Mani Ratnam Mini Series
Although Mani Ratnam has given several commercial hits , one of the hallmarks of his work is his absolutely unique way of helming romantic relationships and their conflict in a very relatable , every day sort of way. Indians had always had a pre-ordained way of living their post academic life. It was called ‘getting settled’.
You go
through an arranged marriage, the parents and close family provide an insurance
cover and then you continue ever after. All strife is endured by all
stakeholders to show hum saath saath hain. At a deep level , Indians liked this
low volatility family life in a high volatility country. Movies showing family break up (all the way to Baghban in 2004) were depicted in black and white.
Super oppressive mother
in laws provided a new form of villainy in Indian movies that would put the worst stepmom in America to
shame. Similarly daughters in law who
break families are shown in a way that they have forgotten even basic
etiquettes and are usually shown as orphans or from broken families thus
questioning their upbringing. These daughters in law would be shown as
extremely cunning and materialistic as the Chinese customer queing up for a
Louis Vuitton handbag discount.
In this extremely polarized film making world, entered Mani
Ratnam with Mouna Ragam. The amazing part of Mouna Ragam is the emotions that
the character played by Revathy is extremely natural and hence relatable. Even
her actions seem like a reaction to what is going on her mind and
surroundings. Even though there is some commercial justification for he
The story backdrop is that Revathy has an effervescent
romance with Karthik who is a revolutionary and dies in the politics of it. Against her choice she gets married to a more well settled man–
Mohan who is a well to do guy based in Delhi ( again untold but the security
net he provides is desirable in an arranged marriage). Even though the flashback provides a commercially viable justification for her behavior , this movie could have been made without that in Manis own words to show the emotional journey of a woman ( and perhaps man as well) as they enter an arranged marriage.
Unable to forget Karthik , Unable to warm up to the niceness
of Mohan who just wants to help her find her bearings in a new house, she goes
into a zone of irritation and despair which just snaps up when Mohan asks her
‘what can I give you as a wedding gift’ and she says ‘ can you get me a divorce’. This is the signature stamp of Mani Ratnam,
short dialogues, actors who fit their characters as if it was coded and that
tense pause. You don’t take sides, Revathy is just going through this phase,
she finds the surroundings new especially nosy Delhi type neighbours, a
creeping sense of loneliness ( hence her affection for the dog) and a husband whom she hardly has any conversation
with. Her ex-association with Karthik provided the conversational chemistry
which women dream for ages , the sapnon ka rajkumar syndrome. Suddenly marriage
seems like a punctured balloon and an ordeal. Like in Indian marriages, long
silences overcome problems rather than communication and hence the brilliantly
titled Mouna Ragam ( the silent tune).
Scene description
Due to the advice of office colleagues as a newly wed couple , Mohan takes Revathy for a dinner. Revathy asks him why he agreed to this marriage even though she had given indications that she was not interested . Mohan says that although he wanted to say no , he liked her and said yes. He gives an analogy that a new born child doesnt cry because it doesnt want to come into this world but is apprehensive of its surroundings. They have a quiet dinner. On the way he asks her that he wants to buy her a wedding gift since everything happened in a hurry. Stopping the car , while he cajoles her to tell her preference, she replies - can you buy me a divorce.
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