Legendary film maker Mani Ratnam is back with yet another romantic entertainer Ok Bangaram. Starring Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen in lead roles, this film has hit the screens today. Let’s see how it is.

Story

Aadi(Dulquer Salmaan) and Tara(Nithya Menon) are two young corporate employees who live in Mumbai. They lead a posh life style and are not interested in the concept of marriage. One fine day, they cross paths and get going instantly. Very soon, their friendship turns into a live in relation and the couple spend some happy times together.

Twist in the tale arises when the couple has to leave each other and go abroad for their future endeavors. What will they do now ? Will they end up sacrificing their careers ? Or will they go ahead with their broad minded thinking. That forms the rest of the story.

Performance

Dulquer Salmaan: This handsome actor is a promising talent and watch 'Ok Bangaram' to know why! His screen presence and ease of acting is an asset to the movie. Even Nani's dubbing for him worked so well.

Nithya Menon: She is exceptional and a delight to watch. Its amazing how she manages to keep the audience hooked to the screens every time she appears in a frame. This Short Sensation doesn't need lengthly/powerful dialogues to do that, but her expressive eyes does the magic. Nithya holds the film together with her brilliant performance and her chemistry with Dulquer is magical.

Prakash Raj gives yet another matured performance. Leela Samson who played PR's Wife is equally good. Rest of the cast were adequate.

Plus Points

PC Sreeram’s camera work is splendid. Right from the word go and till to the end, PC Sreeram’s cinematography gives you a feeling of pleasantness. Mani Ratnam deftly handled the movie in his inimitable style.

Minus Points

AR Rahman’s composition fails to impress the audiences. Even background score was seen out of sync with the movie. Sadly, first half just drags while the second half brings the movie to life.

Technical

Pure Class. P C Sreeram and Mani Ratnam makes you feel nostalgic, taking back to the locations of Sakhi. P.C. Sreeram's cinematography takes the film notches higher. He plays with the hues and the lights and sets the mood for the film, never really letting the frame have any jarring element.

Mani Ratnam's lives up to the unconditional love and respect he gets. He played it safe by adding a urbane touch to his own old classics. Initially the movie might appear very artificial and slow but Mani does his magic with each scene and by the end, the characters grow on you.

A R Rahman waves his musical wand through out the film. The songs gets stuck in the mind after the movie and they might never leave your playlist if you could connect with OK Bangaram. Especially the back ground music in the last 30 mins with the single vocal, makes you realize why he is a legend of Indian cinema.

Analysis

'Ok Bangaram' marks Mani Ratnam's return to his favourite genre after 15 Years and that too post two successive Box Office failures. Yet again, We get reminded of how great he is with this youthful love story laced with romance.

AR Rahman's songs were already topping the charts and making them integral part of the story rather than a song & dance routine is impressive. Background Score only elevates the scenes to the next level. PC Sreeram did lot of experimentation with camera angles and lighting in the movie. His expertise helped Mani maintain the feel throughout the movie. Art Direction is praise worthy. Dialogues are meaningful and touchy. Editing is crisp. Production Values are more than perfect.

For any Love Story, Success depends mostly on the Female Lead and who else other than Mani Ratnam knows it better. Mani knows the art of extracting the best from his team and that's why he bounces back strongly after every fall. Kudos to Nithya Menon! Go, Watch & Fall in love with 'Ok Bangaram'!

Final Word

Mani Ratnam is finally back on the pedestal with OK Bangaram. However, It is neither a classic nor a master piece, but is a journey you should surely witness. If you are OK with the slow narrative style, you got to go watch OK Bangaram and fall in love with Taara and Aadhi.