Mariyaan review

Movie: Mariyaan
Directed: Bharat Bala
Produced: Venu Ravichandran
Written & Screenplay: Bharat Bala, Sriram Rajan
Star Cast: Dhanush as Mariyaan, Parvathi Menon as Panimalar, Salim Kumar as Thomayya, Appukutty, Jagan, Uma Riyaz Khan, Rama, Imman Annachi, Vinayakan, Dagbeth Tweh
Music: AR Rahman
Cinematography: Marc Koninckx
Editing: Vivek Harshan
Studio: Aascar Films
Distributed: Venu Ravichandran

Love shatters all the hurdles and keeps you alive through the ages. Such is the immortality of its power. Mariyaan as Bharat Bala assured was to possess this mighty factor as its heart-and-soul. In contrast, the film fails to impress us to a greater extent.

The white salty sands embracing the sea is the backdrop and we see have Mariyaan (Dhanush), a fisherman with his eccentric skills. His love for Panimalar (Parvathi Menon) takes him to the desert yards of Sudan (Africa), where he is a worker on contract. A couple of years have passed by and he is almost done with the toilsome phase and is gleeful about the future he dreamt about. But on the spur-of-the-moment, he is abducted along with his pals by a terrorising group.



What’s more dis-satisfactory about Mariyaan is the brilliant work of actors and technicians going in vain. Dhanush stuns you with an un-matchable performance in places and keeps you hooked throughout the show. Be the scene, where he grieves over the grave of his pal Sakkarai (Appukutty), his frozen-senses reaction to the friend killed in front of him or his conversation with Panimalar by chiseling the baddies down there is superb. On the pars, Parvathi Menon (Poo fame) spells an enchanting charisma with her natural looks, splendid expressions and prodigious performance. She has inordinately exhibited the pathos and affinity of desolated Panimalar for her beau. She is here sure to establish her realms in Tamil industry. National award winner Salim is completely wasted and Uma Riaz as Dhanush‘s mom is okay.

Poor writing turns out to be the stark blemish here. In spite of actors striving to achieve ne plus ultra performance, the flimsy screenplay lets down us. Getting on with the technical aspects, AR Rahman‘s background score is good in few parts, but his experiments to blend ‘Country Music’ with the nativity here doesn’t have the right impact. On the other side, the background score for African portions, especially the one you hear during the intermission point is a remarkable showpiece. Songs proved to be the Chartbusters of this season, but they are nowhere close to the film. Naturally, ‘Kadal Rasa‘ is a good treat for the audience. Alas! The make-up quotients are completely flawed (don’t miss the Dhanush’s hair style that misses continuity from minute-to-minute).



The outstanding visuals of cinematographer Marc Konincks are appreciable for he gives us the feel of ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’ in places. Dialogues by Joe D Cruz isn’t appealing, except ‘Oru Moochukku Poi Innoru Moochukku Inga Iruppaen‘ (Mariyaan‘s promise to Panimalar), which is a metaphorical significance of a professional diver completing their underwater task at one breath in fraction of seconds. The stereotypical climax of Hero Vs Villain combat is completely unwanted here and is forced into the script here.

Overall, despite the fact that the actors and technicians have exerted their best, Bharat Bala fails to utilise these big brand factors. While the first half travels in a docu-drama style of picturing the nativity, the second hour remains engrossing in parts with a happy end. But when you walk out of theatres, you’ll feel something is missing here.