I really wanted to like Vishwathulasi. Made by a debutante Sumathi Ram, it
has two of the best actors in the country, music by the duo of M.S.Viswanathan and
Ilaiyaraja and is a mature love story. While the movie offers a good change of pace from
teen romance and masala, the two most popular themes today, it is the same factor - pace
- that proves to be the movie's undoing. Wiith a story that might be right for a half-hour
short film, the film moves too slow to engage even the viewer looking for a change of
pace.
Thulasi(Nandita Das) comes to Sundarapuri as a teacher at a dance school. Next door to the
school lives Vishwam(Mammootty), the zamindar. In their childhood, Vishwam(Mohit) and
Thulasi(Ambili) had been in love, a fact that was resented by her cousin Siva. Now as they
see each other, their feelings are the same though their lives have changed.
Vishwathulasi has some very respected names associated with it. Mammootty, with a couple
National awards under his belt, is widely regarded as one of the best actors in the country
and is quite popular in Tamil. Nandita Das, who has so far been attached only to
non-commercial but quality projects, is considered a serious actress and has appeared in
Azhagi and Kannathil
Muthamittaal, two of the best movies of 2002. Scoring the music is the duo of
M.S.Viswanathan-Ilaiyaraja, who are both legends individually and have delivered memorable
soundtracks on the previous occasions they have come together. But Sumathi Ram's screenplay
does not do justice to such a talented group. While Mammootty has been wasted, more attention
seems to have been paid to Nandita Das' looks. And the large number of song fragments, inspite
of being melodious and pleasing, intrude further on the pace.
The movie switches between past and present, presenting episodes between Mohit and Ambili
as flashbacks by either Mammootty or Nandita. None of these episodes are particularly
cute or interesting. Thankfully, Sumathi Ram concentrates more on the present which is
more emotional because of the unspoken feelings between Mammootty and Nandita. This
emotional hook works for a while but soon gets a little boring. There are only so many
times one can see Mammootty hiding his feelings with a stern face or Nandhita looking
shyly at him and smiling to herself! The scenes with Manoj K.Jayan as a madman offer
hope of the story moving but the scenes end up being all buildup.
With the major portion of the movie exhibiting such a relaxed pace, the ending is guilty
of the exactly opposite crime - it rushes things. The lack of a buildup to the climax
ensures that the suddenness is a little surprising when it happens. But at the same time,
we are not even given enough time for the happenings to sink in.
Mammootty is simply required too look stern and act stiff throughout. Nandhita Das looks
beautiful and conveys a lot through her eyes and smile. Mohit and Ambili are adequate
to get through their portions.
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