MANJA PAI MOVIE REVIEW

Manja Pai is a crude term that refers to rural migrants arriving to take on the big city. While there was an opportunity for director N. Raghavan to present them as is, focusing on their ability to adapt, the director resorts to stereotypes instead, not just with these sons of the soil, but also with city dwellers. This may evoke sympathy but its certainly far from a confidence building measure for other ‘old school’ migrants.

Vemal plays Tamizh, a small town boy raised solely by his grandfather ‘Thatha’ Venkatsamy (Rajkiran), with a singular desire of settling down in the U.S. But his new found love interest in Karthika (Lakshmi Menon) somewhat distracts the dutiful professional early on in the film.

The first half is sequenced with the intention to build on the love between Tamizh and Karthika. This is attempted with sufficient doses of comedy injected into the scenes, which are fairly generic. The director’s plan to use octogenarians in comedy scenes and in songs as dancers appears as a sign of what’s in store for the rest of the film.

The film plays out not unlike a triangular romance with Thatha’s overbearing love for his grandson, and virtually everyone else around, that eats into Karthika’s affection towards Tamizh. Quite expectedly Tamizh, who is sandwiched between this saccharine soaked endearment, must decide between the two while still trying to pursue his foreign dreams. There are times, as an audience, you wish he was just left alone to carry on with his own life.

As far as performances go, Rajkiran looks the part and plays it according to the director's vision. He's extremely caring and also equally unintelligible. If you can relate to his shenanigans then you would find yourself more invested in what the director aims to message. The slowly building climax brings out emotionally strong performances from Rajkiran and Vemal.
 
Deva’s editing offers a steady flow of the proceedings that last around 130 minutes. NR Raghunanthan’s efforts with the songs are commendable but his emotionally heavy re-recording feels too much along with the scenes where the sentiment is already forced upon us.