Maara - something is fishy

Maara

2021, Tamil

Director - Dhilip Kumar

Stars - Shraddha Srinath, R Madhavan, Sshivada, Moulee

Mohan's Measure ❇ ✳ 

Winter evenings, even in the great State of Texas call for warm fuzzy shawls, a toasty warm fire, and warm conversation with good friends. But, when this is happening in Palakad, all this warmth starts to give you heartburn.

Maara is the Tamil interpretation of Charlie, which featured the talents of Dulquer Salmaan and Parvathy Menon. Despite his obvious age. Mr. Madhavan manages to take on the youthful, wanderlust-driven, drunken artist who brings good to everyone he meets.

But, the real struggle is in the two female leads. Both Ms. Shraddha and Ms. Sshivada bring charm to this whimsical story of a series of seeming coincidences that bring people together. But, both feel way out of their league, and employ a method of acting which makes urban sophistication look like American superiority.

And therein too lies another weakness in an otherwise beautifully told fairy tale. The stories of fish, soldiers, and the quaint narrow streets of a fishing village near Cochin are all metaphors of a far more European world, a secular but undeniably Catholic world. The director knows this, and could have kept it going. He attempts, however, to bridge the gap with references to to the Goddess Meenakshi and the Conch shell of Pasupathinath. And, that's a bit too much fishing around for me.