To name a few...

Movies. What it conjures up is a magical world of make believe, where we get to see our thoughts and dreams come alive through characters whom we identify ourselves with, stories which run parallel to ours, and lives we get to live as if our own. It moves us to tears or sheer rage, or rollicking laughter or intense pain. It all happens in the celluloid world. And we are forever in a relentless search, for that one which would stir us deeply and enrich us, as the few others, which have along the years, have helped us grow and discover the oddities life has to offer, and the means of embracing them.  

Thought, shall cover few of my favourite ones, and to start with two of Mani Ratnam’s awesome works of art.  Any time all time favourite is Bombay. Absolutely loved it, from the word go. The dark coastal town draped in black with the bellowing winds, the throbbing streets and chawls of apna Mumbai, the decor including  the quaint window panes of the sprawling kitchen and tiny bedrooms; and the moods captured, be it the intense pulsating romance, the mounting fear and terror that grips you, or the terrible  feeling of loss and grief that engulfs you, it is all there delicately interwoven.


It is amazing to watch Manisha Koirala emote, especially as an anguished mother (where she searches for her missing sons), was portrayed exceedingly well. It was a class performance I would think. And then the mesmerising music of AR Rahman. Such a medley of pure bliss. The soul stirring ‘Uyire..’, romance dripping ‘Kannalene...’ and the rocking ‘Humma...’to name a few. Somehow the film offers such wholesome entertainment, that you are left with a sense of having experienced something totally beautiful, as true art should be.

"Kannathil Muthamittal', yet another masterpiece from Manirathnam, one of the few which was not made in Hindi. In my scale the ratings climb up, if the movie moves me to tears, each time I watch it. And this one never fails to induce the tear ducts even as I battle with it. Even when you know what is to follow, and you brace yourself, the intensity and depth of the feeling conveyed through sensitive words and expressions, reaches out to you so seamlessly. You cannot but wonder at the ingenuity of the artistes involved be it the director, the actors, or the script writers.

Two social issues handled here, Adoption and Tamil Eelam Rights. They were done so well, that at no point you are made to feel that they are being addressed or presented. You are entwined into the story and with the characters, so much so that you begin to live their lives, feel their sorrows, understand their loss, even as questions thrown at the viewers rankle your mind. We do trudge back home with a heavy heart, but only to delve deeply into the issues, arriving at our own debatable conjectures.The characters and what they experience become a part of us. And favourite song from a mix of great melodies, Kannathil...for the lovely lyrics.

The list is long, and hope to cover a few more, but as I write it makes me wonder what a bereft place the world would be without movies and geniuses who make them. Closing with a song from 'Dil Se', (somehow never did like the Tamil version, movie and music, try as I did), for the pure magic that blazes the screen with AR Rahman-Manirathnam synthesis.