Thursday, May 28, 2015

Not So O K Kanmani

After listening to ravishing reviews of the movie OK Kanmani, from expected and unexpected sources, we finally decided not to wait for it to be available online and to actually watch it in a theatre. The $13 tickets, the inevitable snack expenses  and the long drive, all seemed worth when even my dad and mum insisted on how good the movie is.

The first half an hour of the movie, the hero Dulquar (gosh, he is handsome and charming) and Nithya Menon (the Kanmani), ride (of course a bike, what's romance without red roses and bikes) through different streets of the Mumbai which looks unexpectedly clean and nice, probably the Modi effect (Who are we kidding, its the art director). Trust me, I was bored and even remembered to turn my phone to silent mode while they were enjoying the cool Mumbai breeze (oh yeah, as much as I love Mumbai, the air stinks, especially in the mornings and you know of what!lol). The movie was a little more engaging in the second half.

Anyway, u get the point, I didn't like the movie, Atleast not as much as many others. Makes me wonder what's wrong with me? Why can't I just enjoy a simple romantic movie? For that matter I didn't enjoy 50 Shades of Grey either... Oh no!!! I think the romantic teenager in me has kicked the bucket and I would hate that. So I have decided to blame the movie for me not liking it. 

If you haven't seen the movie and plan to do so, Spoiler Alert!!!

So the movie is about this boy (brought up by a controlling brother) and a rich girl ( whose parents divorced and dad committed suicide), who both do not believe in the institution of marriage. It isn't surprising considering the kind of marital relationships they grew up around. So they decide to have a live in relationship for a month until one leaves to the US and the other to Paris. Well, u don't have to watch the movie to guess that they will fall in love during that period.

During the first half of the movie, they ride bikes, trains, eat, dance, feed pigeons, have sex and then do these things all over again. During the more interesting second half, they live in together, fall in love, decide not to express their love and in the end get married. Sigh!!!! That is the whole movie.

After the first 30 minutes, it was no surprise what was coming next. So I have postulated a theory to explain why the movie is a huge hit regardless of the mundane storyline. I call it theory of Obsession for Relationship Perfection. Wow! I like that I get to name my own theory. Well, According to my theory, we are always seduced by the idea of perfection in relationships, possibly that is how we make up for imperfections in our own lives. Let me prove my theory here with the following points--

1) Despite my disapproval for the movie's script, I enjoyed Prakash Raj and Leela Samson in their roles as Ganapathy and Bhavani in the movie. Bhavani is in beginning stages of Alzheimers and  Ganapathy is the devoted husband, their relationship--an epitome of unconditional love.- Perfect love

2) Aditya and Tara, the hero and heroine, Perfect relationship!!! He is considerate, good looking romantic, calls her Kanmani, is a good kisser and has the best job ever. He is a video game designer and from what I saw, he was the script writer, designer, programmer, sound manager, art manager, peon, janitor and everything else that needs for a game. God!... Tara is facetious, ambitious and a girl without any demands from her boyfriend. Yet, he would walk miles in the rain to see her smile and jump on a train without ticket to follow her, they cuddle, romance and are blindly in love although they don't know it yet. Who wouldn't want that.

3) Aditya's brother and sister in law - Perfect marriage. A controlling husband and a wife who makes sure she does not antagonize him. (If u did not get it yet, yes, I'm being sarcastic). But the couple at least did not seem unhappy at any point.

4) Tara and her mother - Perfect Mother - Daughter emotions. Now this is arguable, considering that through out the movie, there seems to recurring conflict between the two. Although Tara blamed her mother for divorcing her dad, her mother probably was just escaping from a suicidal husband who married her for her money. As a single mother, being over protective of her daughter is a cogent response (Not that mothers usually need a reason to be over protective).

5) Perfect Fun - Both Adi and Tara are independent, working,  youngsters in the movie. So they have no scarcity of money. They share a room, Mumbai is notorious for bargain shopping, no responsibilities, TADAAA!!!! Plenty money left to have too much fun.

6) Aditya's sister in law - Perfect Bhabhi -- She takes up Adi's mother's role, is protective and even has the freedom to go over his belongings. Now for me she is the real heroine of the story. She represents everything that our society is. She is married to a control freak --  Like all of us living in a self proclaimed ne plus ultra society skilled with the classic craft of controlling our lives. She condemns live-in relationship because society does not accept it -- Ring a bell??? She also hides Aditya's relationship with Tara from her husband. Why? If she disapproved of it, why guard them from the brother's wrath? Living with a control freak might have made her more open to the idea of live in relationships. Yet, her orthodox upbringing forbids her to extend the idea a candid welcome.

So its a game of Perfect you see. I believe it is the same reason why the movie 50 shades of grey is a success too. Who would not want a guy in your life who surprises you with designer clothes, helicopter rides, surprise airline upgrades, a red room (wink wink) and what not. Well, at least for someone of us, the bouquet of flowers from Walmart our guy gets us being "not on sale" is as close to a surprise we are going to get. So thats my theory. The Perfect is supernatural, like God. We believe its presence, pine for its touch and it keeps deceiving us. We are the 3 year old who wishes to grow up to a princess or a superhero. At some point we realize it's impossible and yet cherish Cinderella and Superman.

Now coming to the most Imperfect part of the movie, the climax. After all the drama, Adi finally asks Tara to marry her and she agrees within the blink of an eye. I could not understand that concept. If the movie was all about Love, why could Adi and Tara not wait till they are back from their trip to get married. In fact, his dialogue was, "Go where ever you want to go, do whatever you want to do, but marry me and go." Really???!!! All that for the endless love and bike rides and ice creams??? If they loved each other so much, why could the love not be tested by time and distance. Why did he not trust her to leave without the tag of a wife and why did she not ask him to wait? If anything, I found the movie anti-love and pro marriage.

Well, you get the idea... I did not love the movie and these are the reasons or I think these are the reasons. May be the reason is just that amidst this demanding, busy, emotional life, I miss all that Perfect. 

2 comments:

Unknown said...

great perspective..nice share :) keep writing

non compos mentis said...

Thanks dear!!!