| Kaadhal Mannan introduced us to three new faces - one on the screen
and two behind it - but the three have found varying degrees of success. Director
Sharan, an assistant of K.Balachander, has made a name for himself as a hit
director, with all three of his movies (after Kaadhal Mannan, he made
Amarkkalam and
Paarthen Rasithen) being hits. He shows promise in this movie with his stylised
handling of the delicate story of a man falling in love with a woman who has
already been engaged to another man. Music director Bharadwaj too makes a strong
bow but has surprisingly been rather low-key since, making a mark only in Sharan's
movies. Heroine Manu disappeared after this movie and is nowhere to be seen.
Shiva(Ajith) is a mechanic, a daredevil known for attempting daring acts for
the sake of a bet. One such bet takes him to Delhi where he meets a woman
who asks him to deliver a letter to her younger sister. This younger sister
is Thilothama(Manu), who is all set to be engaged to Ranjan(Karan), the man
of her father's choice. But that doesn't stop Shiva from falling in love with
her. Against her better sense, Thilothama too finds herself falling for
Shiva.
As long as the movie deals with the interactions between Ajith and Manu, it is
enjoyable. The confusion of Manu has been brought out especially well as she
struggles between acknowledging her feelings for Ajith and accepting her
father's orders. The couple's trip to Delhi is one such portion that is
unhindered by others and the sequence does a good job of registering Manu's
gradual falling for Ajith. Even the bet Ajith makes with Manu, though seeming
silly in concept, has been executed well.
It is only with the other characters that Sharan slips up. Unlike the recent
Minnale , he makes things easy for Manu (and
therefore, less interesting for us) by making Karan an easy-to-dislike character.
And Sharan doesn't stop there. Karan's mother is an irritating character that
any woman would dread getting for her mother-in-law. Such cardboard characters
take any seriousness out of the movie. And though Vivek's character has some nice
moments and lines, many of his acts and dialogs are unrealistic. The strictness
of Manu's father is also overdone though Karan's father is much more believable.
The movie is aided by a well-handled climax. Ajith's visit to Manu's house, his
dialogs there and the subsequent events are picturised in a nice manner that
presents a satisfactory closure to the issues. Ajith comes into his own in these
scenes and his outburst at Girish Karnad is convincing. Though Karan's character
takes a beating thereafter, the climax isn't lengthened beyond what is needed and
is crisp.
Kaadhal Mannan was one of Ajith's hits during a lean period for him(and he
has had more than his share of those!) and he puts his heart and soul in the
character. Manu looks good in some of the angles and does a good job with her
tough role. M.S.Viswanathan appears in front of the camera for the first time
as a Kannadasan-loving canteen owner and makes us laugh at a few places, spouting
old songs for each situation. Vivek gives him company and his smaller love affair
has a few laughs too. Girish Karnad is perfect as the dictatorial father.
The movie has a new music director in Bharadwaj and he does a great job. His
title song Kanni Pennin... is catchy and a bit of its tune also serves as
a very nice background music at several points. Unai Paartha... is
another songs that showcases SPB's singing talents while Vaanum Mannum...
is melodious. Sharan picturises the songs interestingly too. For instance,
Thilothamaa... fits into the background very easily for the trip Ajith
and Manu make to Delhi.
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