Taramani

Ram’s Taramani is about the flawed world’s ideologies and the never ending debate over feminism. Ram has his own way of narrating things without bothering about the political correctness of the idea he presents. There is no balancing act here in the screenplay and so for that reason Taramani is flawed, but for the same reason this movie is engaging and a debate in itself.

Althea is a single mother working in the corporate sector. One day she meets this depressed stranger named Prabhunath and they happen to meet each other frequently and slowly that relationship went on to become a live in relationship. At that point, the male insecurities of Prabhunath start to show up and he slips into that ordinary mindset of an orthodox man who judges the woman from the looks. Althea’s reaction to this attitude rattles Prabhunath and Taramani shows us that phase in Prabhunath’s life where he sort of realizes his faults.

Ram isn’t trying to make a “perfect” film here. The “anti national” anecdote in the beginning and the things he says through the voice over sort of conveys the fact that he is trying to put across some thoughts and wants us to make a judgment out of it. There were areas in the movie I found uncomfortable to digest due to the imbalance. The night club scene for eg. In that scene, a seemingly “good” husband is considered as a good guy and also a dog. What I liked about the film is the way it unapologetically approaches the issue. No intellectual coating is given to the basic human character flaws. And Ram seems to be aware of the fact that how some people would have strong disagreement over the things he shows in the film as he is frequently saying things through the voice over to somewhat justify the fact that these are his perspective.

Andrea Jeremiah is probably the best person to play Althea. She has the acting capacity to perform the boldness and vulnerabilities of a single mother and Ram needed a hot lady to perform that part. Andrea looks perfect and has done a really good job in the film. Vasanth Ravi is indeed a promising talent. He performs the role of the conflicted silly Prabhunath quite nicely. Anjali is there in a cameo role. Among the other performers, Azhagam Perumal has got a good character in the film.

Ram tries to infuse his political views in to the narrative. That creates some unexpected humor in an ideology driven drama. In between a serious scene that has the hero confessing about a crime he did, Ram as a narrator speaks about demonetization. And in one scene he took a dig at the censor board by adding more insightful warnings making fun of the usual smoking/ wear helmet warnings. It is this peculiar narrative pattern that makes this film an interesting watch. Like I already said, there are many areas in the film where when we question the film’s politics and we won’t get a satisfying answer. Screenplay feels a little too over written, especially in showing the self realization journey of Prabhunath. May be because of the tone of the subject, Ram chose to visualize the film in rain, dry beaches and deserted flats. The main characters are always surrounded by loneliness. The visuals succeed in depicting that. The music and background score from Yuvan Shankar Raja is in sync with the slight madness of the narrative. Sreekar Prasad holds the movie in an engaging pace.

Taramani is an interesting debate of thoughts. It is not your typical commercial movie. But at the same time it isn’t trying to be a fake intellectual outburst. It is one of those films that you tend to like for its metaphorical representations and stronger approach towards content even after knowing that it has imperfections.

Rating: 3/5