Favorite Tamil Love Stories - V

Rhythm

While full-length love stories are not all that common in Tamil cinema, mature love stories are really rare. But that alone doesn't make Rhythm stand out. It is an uncommonly soft, sensitive tale about a man and a woman who have both lost something but are living their lives deluding themselves that they don't need to fill the voids created by their losses. They do make each other realize the need to fill the void but the path after that realization is not all that smooth either. The relationship between Arjun and Meena starts off with friction and the way it transforms into friendship before blossoming into romance is portrayed beautifully.

Supporting characters play an invaluable role with Arjun's parents touching our hearts with their sadness at his lonely life. Their only goal in life is to see him happy again and they convey this clearly with just their looks and sighs. Lakshmi, though appearing late, is terrific as the mother-in-law who repents for her past mistakes and almost repeats them again(her confession to Meena is a superb scene). The boy playing Meena's son is likeable without being irritating like other child artistes and brings out his yearning for a dad in his life. Ramesh Arvind is delightful in a role that proved Vasanth could match Manirathnam in creating loveable characters and a subdued Jo was sweet.

My biggest grouse against Vasanth is that he wasn't brave enough to break Tamil cinema's tradition(we've seen the same thing in lesser movies like Ennavale, etc.) of the heroine being a virgin before marrying the hero. While Meena having a kid was a pleasant, convention-defying surprise, Vasanth meekly gave in to tradition by killing Ramesh Arvind before their first night and making the kid Meena's adopted son. That irked me more than the unnecessary fight and item numbers.

But inspite of those missteps, Rhythm definitely tackled a mature romance in a mature way and gave Tamil cinema one of its most heartfelt romances.