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| Wednesday, 21 January 2004 |
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Film for young filmgoers by Karthiga Rukmanykanthan Enaku 20 Unaku 18 (I'm 20 you are 18) Cine City, Maradana The title itself foreshadows that this movie is strictly for youth and it is so till the end. The two protagonists Sridhar and Preethee, one being 20 years old and the other 18, are introduced in a train and they are portrayed as having the same interests and choices from the colour of the dresses they wear to the books they read. The director has added all the titbits a youngster would expect from such a movie but everything becomes tasteless when the director fails to make the right decision at the end. Many scenes have been pictured well using some fascinating visual effects but everything becomes impassive due to the weak plot. Anyway the movie is a great achievement by the 19-year-old director when his age is considered. He has vigilantly used up his father A. M. Rathnam's (Producer) money in the songs and has deeply studied the pulse of present day youngsters. He has tried to portray their tastes using chocolates, biscuits, fashionable costumes and music but except for one fact. Young women have been vulgarly portrayed as having cheap thoughts and this has been expressed through some meaningless dialogues. The only bearable aspects of the movie are its music, dance, art direction and special effects. Sridhar, played by Tarun, meets Preethee, played by Trisha, while travelling in a train. Both fall in love after noticing their similar interests in choosing colours, books and biscuits. This is totally incredible in real life but interesting to watch it on the screen. Both feel reluctant to express their feelings as they haven't met before but suffer when they part. Being unable to forget their first meeting both start searching each other and finally meets in a cricket stadium when suddenly a bomb blasts. Preethee lives near Sridhar's house and is friendly with his sister and mother but never gets the opportunity to meet him until the bomb blast. The hide and seek play between the hero and the heroine is an emerging trend in Tamil cinema as seen in Jay Jay and this should be avoided until it is carefully done as it is humorous to see such unauthentic far-fetched scenes. When the parents come to know that these two are not concentrating on their carrier they persuade them to stop. In the meantime Preethee's parents fix her marriage and Sridhar's is persuaded to leave for US. They agree with their parents' requests. After almost three years they both meet again in the same train but this time Preethee carries a baby on her hand and Sridhar holds the hand of woman. It could have been better if the director would have ended the movie with this but he continues the movie being afraid of a commercial failure. The movie ends and fails to convey a message. Tarun and Trisha have performed satisfactorily without over-acting but could have tried to express a little bit more in some scenes. Vivek has also performed satisfactorily and very funny in some scenes especially during the college competitions but he has also played a part in undermining women. The newcomer Shreya has been given the role of a football coach of a men's team and she has seriously taken her role and fulfilled its needs. The director has carefully chosen some interesting minor characters such as Trisha's modern mother who feels delighted when praised as more beautiful than her daughter. Some importance has been given to friends but again the friendship between girls has been shown as unfaithful. The enchanting aspects of the movie are music and art direction and visual effects. The songs 'Gamma Gamma', 'Santhipoma' and 'Asathura' have been flavoured western like the movie Boys. Attractive and colourful sets have been used by the art director Thotadharani. The highlight of the movie is the 'Ethovondru' song which has been shot in the historical locations of Venice and Romania. The talent of the music director A. R. Rahman to compose Carnatic music could also be guessed from this song. Sometime ago actors had to act according to the lyrics of the song but these days the visual effects could also speak to the audience through its ability to express the lyrics. The fascinating visual effects by 'Indian artist' colour the words of P. Vijay. Costume designing is also a plus point to this song. The special effects used for the bomb blast incidence in the cricket stadium are authentic. These ideas of the director A. M. Jyothi Krishna reflect his interest to follow the foot steps of director Kathir and Shanker but he could have avoided adding his incorrect perception about young women in this movie as it was irrelevant to the story line. For those who watch movies to while away the a time Enaku 20 Unaku 18 is a perfect choice. **** Back **** |
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