As with a lot of people, I was an ardent Maniratnam fan. But after 'Ravannan' and 'Kadal' - unlike others - am even more so. As a director he seems to be evolving by leaps and bounds in the past few years and especially so, with the last 2 movies. ( Even I who loved Raavanan could not stand 'Raavan' - the hindi version though..the lead actor was THAT bad..). The layered themes seem to explore the grey areas in human emotions - that mid path between good and bad - that 'normal' path that most of us fall into while judging everybody including ourselves errantly to be one or the other.
Raavan - hero does the perceived ultimate sin in an evolved culture ' piranmanai nokkal'..but I always had a bee in my bonnet vis-a-vis such rules. To admire, even love thy neighbour's wife in itself cannot be wrong. But to act on it, to not recognise it as trespassing on two other lives is. All the more so if it is non-consensual. I never could admire the 'ultimate goodness' or the perfect good. What is the big deal about somebody who has never tested the boundaries of the rules he has grown with, A man who has not confronted the worst of himself is a maN as good as having never truly lived..
I have in me more admiration and love for a person who has tested the edges, understood his weaknesses and learnt to master them. A man who loves without boundaries but then has the maturity to channel his love where it can cause the most good. A man who has grown through the emotional evolution process - making mistakes, learning from them, having a realistic expectation of himself and hence of others.
Retrospectively, though I did not realise it then, the reason I married my K was not because of the man he was but the husband and partner I saw that he could be. The one thing that struck me was that - no matter who - he was willing to listen and give an honest chance - even for his worst detractors there was no judgement just a cool acceptance.
Today, together we have grown so much. Learning from each others diametrically opposite views, surprising each other with thoughts which we did not expect to hear from the other, finding books and movies and people and thoughts that we had never encountered before and interpreting it together and in the process learning much more than we would have on our own.
On the other hand, there were so many individuals who evoked my admiration when I was young with some evolved views, but now I realise that while I have grown and moved on to more layers, they seem stuck exactly where they were. Amazing, how an open mind can sit physically in a single place but grow exponentially whereas even a partially closed mind may travel the world but be stuck in it's prejudices, stereotypes and hence a life-rut.
Anyways, Kadal - the one take way for me was this. If only the relatively minor infraction was forgiven or atleast given a proportionate punishment, a potential God's man would not have become the devil's instrument that he had. 'Sam' in his self-righteousness saw only the devil in 'Bergmans' and it took the young 'Thomas' to bring out the human, natural , evolved good in both.
A man is never to be judged by what he is but by what he could be. If this were true, the world would be a much better place.
Mani - I agree.
Raavan - hero does the perceived ultimate sin in an evolved culture ' piranmanai nokkal'..but I always had a bee in my bonnet vis-a-vis such rules. To admire, even love thy neighbour's wife in itself cannot be wrong. But to act on it, to not recognise it as trespassing on two other lives is. All the more so if it is non-consensual. I never could admire the 'ultimate goodness' or the perfect good. What is the big deal about somebody who has never tested the boundaries of the rules he has grown with, A man who has not confronted the worst of himself is a maN as good as having never truly lived..
I have in me more admiration and love for a person who has tested the edges, understood his weaknesses and learnt to master them. A man who loves without boundaries but then has the maturity to channel his love where it can cause the most good. A man who has grown through the emotional evolution process - making mistakes, learning from them, having a realistic expectation of himself and hence of others.
Retrospectively, though I did not realise it then, the reason I married my K was not because of the man he was but the husband and partner I saw that he could be. The one thing that struck me was that - no matter who - he was willing to listen and give an honest chance - even for his worst detractors there was no judgement just a cool acceptance.
Today, together we have grown so much. Learning from each others diametrically opposite views, surprising each other with thoughts which we did not expect to hear from the other, finding books and movies and people and thoughts that we had never encountered before and interpreting it together and in the process learning much more than we would have on our own.
On the other hand, there were so many individuals who evoked my admiration when I was young with some evolved views, but now I realise that while I have grown and moved on to more layers, they seem stuck exactly where they were. Amazing, how an open mind can sit physically in a single place but grow exponentially whereas even a partially closed mind may travel the world but be stuck in it's prejudices, stereotypes and hence a life-rut.
Anyways, Kadal - the one take way for me was this. If only the relatively minor infraction was forgiven or atleast given a proportionate punishment, a potential God's man would not have become the devil's instrument that he had. 'Sam' in his self-righteousness saw only the devil in 'Bergmans' and it took the young 'Thomas' to bring out the human, natural , evolved good in both.
A man is never to be judged by what he is but by what he could be. If this were true, the world would be a much better place.
Mani - I agree.
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