On Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s Ninaivo Oru Paravai
Thiagarajan Kumararaja is a rare filmmaker with cult fans, with only two films he made. He won a National Award for his debut, Aaranya Kaandam.
A few days back, I saw his interview with Baradwaj Rangan and learned that he is a Creative Producer and made a short for Modern Love Chennai with Amazon Prime Video.
The 6-part anthology was released on Prime Video, and I watched his segment, Ninaivo Oru Paravai. All these 6-parts are inspired by columns published in The New York Times.
On the day of its release, my friend Suresh mentioned that he loved TK’s (Thiagarajan Kumararaja) part and asked me to watch it. As it is only 1-hr long, I watched it immediately and loved it!
Disclaimer: This blog post contains spoilers. Viewers’ discretion is advised.
The plot is simple — K, an aspiring filmmaker, and Sam break up. Later he meets with an accident and loses recent memories except for Sam. K’s sister reaches out to Sam on the advice of a doctor to help K recollect the pleasant memories of his life. While Sam is undergoing treatment to overcome the breakup, she agrees to help K recollect the past.
I suggest you watch the film to witness the magic on screen.
I feel TK adds multiple layers to his writing and keeps something open for us to imagine, interpret, and come up with ideas of what might have happened. Although it was adapted, I could find TK everywhere, be it with his writing, characters, production design, colours, and the way scenes are staged.
While I was thinking about the movie, I wondered if it could have been anything:
Is it a script written by K?
Is it a figment of the imagination of K?
Is Sam implanting fictitious memories as K lost his memory to have him back in her life?
The doctor asks Sam to recall fragments of memories so that they can work to assemble them linearly. This is the precise way we, the audience, watch the movie.
If you notice, TK hid the reason for the breakup. If someone asks him why he did that, he’d reply with the exact words Sam tells K or the doctor asks Sam. “Discuss only pleasant memories.”
By the way, there’s a connection to Super Deluxe. K works for a film titled Mallu Uncut, which those boys in Super Deluxe purchase and watch with 3D spectacles. Also, the production design and colour palette reminded me of Super Deluxe. The fortune tellers here reminded me of Aranya Kaandam. You be at your work; they come, reveal your future, and go.
I can’t appreciate Ilayaraja’s music enough. The whole movie went to the next level, thanks to his music. I was amazed by the fact that the same man’s music didn’t work for me in Viduthalai, and I’ve been listening to his work for Ninaivo Oru Paravai on a loop.
In one old interview, TK mentioned that Ilayaraja’s music inspired him to make movies. I wasn’t expecting this collaboration. The music is really something here. It has playful, intense, heart-wrenching, and calming music that completely complements the visuals and never dominates.
At times it felt like a modernised version of the kind of music that came in the 80s, in a good way. This is why the age of the artist doesn’t matter. Ilayaraja is 79 years old, but his music to TK’s part is freaking amazing.
Coming to the artists’ performance, both of them did well. There are scenes like their first time meeting or the climax where they hooked me to the screen. I watched it soon after watching Jubilee on Prime Video and started admiring Wamiqa’s performances in both. Her characters in both have some similarities too! Her appearance when K watches her for the first time on a movie set is beautiful ❤
This is one of the few films that grows with you over time. It draws your attention towards it, and you come up with new interpretations whenever you think about it. Overall, this is one film that kept me thinking and is refreshing.
Do watch this interview of BR with TK.
Until next time…
