Movies I enjoyed : Mouna Raagam

Mouna Raagam (Tamil: மௌன ராகம்; English: can be roughly translated as "Silent Symphony") is a 1986 Tamil film. It was directed by filmmaker Mani Ratnam. To my mind, it is the best film by the director - though a lot of people think "Nayakan" is his best film.

The score and soundtrack are composed by Ilayaraja, and the film's cinematography is by P. C. Sriram.It got nominated for the best film award.

The story is simple : the heroine is a playfull girl. She falls in love with a boy who is as mischevious and playful as she is. The lovely boy confronts and robs from a police officer so that the patient that offier assaulted can be treated. The girl understands the reason behind this 'bad' act and this is the reason why she falls in love. As they are about to be married, the police comes in and apprehends the lover boy. He tries to escape and in the ensuing melee, gets shot at and dies. The girl goes into a deep trauma.

But, the parents look for another boy. There is a "pen parkkum padalam" and a genteleman comes- sees the girl. Falls in love with her and consents to marry her. The girl does not want to be a burden for their parents any more. So, she marries him.

But, the marriage is only in the name. She avoids any physical contact by her husband. So, what does the husband do? She tells him the story so far and why she is avoiding him. And, on top of it, she wants a divorce!

The genteleman goes about absorbing all of this quietly. He understands the trauma and accepts her as she is. He is willing to give her the divorce and the freedom that she wants. But, slowly and steadily, the girl starts falling in love with her husband!

That is the story. How, patience, understanding and acceptance of the other half improves the relationship, how it heals the wounds and gives it the time it requires is beautifully shown. Revathy and Mohan do well in acting. Karthik did a quick, witty, beautiful role.

The dialogues were simply superb.

I watched this movie when I was quite young - when I was in my college. I remember thinking : if I ever get into this kind of a situation, how I would handle it and whether I can be as sensitive and understanding as this film's hero.

To my mind, it was a landmark movie in Tamil films.