MOZHI - A QUIET WINNER!

It is a pleasant surprise to see television artistes like Swarnamalya and 'Pattabhi' M.S.Bhaskar in convincing roles in the silver screen after a long time, thanks to Mozhi. Meaningless stunts, dialogues with double entendre, glamour that often crosses the border into vulgarity, melodrama - all these get a big NO NO in Radha Mohan's "Mozhi". Rather, it is subtlety that reigns supreme throughout. However, there are several moments that almost move you to tears . This movie certainly does not belong to the 'art' cinema category. It is pure, delightful and humorous.

This can be a very tough subject to handle but Radha Mohan, the seasoned director he is, has crafted it with elan. The best part of the movie being that, the protagonist never lets anyone sympathize with her. On the contrary, she is shown as a confident, self-reliant, well-educated person. Jyothika as Archana is just brilliant, delivering an exemplary performance that is extremely memorable.

Prithviraj from Malluwood deserves to be praised for accepting to star in this heroine-oriented movie. Finally, he seems to have got his tamil accent right and his expressions are refined. Prakashraj and Prithvi make a great pair and the two of them bring the house down with their antics in the apartment in the initial sequences. Also,Brahmanandam from Tollywood who plays the apartment secretary is a fantastic introduction to Tamil cinema.

Mozhi focuses on the indelible marks made by fate in the lives of people. There is a story behind every person that is heartening. However, one cannot sit back thinking about his woes and life has to move on. This is what the movie tries to showcase and this, against a very endearing backdrop of a multi-storey apartment. Though the romance between Prakashraj and Swarnamalya seems abrupt and unexplained, it's made convincing(what with all the bells and bulbs!!). On the other hand, the way love blossoms between the lead pair of Prithviraj and Jyothika, especially Jo's final reciprocation is enchanting and forms the crux of the story.

Being a musical movie, Vidyasagar has put in huge efforts to tune 4 melodies and it 'has' paid off! Notably, the wonderful "kaatrin mozhi" in Balram's crystal-clear voice does ample justice to the theme of the movie. Though "Sevvaanam" has a strong "Lajjavathi" feel with Jassie Gift singing it, the picturisation is very innovative and hilarious(reveals how bad a dancer Prithvi is!). Besides the 4 songs, the three short musical bits(with the voices of Srinivas, Karthik and Tippu) form the best part of the musical score and bring a new dimension to music in Tamil movies. This was so far seen only in Maniratnam's movies. "Pesa madandhaiye" comes as the only unwanted number and its dark camera angles somehow dont fit, standing out as a sore thumb.

The director who gave us the hugely successful "Azhagiya theeye" has indeed made a terrific comeback with "Mozhi" after a brief hiatus("Ponniyin Selvan" being quite forgettable!). In my opinion, Radha Mohan exhibits an enviable combination of Maniratnam's subtlety and K.Balachander's story-telling with an original and taut screenplay. With people like PrakashRaj backing him, he is sure to scale greater heights in the future. With Mozhi, Radha Mohan enters the big league of directors like K.Balachander, Maniratnam, Balu Mahendra, Selvaraghavan, but very uniquely!