shot of Maathan peeing from his balcony!
The Bawara Mann rendition beautifully sinks in into the film. There is Appu who is up with auditions after auditions yet can't figure out a way out and to top it, she can't stand Maathan. And there is Sameera, who knew that she is going to be shutting off her dreams once for all tomorrow. There is Maathan who is and has to keep running to survive! The song embraces all these lives and sprawls as a blanket over all their miseries. I don't remember how often we see three women.. of different stratas, conflicts, emotional stabilities lying together and just having a night on their own!
Another interesting moment is how Ilavarasu sings 'Loosu Penne' just before the shot where police traces out Appu to hear about Maathan. The police rooting for a guy convicted of crime is effortlessly woven into this tragedy. The contrasting characters of Ilavarasu and Harish and their take on love stand for the film as well. One believes women let go of love and one stands for true love. Why can't Appu and Maathan just live happily? Is it because the trust has been broken once? Is it because Maathan is still a Paiyan to her? Would Maathan have any regrets by now? Would things change if anything happened any differently in this tale? May be.. May be not! But.. Maathan would have just said, "Its okay, Sir! Appu is always right!".