Film: Manmadha Banam
Starring: Kamal Haasan, Trisha, Madhavan, Sangeetha
Director: K.S.Ravi Kumar
Producer: Udhayinidhi Stalin
Banner: Lakshmi Ganapathi Films
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Rating: 3/5
Story:
Major R Bhushanam(Kamal Hassan) who runs a security agency along with his friend Raja(Ramesh Arvind) gets an assignment from an over possessive lover Madan Gopal(R Madhavan) a rich chap to keep an eye on his actress lover Nisha/Ambujakshi(Trisha). Nisha finds Madan possessive and maintains a slit. As Nisha goes on an European tour with her School time friend a divorcee Deepa(Sangeetha) with her two kids. The rest of the story is how Bhushanam managed to go by and made it to a happy ending.
Artist Performances –
Kamal Hassan steals the show with his comic timing. He looks very normal in this film with his usual off-screen look. He did a fine job in doing nice comedy. Trisha is cute and demure. Trisha did a sensible job in her role of candid lover. She is extremely beautiful and very natural in the film. Dubbing by Chinmayi for Trisha is excellent. Manmadha banam marks the comeback of Madhavan in south, he did a fine job as a possessive lover. Sangeetha is extremely well in her role, she is terrific through out the second half, Anchor Jhansi lends her voice for this character and it is apt. Ramesh Arvind, Urvasi & Usha Uthap did a commendable job. The kid who did the role of Sangeetha’s son was good.
Technical Departments –
Screenplay & Direction:
The main credit goes to the screenplay provided by Kamal Hassan is the remarkable aspect of the film. He made sure that there is no boring moment in the film though the story is a clichéd one. K S Ravi Kumar’s strength has always been neat comedy and good understanding of audience psychology. In this film, he dealt with clean comedy. His vast experience shows up in handling the comedy scenes deftly. A romantic song in the second half was well made, which shows the flashback in a slow repeal mode. Dialogues by Vennelakanti are apt.
Other Departments: Music by Devi Sri Prasad is good. He used different instruments and made the tunes appear different. The background music is good. Camera work by Manush Nandan is first rate. Picturization of the songs are so elegant. Editing by Shan Mohammed is neat. Production values of Udhayanidhi Stalin are appreciable. Major portions being shot in luxurious cruise in the World is one of the biggest highlights in this movie.
Analysis:
First half of the film was exceptionally well. The second half becomes little boring with routine confusion comedy reminds of Kamal’s Panchatantram, as there is no story. But Kamal’s action and KS Ravi Kumar’s direction makes the viewers to be glued to their seats. This film is best recommended for the family viewing, where one can laugh their heart out for the laugh riot created by Kamal.
