Mouna Ragam

maniratnam is hailed universally as a great film-maker with a unique style. although i am not a great fan of his, this movie i think was his best - even ahead of roja.

mouna ragam is a tender movie that pulls at the heartstrings, revathi - in one of her best ever roles - absoluitely steals the show. maniratnam handles the complex relationship between the husband and wife beautifully. kartik as the wife's ex-lover scintillates in his cameo.

the capacity of the human heart to love, its wont to love more than one person is tenderly shown, revathi's reluctance to love her husband and how she slowly changes heart but refuses to acknowledge it are what makes the movie a delight to watch. a movie that can and should ne seen many times over.

this is a tru classic that deserves a full 10.

I personally believe it's Mani Ratnam's best film because it doesn't have any political plotlines like his other films and so it can be enjoyed by general audience.

The film's story is still relevant in 2021. Women in India are free to make every decision except their marriage. Women may date many men or even fall in love but they can't marry without their parents permission. Arranged marriages used to work well back when there were no social media platforms. But now many arranged marriages don't last long because it's easy to meet new people. This film has protrayed plight of every Indian women in the society.

Revathi has given phenomenol performance and eliyaraja's music is icing on the cake.

Mouna Ragam (1986) : Brief Review -

A Sensibile and Classic Romantic saga by Mani Ratnam which tells the difference between infatuated Boyfriend and Responsible Husband. Mouna Ragam has remained underrated for years, especially for pan India audience. Tamil audience is very much familiar with this film but outside South industry, only few film lovers knows about Mouna Ragam's existence. The same happened to me as well. Even I watched his other Mani Ratnam classics first and then came to know about this super Classic. I strongly believe, this film deserves equal popularity as Nayakan, Roja, Bombay or other popular classic of Mani Ratnam. I consider Romance as a dumb genre cause there are hardly some classics which makes sense otherwise it's all just typically melodrama or reconciliation or immatured love stories. With Mouna Ragam, i can say that it is a very matured film for the audience who have matures taste in films. Someone who likes dumb romance like Arjun Reddy or Kabir Singh or some other blockbuster romances (commercially i meant) should stay away from it. It might cause a humiliation to your immatured and childish tatse and then you'll start disliking the same dumb love stories which you have been loving for a long time. Mouna Ragam tells a story of a forced arrange marriage turning into sensible realisation of true love and life-long commitments. It has every scene set in right zone with right conviction and all of it is highly sensible and intellegent. That's important, being intelligence is very important believe me, especially in this Dumb Genre. Revathi and Mohan both gets the roles to remember, something which will always stay with audience and especially married couples. Mani Ratnam has made many classics in other genres, and some of those films are actually overhyped by fans, i would be happy to see this film getting the same hype as those, deservingly.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

A true Mani Ratnam classic. In a world where people walk away from relationships the moment there are signs of trouble this movie shows that love and commitment are rewarded. If you care to look under the surface, this movie explains how and why marriages in conservative societies last even though people are brought together by fortune rather than by a liking for each other.

The characters in the movie are powerful and well supported by the cast. Ilayaraja shows why he was the king of Indian movie music with some lovely and captivating music.

This was my first Mani Ratnam movie and it left a lasting impression on me. Though this is an out-and-out Karthik movie, we cannot discount Murli's performance. Murli had to underplay the role. Karthik came as a tsunami and left leaving a wreck of emotions behind. Revathi bearing the most.

There is one scene in the movie that I can never forget. Revathi tell her husband not to touch her because it feels like caterpillar walking on her skin.