previously published on Asian Movie Pulse
Statistics
say that roughly 7% of the population of Malaysia, 1.9 million
people, are of Tamil origins. Community that big must be dynamic and
is somewhat integrated to the society, although its cultural
representation could be wider. "Metro Maalai", the debut
feature written and directed by Haran Kaveri and Shobaan,
revolves around a hint of romance between a Malaysian Tamil man and
Indian Tamil woman in Kuala Lumpur. We got it through our Submit Your
Film program.
"Metro
Maalai" is structured in chapters, chronicling the romance
between the anonymous guitarist (first-timer Satish Kumar) and
a married woman Nithya (Punitah Shanmugam). First two chapters
serve as an introduction where we meet our characters and their daily
life routines. The guitarist is recovering from a painful break-up
from his girlfriend, trying to land as much gigs as possible in
precarious work conditions to survive the harsh economy, but also the
loneliness. On the other side, we have Nithya, a bored housewife who
feels lonely in her marriage with workaholic businessman Jay who does
not care much about her needs and feelings. Unlike the guitarist's
precarious living conditions, hers could be described as financially
stable, but the detail of a caged parrot in her modern and tastefully
decorated apartment serves as an on-the-nose metaphor to remind the
viewers that Nithya strives for freedom she cannot achieve.
Their
meet-cute moment happens around the 35 minute mark after one of his
gigs in the bar and the two hit off really well over the course of
dinner and a long walk along the river bank. She keeps visiting his
gigs and the two spend more and more time together. But Nithya is
conflicted between her cosy life and the new passion she finds in the
man whose name she does not know. And her husband's job opportunity
might take her far away, all the way to Germany.
The
amateur approach of both writer-directors is obvious right from the
start and the introductory title card where they thank the universe.
The trouble is that the romance never gets past the superficial level
because we never learn much more about the characters outside the
most general data about their cultures and class affiliations.
Unfortunately, the duo does not get deep enough into it to make
something out of it, so the motivation of the female character is
shaky at best. In the end she comes out as yet another woman who does
not know what she wants in life, and he as a victim of her hesitancy.
Acting
is probably the best thing in the film, since Kumar is quite natural
in his role (as it can be the case with non-professional actors), and
Shanmugam works her best with a roughly drawn character, usually
avoiding the contraptions of over-acting. The two even show some
chemistry, which is a success in a screenplay that plays too safe
from page one on.
The
directing solutions also seem a bit random, and they rarely work,
which is obvious with the succession of hand-held and static shots.
Fortunately, the duo was lucky enough to hit the right tone and
emotion at certain places, like when they employ abrupt cuts, for
which the editor Gogularaajan Rajendran should be commended,
in the scene of the couple's first dinner together and the subsequent
scene of their walk filmed in one long take, giving the sense of real
time and channelling the energy of Richard Linklater's "Before
Sunrise".
The
cinematography by David Yanez can be attractive, especially in
some of the aerial shots of urban vistas, but those situational shots
are few and far between. Kaber Vasuki's music, combining the
acoustic guitar occasionally with electronic beat is not problematic
per se, but is overused throughout the film, while the sound design
is so obviously artificial that it seems completely fake, making
"Metro Maalai" more a rough sketch than a proper movie
experience.
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