OK Kanmani: Maniratnam-ARRahman-PC Sreeram

[balaajee]

மணிரத்னம் படத்தின் தமிழ்நாடு உரிமையை கைப்பற்றியது ஸ்டுடியோ க்ரீன்! - VIKATAN

மணிரத்னம் இயக்கத்தில் துல்கர் சல்மான், நித்யா மேனன், பிரகாஷ் ராஜ், கனிகா நடித்திருக்கும் படம் ‘ஓ காதல் கண்மணி’. படத்திற்கு இசை ஏ.ஆர்.ரஹ்மான். ஒளிப்பதிவு பி.சி.ஸ்ரீராம். இந்த படத்தின் டீஸர், மற்றும் டிரெய்லர் மக்கள் மத்தியில் வரவேற்பு பெற்றுள்ளது.
இதுவரையில் படத்தின் டீஸரை 10 லட்சம் பேர் பார்த்து வைரலாக்கியுள்ளனர். ஏப்ரலில் வெளியாக உள்ள இப்படத்தின் தமிழ்நாடு ரிலீஸ் உரிமையை ஸ்டூடியோ க்ரீன் கே.இ.ஞானவேல் பெற்றுள்ளார்.

துல்கர் சல்மான் , நித்யா மேனன் இருவரும் நடித்து கேரளாவில், ‘பெங்களூரு டேஸ்’, மற்றும் ’உஸ்தாத் ஹோட்டல்’ என இரு படங்களும் மெகா ஹிட் ஆனதால், இந்த படம் மலையாள மக்கள் மத்தியிலும் வரவேற்பு பெரும் என்பதில் சந்தேகம் இல்லை.
எனவே தமிழ்நாடு உரிமையை அடுத்து கேரள உரிமை பெரும் தொகைக்கு விலைப்போகும் என எதிர்ப்பர்க்கப்படுகிறது.

[mappi]

rsubras,

Here is my take.

There are 2 notions to this song. It talks much about a Fathers love towards his daughter, in this case its even more emotionally high as he is talking about his adopted daughter. Their journey brings them to a point where by assuring her, he rejuvenates himself. The lyrics are quite straight forward where he vouches to her as well as to himself - whatever be the case or the form, she will be his most loved one.

What makes the 2nd notion to come into existence are the visuals. Coupled with some mind blowing instrumentation with great inotations which usually accompany a Buddhist chant. [There are various forms of Buddhist Chants, and thats an off topic). The magic behind this song in the unison of sound, visuals & meaning, that it gets stuck with viewer.

Not detailing much, I will just go thru the initial visuals + the inner meanings of the lyrics.

The song is basically about Nonattachment, one of the values of Buddhism. To make it simple & short : Attachment is about the attacher and the things that he is attaching to. Nonattachment is a state where you don't have anything to attach to, a kind of unity that all seems to make everything one and the same as in a unified universe. A big concept in Buddhism. So how is it interpelled in the song. Its not the core of the philoposhy but the state of mind of the little child who is slowly getting suck into the vaccum of nonattachment towards the world and her surrounding, looking at which the father cracks - should a little child undergo such a torture ?

When Amudha turns 9, her parents inform her that she is their adopted child. From there, encouraged by their adopted parents, Amudha goes in search of her biological parents. During this journey and the emotional horrors it hold, through each advancement Amudha enters doors and doors of nothingness. She starts to loose her indentity and the little heart weeps for the parents she had never seen. Slowly she moves emotionally away from her adopted parents. When Thiru observes the difficult phase Amudha is going thru, he has no other choice but allow Amudha to choose her own destiny. But still she is his first daughter and she will always be. This mechanism of acceptence by emotional closeness on an already detached object, Thiru sings these lines substituting Amudha to The Buddha himself.

Visuals, a glimpse :

The opening shows the nature of the river, that takes the route of the banks. Following it in the opposite direction you reach its source. A kind of what Amudha is trying to do - backtracking. Then you see Amudha sitting, quite solid as a rock (the white symbolising the purity - just like the color of the water falling on the rocks), but the parting drops are filmed as tear drops flying away from her face. An amazing shot depicting Amudha internal suffereings.

Here comes the direct link to Buddha, when you see Amudha sitting as the Buddha himself. She is also seen taking the Path of the Monks, but inturn she becomes not only the part of her wound but the creator of the wound itself. Then she seen sitting with a grass ... so on so forth.

Lastly a small take on the lyrical meaning combining it with Philosophy :

oru dheyivam thandha poovae => A devine Gift

kannil thedal enna thaayae => The attachment the eye seeks

(There are 2 important lines in this songs, the above one and the last one. Here it states what else does Amudha's eyes seek for, what is she looking for to get attached, when her attachments is just beside, me, Thiru, your father; add in the plot point, the most beautiful lines in the song)

vazhvu thodangum idam needhaanae => Hope

vaanam mudiyumidam needhaanae => limitless (boundless => Anandha)

kaatrai poala nee vandhayae swasamaga nee nindrayae => No identity as in materialistic address

maarbil oorum uyirae => The beat of the heart that indicates life, a reason to live ... so on so forth.

