MAAMAN Review - High on sentiment, and that's both its hit and miss!

Ashwin

Maaman is an emotional family drama starring Soori, Aishwarya Lekshmi and Swasika in the lead roles. The film is directed by Vilangu web series fame Prashanth Pandiyaraj.

Premise: Soori and his nephew are crazy about each other, they are always together. Soori gets married to Aishwarya Lekshmi after being in a relationship for half a decade. How the uncle-nephew obsession rises post wedding forms the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction:  Begins well by neatly establishing the family situation, Soori’s longing for her sister Swasika to give birth to a baby shows the sibling bond. As a doctor in the labour ward, Aishwarya Lekshmi falls for Soori seeing his admiration towards the family. And how the uncle and nephew’s limitless love affect the couple’s relationship paves way for a series of emotional breakdowns. The first half is woven relatably by linking the bridges with care. However the happy sequences feel repetitive after a while, the conflict is strong and peaks before the interval. Baba Bhaskar who plays the father of the kid is sidelined in the initial hour, his character’s importance is beautifully brought into the picture by pinpointing Soori’s negligence. Unfortunately the latter falters big, with back to back emotional sequences, it offers beyond the limit of how much one can consume. Every scene and in fact every single dialogue intends to arrest the audience with sentiments. Some moments do work, especially the ones that had proper setups at the beginning, the situations that pop-out for namesake just to give a hard impact but the landing is flat. In addition to the existing chaos, there are unwanted portions with characters forcefully trying to make us sad, Vemal as magician appears in a needless cameo and Rajkiran was not really fitting in, moreover he gets a cringe-fest ending that ups the melodrama. Soori gets a heroic fight sequence, well shot with proper buildups, but very randomly placed without any purpose. Climax at the hospital scene is a winner, a touching finish that also puts a smile on our faces.

Performances:  The film is rich in terms of acting, Superb performance from Soori, he goes all-out with his naturally innocent nature. Aishwarya Lekshmi and Swasika prove they are the best casting choices for their roles, they both have immense importance in the core story and have carried themselves brilliantly. There is a sweet chemistry between the lead pair and their romantic montages uplifts the flavour. The little boy Prageeth Sivan is apt and has delivered what is required from him for the contrast situations. Excessive number of supporting artists, but none of their characters create a strong mark, some had scope like Geetha Kailasam but let down due to generic writing. Rajkiran and Viji Chandrasekhar felt like a separate track and never really gelled with the main plot.

Technicalities:  Fairly good songs from Hridayam fame Hesham Abdul Wahab, not great but they go well with the visuals and situations, the rehash version ‘Thottu Thottu Pournami’ is a delightful listen. Fine score, rightful music and leaving absolute silence during the important stretches shows his clarity over the product. Quality camera work, the slow-motion shots valuably contribute to the packaging. A lot of betterment could have been done at the edit table by cutting down numerous lags and chopping off unwanted clichés.

Verdict: A neatly established conflict eventually transforms into a family drama with vast potential. The emotionally charged second half goes overboard, trying to tear us apart by sandwiching back to back cringe situations without any breathing space.

MAAMAN - High on Sentiments, it is Both the Hit and Miss of the Film.

Rating: 2.5/5