Mozhi

The phrase 'realistic movie' usually raises visions of a sad or violent film that doesn't take a familiar masala route when dealing with familiar issues. But director Radhamohan proved in Azhagiya Theeye that a realistic movie can be made by focusing on the brighter side of life too. And he does it again in Mozhi. With down-to-earth characters facing everyday issues, he fashions a movie that is sweet and charming and offers a wonderful, welcome change of pace from the loudness, violence and glamour of Tamil movies today.

Karthik(Prithviraj) and Vijaykumar(Prakashraj) are keyboard players who score background music for movies. Karthik falls in love with Archana(Jyothika) and learning that she is a deaf-mute only strengthens his love. Understanding that Archana is against love, he decides to become her friend first and Archana's friend Sheila(Swarnamalya) paves the way for that. But for Karthik, the path to Archana's heart proves to be a bumpy ride even after that.

Mozhi comes as an antidote to viewers sick of the glamor and violence in Tamil cinema. The subtlety of the humor, the cleanliness of the romance, the down-to-earth nature of the characters - all these come as a relief in the current atmosphere of larger-than-life heroes, bloody violence, loud comedy, glamorous romance and over-the-top sentiments. Mozhi's first scene, from a 'regular' film about a rich girl-poor boy love story, shown under the pretext of Prithviraj and Prakashraj scoring music for it, almost seems like Radhamohan's way of telling us "this is how Tamil movies usually are. Now see how different my film is gonna be!"

Radhamohan has a wonderful knack for mining humor out of normal, everyday situations and that is Mozhi's biggest strength. The film does have its share of fights, sadness and sentiments but it keeps us smiling through all of that. This may be because of the good naturedness of its characters or the humorous lines or the explicit gags but the fact is, we keep smiling. Almost everyone has atleast a couple of lines that make us laugh(maybe because of its unexpectedness, I laughed the most at a line uttered by Jo's grandma to Brahmanandam, about a prospective suitor he previously picked for Jo) and most importantly, they make us laugh without seeming to try too hard. There are also a few segments designed for laughs but surprisingly, these don't work as well. The punchline for these is clear long before and since there are no surprises, the impact is diluted and so, the resulting laughs are muted.

The four main characters populating Mozhi are likeable and when you have characters like this headlining a movie, it is no surprise that the movie itself ends up being likeable. Be it Prithviraj's sincerity, Prakashraj's frankness, Jo's self-confidence or Swarnamalya's eagerness to see the best happen for her friend, they are well-defined characteristics that help us quickly warm up to the characters. These four main characters are surrounded by a few other memorable characters and Radhamohan reminds us of the KB of old in the way he gives importance to even the smallest characters and makes sure they have a nice character arc in the little time they have.

Inspite of none of the characters having a bad bone in them, the movie's conflicts don't seem artificial or forced. There are two main conflicts and both make sense considering the backgrounds of the characters involved. They also lead to some of the best segments in the movie. Prithviraj's explanation of how Jo can contribute to his music and his pointed questions to Jo near the end both feature some wonderful lines. The climax is quite predictable and simple. It is short and realistic and in keeping with the tone of the rest of the film. But considering the delightful climax in Azhagiya Theeye where too the end was fully predictable, the ordinary climax here is a little disappointing.

In the line of directors like KB and Cheran, Radhamohan appears to be another director who is capable of exploiting the medium of cinema well. He has a number of deft touches(like the clever and hilarious ways he finds to represent the onset of love) that prove that pictures are worth a thousand words. And his imagination and sense of humor jointly provide a number of memorable segments (like Prithviraj's walk to experience the world the way Jo does).

I've admired Jo's growth as an actress but there never was any doubt that she was 'acting'. But here, for probably the first time, she is completely natural. Her expressions and body language as she talks with her hands are wonderful and the smoothness with which she does her sign language is a real surprise. She probably worked real hard at it and it has paid off. Its only when she has to show serious emotions like anger that the actress in her rears her head. Whatever the fate of the movie at the box office, as an actress, Jo is definitely going out on top. As he proved in Paarijaatham, Prithviraj has wonderful comic flair. He is very expressive and has a natural charm that makes most of his jokes work. Prakashraj is a revelation. The actor, who lately has been stuck in villain and character roles, gets to do comedy here and he is excellent. He has a number of good lines(like his conversation with Swarnamalya near the end) which he delivers perfectly and shares great chemistry with Prithviraj(the sequence where Prakashraj narrates his proposal is one of the funniest in the movie). Swarnamalya makes good use of her comeback opportunity and does well though she mostly has to serve as foil to one of the other three. Baskar impresses in a serious role while Brahmanandam delivers laughs as the harried apartment secretary.

Songs are well-placed and Vidyasagar's melodious tunes and Radhamohan's picturization make sure they don't turn into cigarette breaks. The picturization of Sevvaanam Selaiyai... captures the spirit of the song and is fun (Jo gets to wear a lot of costumes in this and the split-second view of her in a police dress makes us wish she had gotten a full-length policewoman role). Kannaal Pesum Penne... takes the next spot with some imaginative and energetic picturization. Kaatrin Mozhi... is picturized perfectly on the foursome while Pesaa Madandhaiye... is suitably sober inspite of the unnecessary group dancers.