Rabble Rousing Random Ramblings: Common thread in Mani Ratnam movies

March 01, 2006

Common thread in Mani Ratnam movies

We watched some parts of Kannathil Muthamittal when it was shown on TV last weekend. While seeing the movie, I was struck by how there was some sort of a common thread running across quite a few movies by Mani Ratnam. The nature of birth of the protagonist is sort of a raison d’etre for why the movie was made.

In Agni Nakshatiram, Karthik was the 'illegitimate' son of Vijay Kumar while Prabhu was the 'legitimate' son. There were repeated clashes between the two with the illegitimacy of Karthik as the centre-stone.

In Anjali, Shamilee turns out to be Revathi & Raghuvaran's daughter, who was born autistic and grew up for a couple of years in a special children's home.

In Dalapathi, Rajinikanth is scarred by the fact that he was dumped by his mother Srividya, who gave birth to him as an unmarried woman and cast him away on Bhogi Pongal.

In Kannathil Muthamittal, Keerthana's life undergoes a churning when she is told by Madhavan that she is an adopted child and that her real mother, who was originally a refugee in Rameswaram, now lives in Sri Lanka.

I know there're many other Mani Ratnam movies where the birth of the main character doesn't have any impact on the story, but hey, there is some commonality across a few of his movies. Obviously this seems to be one theme on which he bases his movies. The other is patriotism/terrorism, as is evident from Roja, Bombay and Dil Se. Interestingly enough, Kannathil Muthamittal neatly fits into both categories!

Labels: movies

Rambled @ 4:00 PM

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6 comment(s)

True. But, its easy for us to see patterns everywhere. (For instance, This 'thread' thing is applicable to Balumahendra / Balachander as well :) )

By Suraj (Mar 1, 2006, 10:23:00 PM)

Balu Mahendra movies pattern would be one husband/lover, two wives/lovers. Balachander's would have a "directorial twist" even though there's just one husband-wife or lover-lover relationship. The twist could be age (Aboorva Raagangal), language (Maro Charitra/Ek Duje Ke Liye) etc. :)

By Jagadish (Mar 4, 2006, 12:33:00 AM)

Bombay kinda has that birth connection as well, but that was a well expected cliche - of the two families coming togther after the birth of the kids...

By anantha (Mar 4, 2006, 1:31:00 AM)

Anantha: True, but in the other movies I listed, the birth is very central to the overall story. Not so much in Bombay.

By Jagadish (Mar 5, 2006, 8:49:00 AM)

another mani's common theme is language.

Revathy at Delhi in MounaRagam
Madhubala aka Roja in Kashmir
Bombay had some language-y issues
He loves to put subjects in unfamiliar territory and gains a few minutes of entertainment.

By Karthik S (Mar 9, 2006, 1:55:00 AM)

Karthik: Nice observation!

By Jagadish (Mar 9, 2006, 10:41:00 AM)

I'd prefer if you posted comments with your real name to add more credibility to your opinions. Obviously comments containing offensive and unsuitable language will be deleted. The opinions in the comments are your own views. You are welcome to provide a URL to your own blog, especially if it discusses issues you find here.

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