Kandukondain Kandukondain

A family loses its house and income when the father dies, and the mother and three daughters move to Chennai. Sowmya, the elder, is the one who takes responsibility and keeps her balance; Meenakshi lives through poetry and grand love. The two sisters' views of love are exact opposites, and the three men they meet test that difference. Rajiv Menon adapts Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. The adaptation carries English inheritance law into the property and marriage expectations of Tamil Nadu, and adds a soldier wounded in war. Menon is also a cinematographer, which is where the film's visual richness comes from. Tabu plays Sowmya and Aishwarya Rai plays Meenakshi, with Ajith Kumar, Mammootty and Abbas completing the cast. The music is by A.R. Rahman, ranging from Carnatic music to jazz, and one song comes from a poem by Subramania Bharati. It opened on 5 May 2000. Who it's for: Viewers who like Austen adaptations, Tamil cinema around the turn of the century, and A.R. Rahman's scores. Who it's not for: It runs past two and a half hours, and the pace drops where the narrative stays tied to the novel's structure. The male characters' resolutions also come too easily.