some films connects emotionally with viewers and rhythm is one such film with which i fell in love. tamil cinema is often known for it's larger than life cliched masala fares esp of those in the 90ies but there are some filmmakers who have regularly raised the standard of cinema , vasanth being one.
Rhythm sets off in navi mumbai where karthikeyan (arjun) has been freshly appointed as the photo editor of indian express. he lives with his old parents and in office he has the company of manivannan( as colleague). on his daily routine of train journey to office , karthik meets chitra (meena) who is a bank employee and have a adopted son.
Two of them are connected by destiny in a strange way through a train accident .as time passes karthik and chitra develops a friendly yet mature bond . they realizes the importance of each other in their respective life but circumstances drift them apart.
rhythm is a well written film and all the scenes have been portrayed neatly by vasanth.
the charm of the film lies in it's simplicity as throughout the screenplay a certain amount subtlety has been maintained .there is no exaggerated emotions and every character behave very naturally. check out the scenes where karthik is shown giving his seat to chitra in train but she is disinterested . these kind of scenes have been handled with great care as the mannerisms which actors depict are very real and it's credit should go to the director.
one of the major highlights of rhythm is it's immensely popular music by none other than rehman .most of the songs in this album are mind blowing but my pick would be "kaatre en vaasal". much effort has gone into the canning of songs and each one stand out. it was only later i got to know that the inspiration for all the 5 songs of this film were the elements of earth.
"nadhiye" the introductory song of arjun is picturized in the scenic backwaters of kerala and
" kaatre" has the spectacular backdrop of the exotic deserts of rajasthan . arthur s wilson's cinematography esp in these 2 songs is amazing and he has also captured the mad busyness of mumbai with much authenticity.
top notch performances is easily one of the best things about this film. probably for the first time arjun known for his action packed loud roles has played a simple middle class man and is unbelievably restrained and not even in one scene he has looked on his star image. meena is class personified .though she has always done homely roles, rhythm is undoubtedly her career best performance . her emotions are subtle and has carried the role with much elan.
late nagesh and the old actress as arjun's parents are superb . whether it's the witty playful chemistry between them or the emotional bond with their son , they are realistic to the core.
thankfully mannivanna's role for the comedy track has been well merged with the screenplay and doesn't appear as sore thumb. laxmi in her small role as meena's brahmin mother in law is excellent while the boy who had acted as meena's adopted son is good and pleasant on screen.
in a nut shell rhythm is a matured love story showcased beautifully with ample support of neat direction, splendid cinematography, excellent musical score and last but not the least natural performances from all actors.
you may not find any great twists and turns in rhythm , and storyline may seem predictable but this film has lot of things going for it like which makes it a good watch.
a beautiful - mature love story
**** - good
Day Dreamer
