Maryan-Movie Review

                                       

       

                                              Maryan (Tamil)

Cast:                           Dhanush, Parvathy Menon, Appukutty and Salim Kumar.

Directed by:               Bharat Bala

Written by:                 Bharat Bala

Music:                        A.R.Rahman

The Story:

‘Maryan’ is the story of a fisherman played by Dhanush. Maryan (Dhanush), lives in a village by the sea called Neerodi. He has a special bonding with the sea and calls himself ‘Kadal Rasa’ which means, ‘The Prince of the Ocean’. Panimalar ( Parvathy Menon), falls in love with Maryan and shows no inhibitions in confessing her love for him. However, Maryan tries to rebuff her advances towards him. Eventually, Maryan falls in love with Panimalar.

Due to unfortunate circumstances, Maryan is faced with a situation where he needs to support Panimalar financially and therefore, takes up a job in Sudan, for two years on contract basis.

After completing with the two years assignment in Sudan, when Maryan decides to come back to his motherland, that is when tragedy strikes in the form of Sudanese terrorists who kidnap Maryan and two of his co-workers. Maryan and his friend are held in captivity, the Sudanese terrorists demanding a ransom in return to set them free. Maryan escapes from the terrorists after being in captivity for twenty-one days.  How Maryan makes good his escape from a foreign land, the struggles that he faces during the days of captivity and escape and whether he unites with his ladylove back home, form the second half of the movie.

Review:

Should say that, Maryan’s struggles and his escape from the terrorists, is the main crux of the movie, ‘Maryan’ is nothing less than a poetry. In this age of masala movie making, where formula movies work and is the order of the day, ‘Maryan’ is like a breeze amongst the storm, especially for the Tamil film industry.

However, there are some loopholes and flaws here and there. ‘Maryan’ loses its poetry in the second half, when the movie transcends continents and moves to Sudan. There is a feeling of incompleteness.There is more melodrama and somewhere, the director seems to have wavered in the plot.

Talking about the actors, Dhanush has once again excelled as an actor and has really come a very long way from his early days. Nothing more needs to be said about the actor because; Dhanush has once again proved his mettle and acting capabilities with this movie. If there is one actor who can emote well and at the same time underplay his emotions with subtlety, the credit has to be given to this actor.

Parvathy Menon! Where was she all this while? Is this the actor who had acted in ‘Poo’? Be it when she confesses her love to Maryan and every time he rebuffs her or when she learns from his friend that Maryan may after all be in love with her or when she learns of his captivity in Sudan through a phone call, this lady for sure knows how to captivate the audience with her acting prowess.

Nothing needs to be said about the actors who have acted as the Sudanese terrorists. They just look like a bunch of sloppy kids.

I have never been a big fan of A.R.Rahman and as everybody says, to really like his songs, you need to listen to them a couple of times. But not ‘Maryan’. I took an instant liking to all the songs the very first time I heard the Album. And yes, the songs are on a repeat mode not because I am trying to like them, but because I have fallen in love with them.

'Maryan’ has some breathtaking visuals, thanks to the Cinematographer Marc Koninckx.

Would say that ‘Maryan’ is worth a watch for a wonderfully talented star cast, excellent music, breathtaking visuals and more so, if you want to watch a poetry written on screen.