Attachment / Detachement : Emotions

enadhu sondham nee, yenadhu pagaiyum nee => Love & Hate

kadhal malarum nee, karuvil muLLum nee => Rose & Thorn

chella mazhaiyum nee, chinna idiyum nee => Rain & Thunder

pirandha udalum nee, piriyum uyirum nee => Body & Soul

maraNam meenda jananam nee => Its actually the love he has for her which is immortal or eternal

Attachment / Detachement : Materialistic likeness (the mechanism of attachment according to what one sees & touches)

enadhu selvam nee, enadhu varumai nee => Wealth & poverty (ruppees, euros, dollars, toilet paper)

izhaiththa kavidhai nee, ezhuththu pizhaiyum nee => Expectations

iraval velicham nee, iravin kannir nee => Light & Darkness (the unseen tear drop)

enadhu vaanam nee, izhandha siragum nee => Height of the highest

naan thooki vallartha thuyaram nee => A wonderful line : the complete submission - we made each other what we are.

'Oru Deivan Thantha Poove' song from Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek) written and directed by Mani Rathnam, Songs composed by AR Rahman for the lyrics by Vairamuthu.

[Mahen]

Mappi

[ArulprakasH]

Awesome Mappi.. One of my favourite movie it is...

[Mahen]

1.5mil views and 11000+ comments..not bad for director who has been giving flops, recycling scenes etc

[k_vanan]

Kalakkal Mappi

[A.ANAND]

Mappi sir,ungga kulleyum etho onnu irukku parungga...superb!!

[rsubras]

thanks very much for the insight mappi......

now i could relate most of these things...... except for couple more things in the same song......... Amudha wears maddy's specs and is seen writing something in madhavan's hand, and then erases it, starts again...... and then in another shot, she is seen holding a bunch of fresh flowers and splashes it at madhavan.......

this also explains about the female version of that song.......where simran tries to comfort her that all is well and they are her parents...... and what is the significance of the yellow umbrella that she holds in that song....... i remember mani, initially wanted to name this film as manjal kudai (and if i am right he had vairamuthu write this film as a short story in some magazine by the same name) ......so there must be something to it.......

[mappi]

"Amudha wears maddy's specs and is seen writing something in madhavan's hand"

It's more than just specs. It is a misted up specs.

Its a visual narration to the lines 'izhaiththa kavidhai nee, ezhuththu pizhaiyum nee'. Symbolically it looks like she is writing on a 'olai chuvadi' the lines of her heart or desire. Immediately she erases it, as she is not sure yet on what to expect. Coupling it with the lyrical lines, you get - erasing what was written seeing it as a mistake. Maybe she is trying to rewrite her 'thalai ezhuthu' somehow beleiving that rewritten on her father's palms can do wonders.

Misted Up Specs - not a clear vision. She is actually seeing through his eyes, and finds everything to be wrong. She strikes them. What one is seeing to which the other is blind. There is another opposite shot, where she wipes his specs, inviting him to see her POV clearly.

"she is seen holding a bunch of fresh flowers and splashes it at madhavan"

Its the state of her mind. Mind the Monkey. There you are on the hands of your father, overlooking the most beautiful water falls with a beautiful bunch of flowers in your hand - all you can wear is a monk costume and shake the flower and hit it on the cheek which is waiting to be pecked - there is a problem.

There are subordinates to it, the grass/bouquet shots. The state of mind again. A 9 years old kid staring at a grass, and looking into the open with empty emotion when her father appraoches her - there is a problem here. Similarly, he is holding a bouquet for her, he collected, rather hand picked the flowers for her, those are his dreams for her, but she is happy with the one she made, and is seen merrily dancing with it. She even tries to offer it to him (motive linked to the specs wiping shot)

Throughout the song, there is a lot of communication going on between them, even though it looks monologued in nature.


Yellow Umbrella

There are certain depictions to colors in an art work. It even projects the mood under which certain paintings were drawn by an artist, including the brush strokes, shades etc., just by looking at the color or pallette used. Eventhough you cannot go inside an artist mind to extract what it was suppose to be/mean, but you can atleast come closer using the color codes. See, these are just theories, not inferences.

In film making, colors are often used, and at most places its purpose is just another glam doll. But few, very few, film makers understand its usage, and advance their ideas through colors. Each color has a significance.

That Girl in Yellow Boots. Why not red boots or green boots !
Kill Bill. Why not a black suit or a rose one !
McDonalds symbol, the joy it wants to convey.
Smileys

Yellow color signifies certain positive and negative aspects : Happiness, sunshine, joy, wisdom etc., dishonesty, betrayal, illness etc.,

Here maybe, Mani wanted to use it to showcase 'optimism'. The 'positiveness' of a mother whose child is not hers, the 'hope' or 'joy' or 'beleif' of the child towards her adoptive mother. Both share the same 'happiness' under the shades of a Yellow Umbrella.

[mappi]