96

96- Movie Review

"Kadhal piriyum, Kadhavukal moodamal vazhiyanapungal, kaathiringal"

(Never close your heart for love, even if it left you broken)

Have you ever had a first, innocent yet intense love story during school or college days which ended abruptly? Life and you moved on or at least pretended to do so until one day the moment to face the same old love sent butterflies fluttering in your stomach? Until that insanely beating heart brutally reminded you that only life moved on, but the intensity of that old school love is still the same and is piercing a thousand cuts through your soul?

How many times have a movie hit you as if it was completely or in parts was taken from your life? Watching 96 gave me goosebumps at points on how relatable it was.  True to the vintage and nostalgic title, 96 reaches far deep into those corners of your heart which you have pretended to have moved on from and makes you reach far into your own self.

96 is a beautiful poem picturized in the best possible way yet keeping it refreshingly real. This movie about a post-breakup love story is beyond everything that the movies have been feeding us for years. It thankfully is devoid of any melodrama just like in real life, unlike what we have been witnessing in similar genre movies like Cheran’s 2004 Autograph. There is pain, love, and frustration, but there are no pathetic aftermaths of the same. Director C. Premkumar backed up by brilliant performances by Vijay Sethupathi and Trisha Krishnan has given us a tale which is very layered and is sure to take you down the memory lane.

Ram and Janu are school friends who almost studied together until 10^th. Ram is that gentle boy that most of us might have had as a friend in school, nervous but intense. Janu, is the naïve but strong girl and an amazing singer staying true to the name her parents gave S. Janaki. Director has consciously attempted to avoid clichés and useless melodrama, which in fact can make one feel irritated and craving for it at the same time, as we are so used to it.  But given a second thought, you will immediately relate to the plot, as in reality that will be the exact way how we might react. Take it from someone who went through those exact moments.

People who run behind to create, capture and retain moments like photographers or creative people often will have few moments they cherish and carry with them close to heart. The wanderers, the lost souls often knows where exactly they belong but also realizes that they can never belong there anymore, so they keep wandering away from it. Maybe that’s why the quote says, not all wanderers are lost. Ram and Janu are lost in their own ways, where to the question of if one is happy, the answer can only be that, they are at peace. I guess that’s the beauty of being young when you have the courage to make even filmy things come true while in the adulthood even normal interactions need to be thought after. 

Happiness is lost in the bygone past and now they have managed to learn the skill of being in peace with the tiny bits of lost joy gifted back for moments, years later. A reunion, few hours of togetherness, moments you wish never ended and instances where you desperately wanted to freeze time, this movie will break your heart and mend it too.  It is with great difficulty that I am trying to review this movie without getting overwhelmed or giving out spoiler details.

Casting is simply perfect in this movie, let it be Aadithya Baaskar and Gouri G Kishan as the younger versions of Ram and Janu or Vijay and Trisha as the current versions, the supporting characters, each and everyone play their parts so well that it is impossible not to root for them. 

After Vikram Vedha, this is one movie where Vijay Sethupathi showcases his usual excellence as an actor. Let it be an intense moment of seeing his teenage love or to blush sinking his teeth into himself, he has given a superb performance. 

This is the most layered and intense role Trisha bagged after Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya and Kodi, it was a pleasure to watch her on screen performing with such an ease.

Apart from all these factors, the one quintessential factor which makes 96 such a heart-warming journey is its music by the Govind Menon, vocalist and violinist of the band Thaikkudam Bridge. He has proved himself with just this one movie that he is a Master of Music, tones and even silence. While he captivated our hearts with the surreal tracks Kadhale and Anthaathi weeks before the movie release, throughout the movie he brilliantly used music and even silence, the talent very few in the industry knows.  One will never hear a more haunting use of Nadaswaram like the one used while describing a painful moment from the past neither one would have heard such heart touching lyrics in a long while. After the haunting poem “Unnod Naan Iruntha” written by Vairamuthu sir and rendered by Aravind Swamy in Iruvar, “Kadhal”, written by Karthik Netha at the end of Anthathi song, rendered by Nasser about the importance of remaining open to the possibility of love, cut through my heart.

In short, 96 as rightfully quoted by Janu in the movie is “Pazhaya Vaasanai”, a scent from the past which will let loose a swarm of memories, some which will break your heart and some which will balm the same. 

The ‘what if’ scenario where Trisha reimagines a past which would have been so perfect if at all not for a slight misconception, or a portion where Ram made Janu’s worst fears come true where she realizes all her imaginations happened in real or the heart wrenching scene of desperation to spend a few more minutes with the one you love, 96 will remain close to my heart forever.
  

While my heart pained watching the climax, it also tried to convince me that whatever future has in store for Ram and Janaki, the memories they cherish will stay together just like it did in mine.