A film that can make you shed tears of sadness and tears of joy would be considered as the biggest reward a common filmmaker can dream. Ram is one director who is capable of producing a movie as such. He is someone who talks about unpressed human feelings. Here he comes up with another emotional script and this time he has chosen to show an urban love story filled with harsh reality.

A genuinely affecting movie that approaches its adult themes with intelligence, maturity, and rare authenticity. At places, it might appear to be clunky. No special effects, no swashbuckling casts, just brilliant story-telling that talks about the raw truth.

Taramani has to be one of the canniest and most accurate films about a modern day city life. Maybe not everyone’s life is as nasty as this, but still, most of us could relate to it one way or the other.

The script demands a lot from its star here, and Andrea delivers just what was expected. The politeness that the actors exhibit towards the audience through their performances truly saves the latter from emotional leakage. Andrea owns this film, and likewise, Vasanth Ravi makes a solid debut; a beginning that he could be proud of. The small kid who plays Andrea’s son deserves a special mention, so does Azhagam Perumal for a heartwarming performance.

To its credit, the film doesn’t sugarcoat anything, but it literally paints a clear picture of real conflicts and opinions that naturally creep in our daily life. When it comes to a Ram’s film, you could find emotions in abundance, but at times it tends to go preachy. One might even think, wouldn’t it be nice if audiences could be trusted to feel things naturally, on their own without being forced with emotions or messages. To avoid such issues, he has tried a fun take on social issues using his voice over that travels throughout the film and that makes the narration more neutral, yet serving the purpose.

Everything about the film suggests that its makers consider it a deep, emotionally probing drama, but its beauty depends upon the view of its beholder. Some may find it too loud and heavy for its subject, some would tell these characters are too remote and too unrealistic to move us in any lasting way, but if you accept them for the way they are, there is a chance for you to get engrossed.

Yuvan is a huge asset to Ram, together they make a wedding of imagery and rhythm that connects well with the script. Throughout the film, cinematographer Theni Easwar brings in lovely, realistic photography, showing a remarkable eye for light and composition. However, there are a few framing and quality issues in few shots, that looks pixelated and inconsistent. Editor Sreekar Prasad provides the right sensitive direction in putting together a moving work about a nasty urban lifestyle shown in the film.

Taramani is well textured, and it doesn’t tell a story in any conventional sense. It talks about feelings. At certain moments we are not sure exactly what is being said or signified, but by the end, we understand everything that happened – not in an intellectual way, but in an emotional way.

Though the film is ‘A’ certified, there isn’t any visual disturbance as such, and the certification is only for the usage of cuss words. The film moves majorly on a narrative pattern, and that narration might not go well with a section of the audience. The film’s runtime of 150 minutes seems a bit long, as the film becomes draggy towards the climax.

BEHINDWOODS REVIEW BOARD RATING

( 3.00 / 5.0 )

PUBLIC REVIEW BOARD RATING

( 3.25 / 5.0 )