The Sub-plot In Ratnam's Saga

The veteran director returns with a violent mafia movie after a string of flops.

- G.C. Shekhar in Chennai

WHEN in doubt speed-dial the gangsters. Even if you happen to be 25 films old, acknowledged as one of the top film makers of the country and credited with an array of sensible and sensitive films. Yet, when saddled with a series of failures, the temptation to fall back on the tried and tested formula of gang war becomes hard to resist.

So, Mani Ratnam (62) has attempted to rediscover his directorial touch by portraying a succession war in a don’s family in his latest Tamil film Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (Crimson Red Sky). It also goes well with the prolonged political succession battle in the state during the last one year. The film has had a solid opening and theatres have reported full houses over the first weekend, bringing a much-needed commercial hit for Mani Ratnam in more than eight years.

Mani badly needed this film after two of his last three films tanked and one just broke even. It had left many of his fans wondering if his formulaic packaging was getting outdated as Tamil cinema had been taken over by a new breed of youngsters willing to experiment with new storylines and taut direction. The likes of Karthik Subbaraj (Pizza, Jigarthanda), Manikandan (Kaakka Muttai, Aanda van Kattalai), Pa. Ranjit (Madras, Attakatthi), Raju Murugan (Joker), Karthick Naren (Dhuruvangal Pathi­naaru) and Arun Prabhu (Aruvi) had bewitched audiences with realistic narration and pithy dialogues and believable characters enacted brilliantly by young actors. Their movies also brought in the moolah for the producers.