Alai Payuthey

Posted on February 1, 2004 21:11 PM EST

After literally years of anticipation, I finally watched the movie Alai Payuthey, last night on DVD. I thought it must be real tough to find South Indians (especially a Tamizhian) who have not seen a few-years-old Mani Ratnam movie. Yet to my surprise, I had with me two friends here who had also not seen the movie and one of them is a Tamizhian!

We all liked the movie. Narrated well in classic Mani Ratnam style, it managed to keep our attention through-out. I liked the absence of filmi over-dramatization of the wooing process. I had expected more in the second half of the movie though. I had been told that the second half is about marital problems of the lead pair. Their fights seemed nothing more than childish squabbles - no deeper differences that lead to serious discord in couples. And then, the way the female lead character suspects her husband of being involved with her sister was also pretty lame. Only a director of the calibre of Mani Ratnam could get away with such drawbacks without making the movie look lame.

And of course, Rehman's songs in Alai Payuthey are as good as they most often are. The movie turned out to be a highy successful introduction to the lead artists Madhavan and the grown up Shalini, who was introduced in movies as a child artist, barely able to talk properly. Shalini is very radiant and has an incredibly subtle and deep screen presence. I could have a crush on her!

A very watchable movie. Now let me go and listen to its songs like I have been doing all day today.