Mouna Raagam

A Tamil film set in India. Divya is a university student. Her family arranges a marriage for her and she accepts unwillingly. Chandrakumar is an engineer working in Delhi. Calm, courteous, and he wants this marriage. The wedding takes place. That night Divya says something. She wants a divorce. He asks why and she will not say. From there the film takes place in Delhi. Two strangers live in the same house and do not speak. Chandrakumar does not press. He gives her time and daily life goes on: meals, work, neighbours, telephone calls. Divya's past opens in flashback. She loved someone at university. Karthik was a different sort. A young man who lived in the street, got into fights, mixed in politics, and did everything for her. It ended badly and she has opened up to nobody since. What the narrative is interested in is not love but mourning: Divya is not refusing marriage; she is refusing to let go of someone she lost, and the film gives that time. Chandrakumar's line is its quiet strength. He claims nothing in any scene. A year is an agreement. Divya will stay a year and the divorce will be signed at the end of it; the narrative follows that year. The music is by Ilaiyaraaja and the album was among the most listened to of its period in Tamil cinema. This is one of the films that established Mani Ratnam; he became known in the mainstream after it. Revathi, Mohan and Karthik are in the cast. Mani Ratnam wrote and directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes Tamil cinema and quiet stories about relationships. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a fast romantic structure; the narrative moves very slowly and the first half is almost without incident.