Aayitha Ezhuthu

Mani Ratnam's 2004 Tamil film crosses the lives of three men through one incident on a bridge in Chennai. One is a thug who wants to move up, one a student leader trying to keep politicians out of college elections, and one a young man who wants to leave the country and cut his ties to it. The film looks at that moment on the bridge from three sides and shows how politics pulls in even someone determined to stay out of it. Ratnam shot the same story simultaneously in Hindi with a different cast. The camera work and cutting are ambitious for the period, and A. R. Rahman's music sits inside the narrative rather than beside it. The argument about political engagement and indifference lifts it past being a youth drama. Who it's for: viewers who like Mani Ratnam and politically minded Indian cinema. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a straight narrative around a single protagonist; the film keeps moving between three lines.