OK Kanmani Review :-

‪‎OK Kanmani‬ Review :-

Plot :-

The film tells the story of Adhithya a.k.a. Adhi (Dulquer Salman) a fun loving gaming designer & Thara (Nitya Menon) an ambitious architect, who decide to live together before they move on to chase their ambitions.

Performances :-

Dulquer Salman as Adhi - Dulquer Salman is undoubtedly this generation's Madhavan, and co-incidentally his Adhi character also seems like an updated version of Madhavan's Karthik from Alaipayudhe, but Adhi is much more interesting than Karthik, So is Dulquer Salman, he gets into the skin of his super cool playboy character, also his chemistry with Nitya Menon is just too great.

Nitya Menon as Thara - Before I start to write about her performance, I have one thing to say, 2 minutes silence for those who thought OK Kanmani is going to Alaipayudhe 2 because the similarity ends with Dulquer's character and the train scene, Thara is not another Sakthi, she is very different, much bolder and much Independent women, Nitya Menon's performance puts on her on track for a Filmfare award nomination soon.

Prakash Raj as Ganapathi - Prakash Raj's last memorable performance was from Kanchipuram, after that Prakash had been stereotyped with routine roles, but with his reunion with Mani Ratnam, he gets a warm role and Prakash has done full justice to his role.

Leela Samson as Bhavani - Who would have thought that former censor board chief & Dancer Teacher Leela Samson would be a great actress one day, well the day has come, and her performance as a aging woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease is so good that we find it hard to believe that this is just her first film.

Others like Ramya Vj, Prabhu Lakshmanan etc. are adequate in their respective roles.

Technicalities :-

Cinematography by PC Sreeram - As usual his camera work stands out as a major plus in the film, he has captured the exotic locales and looks of Mumbai city very brightly, the light orange tint makes the visuals look more splendid.

Editing by A.Sreekar Prasad - His editing is decent, a special mention needs to be given to him for sharply editing Mental Mandhil Video which was shoot with intentional camera shakes, its very to do edit such videos as a slight lack of continuity would cause a headache to the audience.

Music by AR Rahman - AR Rahman has composed a standard soundtrack for OK Kanmani, Kara Aatakara & Mental Manadhil are already chart busters, while other songs are quite special as they save the film from becoming a documentary whenever there is a need to brief explanation, those who have not enjoyed the other songs while hearing the audio will be convinced once they see the film as the songs itself come the story forward with unique placements.

Special Effects & Animation - For the first time, there is extensive use of computer generated imagery & animation in a Mani Rathnam film, the title card sequence is a must watch and I really feel sorry for those who missed / about to miss the unique sequence, and with Kara Aatakara song played in the Background it only adds more pleasure, moreover the animation scenes play an important role in exploring Dulquer's character in the film.

Screenplay & Direction by Mani Rathnam :-

Mani Rathnam is back to form and is now actually better than his usual best. Mani had already told two different stories about Love & Marriage, while Mouna Ragam dealt with Marriage life after love failure, and Alaipayudhe dealt with consequences of eloping to get married against parents wish. OK Kanmani's concept of live in relationship is not just very different but its also very sensitive considering the fact that majority of the people in South India stills feel that Live in relationship is a taboo, amidst all those serious issues, Mani Rathnam has made a feel good film about the need for marriage, love, affection & ambition, unlike those stereotype Directors who just make one sided films based only on negative points of Live in Relationship.

Plus :-

Performances

Character Development

Cinematography

Editing

Songs

Title Card

Animation

Direction

Minus :-

Quite slow in 1st half

The Final Word : Mani Rathnam's Love & Marriage Trilogy ends with a feel good film like OK Kanmani, a must watch for Youths and definitely not for immatured people who still consider Live in Relationship as a Taboo rather than looking at its positives .

Rating : 8/10