R ARIVANANTHAM
There is a proverb in Tamil that ‘Kamban Veetu Kattuthariyum Kavi Paadum’, but the Tamil Cinema’s legendary director Iyakkunar Imayam Bharathiraja’s son Manoj K Bharathiraja is an exception. He fails to deliver the expectation of the Tamil audience in his directorial debut ‘Margazhi Thingal’, a romantic drama ends up with ruthless honour killing (Gaurava Kolai) and horrific triple murder.
- In spite of his old age, the ace director Bharathiraja does justice to the role given to him
- Maestro Ilayaraja’s music elevates the film
- Debutant director Manoj K Bharathiraja needs to come out of dad’s shadow
He picks a straight, simple plot and laces it with enough surprises to deliver an engaging entertainer that ended up with gruesome murders and suicide in front of the director who gave a message to the masses that ‘LOVE’ has no boundary, caste or religion through his blockbuster films such as ‘Alaigal Oyvathillai’ and ‘Mudhal Mariyaathai’.
Trailer:
The story of ‘Margazhi Thingal’ is set between 1997 and 2004. It revolves around two tenth-standard students — Kavitha (Rakshana) and Vinoth (Shyam Shelvan) from different castes.
Kavitha lives in a small town with her grandfather Ramaiah (Bharathiraja). She is a pampered child, with her grandfather showering affection on her.
Kavitha loathes Vinoth as he stands first in her class in all the exams. The girl, who had been scoring the first rank before Vinoth arrived at her school, is determined to outperform him in the public exams. She even undertakes a pledge to outperform him and succedes.
As expected, Vinoth falls in love with Kavitha and deliberately chooses to underperform in the public exams to let Kavitha outscore him. She wins, but on getting to know about Vinoth’s sacrifice, she too fell in in love with him.
Years pass by, and they complete schooling. When it is time to go to college, Vinoth chooses to study a Marine course at an institution in Chennai. However, Ramaiah is against Kavitha going to Chennai and asks her to pick a course in a college near her native place.
So, she decides to confide in her grandfather Ramaiah the love she has for Vinoth. Ramaiya agrees to talk to Vinoth’s parents and finalise her wedding with him.
However, he lays down a condition. He tells Kavitha that the wedding will happen only after they both complete their collegiate education. Until then, they must not meet or talk to each other.
Delighted that she will eventually be able to get married to Vinoth by the time she completes her college degree, Kavitha agrees to the condition laid down by her grandfather Ramaiah.
However, when she completes her course three years later and returns home, Vinoth and his family are nowhere to be seen. What happens next is the rest of the story.
Though the director give surprises quite a few times, the sequences of the film are predictable in some parts.
Except for Bharathiraja, who plays the role of Ramaiah and Appu Kutty as Raasu, and rest of the them are entirely new faces.
Ace director Suseenthiran played the role of antagonist gave an impressive performance as an actor for the first time. Incidentally, Suseenthiran produced the film
The lead roles played by new faces Shyam Shelvan and Rakshana. Though they performed their roles well, improvement is needed in their facial expressions at several moments.
In spite of his old age, the ace director Bharathiraja did justice to the role givne to him. Maestro Ilayaraja’s music elevated the film.
Though the film has all sorts of school day romance like yesteryear films, debut director Manoj K Bharathiraja failed to give a clear message to the society like his father Bharathiraja.
CAST:
Bharathiraja – Ramaiya (Thatha)
Shyam Selvan – Vinoth
Rakshana – Kavitha
Naksha Saran – Hema
Suseenthiran – Dharman
Appukutty – Raasu
CREW:
PRODUCER – SUSEENTHIRAN
DIRECTOR – MANOJ K BHARATHIRAJA
MUSIC DIRECTOR – ISAIGNANI ILAIYARAAJA
DOP – VANCHINATHAN MURUGESAN
EDITOR – THIYAKU
ART DIRECTOR – SEKAR B
DIALOGUE – SELLA SELLAM
FIGHT MASTER – DINESH KASI ( MASTER )
DANCE MASTER – SHOBI PAULRAJ ( MASTER )
COSTUME DESIGNER – VASUKI BHASKAR
CO-DIRECTOR – RAJAPANDIAN
PRODUCTION MANAGER – SWAMINATHAN
LINE PRODUCER – ELANGO T
CREATIVE PRODUCER – DURAI K.V
PRO – NIKIL MURUKAN
