Maara - Go with the momentum

Rating 3/5

The narrative started with a small kid who is listening to a story narrated by a co-passenger. The dialogue delivery seemed a bit of a drag and the lame story of soldier and the fish was irrelevant. To top it, the actress in the present, started to chase a stranger who painted the story across the city. This was all too much drama as the narrative maneuvered itself through lots of sub-plots to glorify the this handsome artist. The songs, albeit a bit church-y (made me feel like I was watching the movie inside a church during a mass prayer) were melodious and calming. Alexander's screen presence was for the sole purpose of a comedy track to add a humor to the otherwise serious and intriguing story. His dialogues and his demeanor were so phony that it makes us wonder if he fell into a time machine back to the MGR-Sivaji era.  His attempt at acting should be appreciated though. The beautiful backdrops and the well dressed actress were unnecessary for the story but that was what kept me going to be honest. But as the movie progressed to second half I got more engrossed in the other characters than the lead ones themselves. Vellaiyan's love story was more poignant and dignified to make everyone yearn for such a love story to have a happy ending.At a point, as a viewer I was more anxious and looking forward to the reunion of Vellaiyan with his Meenakshi than Paaru's search to meet the love of her life. The scene where he finally met his Meenakshi was both heart breaking and heart warming at the same time; it shattered my heart to pieces to know that it took them so many years and the pieces were glued together by their smile, all at the same time. It was more over whelming than one can imagine. 

Mouli is as good an actor as any when it comes to playing it fun and strict along with a pinch of sentiment. His roles as the old man next door has always left a nice warm feeling in our hearts and a smile on our lips, no doubt. 

"Meenakshi illa ngra dha vida Meenakshi ah marandhuvom ngra bayam, adhu dan adhigama iruku"

"More than the fact that I haven't found Meenakshi, the fear of forgetting her really haunts me."

Words by an age old man about his love.

Deeper words haven't been said

Paaru's obvious love and crush on this handsome empathetic stranger is not well brought out by the actress, Shraddha. Her costumes and her make up complementing the scenic backdrops made up for what she lacked in facial expressions. But hey, she could do a lot worse! 

Finally, to talk about our chocolate boy who is more handsome than he was when he entered the industry (I don't think he was all that handsome back then), he didn't have a lot of screen presence compared to his stalker but he played it as good as ever. With a smile beneath the bushy beard and a spark in his eyes, he captured the entire scene taking our eyes off of the beautiful paintings and the scenery. His saviour and empathetic role was getting tiresome to watch but Madhavan played it as charmingly as ever. Overall, not too shabby for Maddy!