Starring: Vidharth, Amala Paul.
Direction: Prabhu Solomon
Music: D Imman
Production: John Max
Action adventure romances, set in jungle, are a rarity in Tamil cinema. Although nothing short of a love story, Myna comes alive luminously as it traverses through the unexplored jungles of Munnar. Myna is largely the story of jinxed lovers but it’s also about how destiny plays hide and seek with human emotions when people are thrown together by way of sheer circumstances and how it forces them to take stands.
Vidharth (Suruli) and Amala Paul (Myna) are childhood friends. Suruli is attracted to Myna and it doesn’t take long enough for him to recognize that feeling as love. They are play mates, when there is power outage and when Myna has to study in the night Suruli pedals the bicycle - with the stand on - lighting up the dynamo and shedding light in the girl’s text books. Without getting sloppy, director Prabhu Solomon’s script has such little gems, written with heart slowly building up the viewer’s expectations towards the story.
Soon enough, when Myna’s mother realizes that her little girl is in love with a mucky waster she decides to marry her off to a man with better prospects. She also lodges a complaint in the police station against Suruli for attempting to murder her and Suruli is imprisoned. As the wedding arrangements progress, Suruli jailbreaks his way to the village to claim Myna.
As the cops, Thambi Ramayya and Sethu, arrive in that far-flung mountain village to arrest Suruli, the action sets in motion many unlikely incidents. Myna, for fear of marrying the other man, decides to use that opportunity to elope with Suruli in the ensuing commotion.
With that, the movie takes the course of a speeding jet, trekking through the thickets of the jungles of Munnar encountering one humungous hurdle after the other; their jeep meets with an accident, they get chased by elephants and they lose their way in the jungle (before you question, no our cops are not equipped with that magical device called GPS as yet). In the process, the cops unsuccessfully battle with their emotions and eventually fall in love with the couple feeling for their plight. Throw in another twist of emotional imbalance in the Sethu character; it’s his thala deepavali and he has to be home before that.
As they make their way through the jungle, numerous questions arise, as to; will they make it to the civilization alive and if they did will the lovers be united, so on and so forth.
Amala Paul shows immense talent; the guileless tenderness when she puts her love on show, her strong willed conviction when she decides to choose Suruli over the arranged marriage and as a result when she is put through one hardship after the other in the hardest of terrains. Amala, as Myna, scores in every instance. Or it could be her eyes, we are not sure. It’s very easy to fall for that character and the sensible writing of Myna’s character manipulates the viewer’s emotions. So does the unpredictable climax.
The other three characters, of that of Suruli and the cops Thambi Ramayya and Sethu ebb and flow with the movie. The cast has been shown no mercy as they are roughed up by natural calamities and accidents inside the jungle. Another highlight is that the movie’s pace has been maintained throughout the running time. The narrative is blended with comical elements so as to engage the viewer and it works too. Prabhu also touches upon human right violations by the cops when they are handcuffed with suspects that restrict their actions at the will of the cops.
There are moments for Imman’s music when it impeccably complements the movie’s narrative. And it’s another benefit that his songs do not mar the flow of the narrative.
As much as it’s an intense love story, Myna is an adventure film of sorts; sometimes the adventure part outweighing the love and longing of the lovers to be together. Prabhu and cinematographer Sukumar’s conviction of using natural lighting in the cinematography is sparkling in parts. Kudos to the director – producer – distributor team for uncompromisingly believing in the movie.
Myna might not go down in the history of Tamil cinema as a love story or a story of jilted lovers. But it will, by all means, (pardon the cliché here) be remembered as a story with its heart in the right place.
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