Review of Alai Payuthey

Introduction

The film looks at the story of Karthik (Madhavan) and Shakthi (Shalini) who fall in love with each other and marry, against both thier parent`s wishes. The new couple decide to set-up a new home and begin thier married life there. But its not all whats its cracked up to be, and soon hey learn the real value of what love is.......

Video

For the first time ever Ayngaran International decides to go the anamorphic route with this title, and will continue to support this feature for DVD`s in all of their widescreen releases. A wonderful notion indeed, considering the superb picture quality they had in their 1.85:1 cropped non anamorphic titles. Now with this super-hit film, they have also increased the aspect ratio to 2.35:1. While it covers more of the film frame, it is not the correct aspect ratio. The film was shot in a 2.66:1 ratio so not as much is missing, but Ayngaran have advised me that their other titles will be transferred in their original ratio.

The source which has come from the interpositive 35mm print in India is in excellent condition with only a few small white dots appearing randomly on some frames. Yet they will appear to be unnoticeable to some. The DVD has a sense of freshness feel to it, which is a improvement to the theatrical showing of the film which was full of blemishes. The DVD has no signs of compression artefacts, film grain or of any other encoding problems.

Sharpness also makes quite an impact on the eye as many items are revealed in detail and in neat resolution. Some light shimmering can be detect but they are not too distracting. The moiré effect can be found on some of clothes worn and other patterns seen in the environment. But as the DVD is anamorphic enhanced this problem is not so apparent as it is on Ayngaran pervious non anamorphic titles and is definitely an improvement.

The colour fidelity is vibrant and presents a spectrum of colours that are near perfect, increasing viewing pleasure. There are no signs of any major colour bleeding or distortion. Bear in mind that some scenes are purposely over hued with the bright colours of blue, red, yellow and green as originally intended by the director. Same applies to contrast levels which captures bright lighting in a concentrated area, a favourite technique used by the director.

Dark shadows and details are also very good, revealing much detail that are more easy to the eye. Yet during a couple sequences a bit of tweaking was needed as the darkness overshadowed certain images that was clearly seen during the theatrical run. But these minor problems can easily be overlooked. Overall the dark details offered in the film is handled rather well by the anamorphic transfer.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound has demo room potential and gets full marks. Brilliant throughout in all moods from the subtle to the full on orchestration used by music director A.R. Rahman, the 360 degree soundfield will give your system a damn good work out. The soundstage really does work out well with the sound effects, and at the same time the vocal performances retain clarity and warmth in the centre channel. Basically a perfect 5.1 disc!

Features

The DVD sleeve cover is very well designed by the director, and remains very thematic. But menu designs and grammer used for the English subtitles could have done with some improvement. Also this disc would have certainly benefited from being a special edition with supplementary materials.

Conclusion

After an influx of so many cliché Indian films which presently deals in issues of youth romance, this film brought to me a new sense of vision of where Indian films will diverse towards in the dawn of the new millennium. Mani Ratnam, whose last dark film Dil Se...(1998) went far beyond the expectation of many Hindi audiences (thus the reason for its poor box office draw) goes back to the Tamil cinema with his present feature Alai Payuthey (2000) which is a masterpiece in its own right.

The film brims reminders from two pervious Tamil classics directed by Mani Ratnam; Mouna Ragam (1986) & Geetanjali (1989). While Mouna Ragam dealt in issues of marriage and divorce Geetanjali dealt in ideologies of love and death. However while using similar patterns from these two movies Alai Payuthey deals in the understanding of what love is, and how its changes forms in a marriage institute.

What makes this film so unique is that it carries on where so many Indian films end, with the young lovers on the verge of marriage and a `happy` life. However have audiences questioned the young lovers and their happy ending - the other side of the coin? This question comes into light when the following is shown during this film; the idea of waiting for a loved one for hours while courting can change dramatically while married when a partner asks the question `what took you so long?`

With a lager canvas, wonderful technical values, great editing, and stunning visuals by P.C. Sriram, Mani Ratnam`s screenplay becomes rather plausible and justifiable in what each the characters do and the circumstances that arises from their actions. The way the movie`s non-linear narrative structure works is also rather innovating with the husband constantly going into flashbacks to see what went wrong in his marriage, while worrying where his wife is after not meeting up with her in their usual meeting place after work. It becomes very Quentin Tarantino like, and succeeds when the end and start of the film are linked very intelligently and effectively. This, along with dealing with the unexplored subject matter, is due to the excellent screenplay written by the director that makes viewing so encapsulating.

Characters are well etched out and there are no side or sub plots to divert audiences attention spans, which is the norm in most Tamil films. Despite the harsh lesson for the main characters, they learn the real value of love. Some may disagree with the description of what love is but the process of how the director portrays the meaning of love is well put in the climax, and is far more plausible then how many other infatuated films like the Hindi blockbuster Mohabbatien (2000) puts it. Its kind of interesting that while the start of this film has dreamy moments, similar to Mohabbatien, but it makes the message seem so stronger at the end of this film as we all know that the dreamy moments aren`t real.

Performances from all cast member are of high standards as expected in a Ratnam film, and both main actors Madhavan and Shalini will never disappoint. The loud actor Vivek is very quiet in this film which was a nice change, but then Mani Ratnam always gives his actors a new and improved image. Making an appearance are actors Arvind Swamy and Kushboo which is welcomed.

The music and song score are simply amazing, and lives upto the expectation of the music director A.R. Rahman who outdone himself in pervious Mani Ratnam films like Roja (1992), Thiruda Thiruda (1993), Bombay (1994), Iruvar (1997) and even the platinum selling album soundtrack Dil Se.... Here the music serves up as a wonderful experience and is an asset to the overall narrative of the film which helps to evoke emotions within audiences. The uplifting and saddening orchestration when the film goes into intermission is an example of how the collaboration of Ratnam and Rahman is mesmerizing to film viewers.

Even though it being a wonderful movie the film has its flaws. The catchy song `September Matham` seems out of place despite being part of he narrative of how marriage is viewed upon. This and other minor flaws are pardonable as the overall feel of the film will put the audience at the edge of their seat. The film opened to massive box-office takings in South India, UK, USA and Far East.

A step in the right direction for distributors Ayngaran International who are fast becoming one of the best Indian companies in the DVD market. Their reputation for quality is a true factor and this disc proves that. Since this is their first DVD which is anamorphic some problems which this disc has can easily be avoid as they will not cause any concern to any viewer. Hopefully they will improve further and further with their forthcoming DVD`s of Dheena (2001), Thenali (2000) and the biggie Padiayaapa (1999)!