As I was not able to complete all important films of Mani Ratnam in one week, I decided to continue the streak with 5 or more classic Mani Ratnam films this week. Today, I decided to watch Dalapathi. Mani Ratnam's first collab with Super Star Rajnikanth. Already it excites me. Then, the cast of the film just blows my mind. It has Mammotty, Arvind Swamy, Bhanupriya, Amrish Puri, Shobana. At the usual technical team of Mani Ratnam at the helm of affairs behind the camera, I expect a work of genius now. Here's my opinion on Dalapathi:
Dalapathi is a 1991 Telugu-Tamil bilingual drama film starring Rajnikanth, Mammotty, Arvind Swami in the lead roles. It is directed by Mani Ratnam. The story revolves around two plots. One is about a woman who bears a child at the age of 14 and leaves him in the train. Another us about Surya, a rebel who fights for the rights of poor and joins forces with Deva to form an alliance worth a while. Is there a connection between the two stories? Find out after watching the film.
The screenplay is very well written. It combines many elements. The rebel fighter for the poor who joins force with a rowdy to change him into a saviour. Then, they become best friends forever. He falls in love but due to circumstances, she marries the newly-appointed collector of the town. The collector himself has committed himself to catch these guys to control the violence in the city. There is another storyline happening behind. A women who is pregnant at 14 leaves her just born child in a goods train. Then, she marries another man but cannot forget the grave mistake she had done and waits until his son comes. The collector is in fact the son of the mother who left him. When both stories come together, thunder strikes and this film becomes gold. The heart and core of the film is as strong as a rock. So, whatever happens around it like the sincere friendship between Deva and Surya, the love story between Deva and Subbalaxmi, the fight of justice and injustice, the family of the mother and the hero's struggle between two of his strongest supports, his mother and his best friend. All feel real and we instantly connect to it. The best part of the film is the introduction of the film. It really set the tone of the film and gets us ready for an emotional ride. If we really analyse the film deeply, we find some really tiny missing bits like the immediate recovery of Deva after a gruesome attack on him. But, it is some high class writing by Mani Ratnam and team.
This film presents itself as an acting masterclass. For once after so many years, I have seen a Rajnikanth who keeps aside his ultimate swagger and lives his character. This is one of his finest performances till date. You have to see that scene where he discovers his mother. You have to see how he literally makes our eyes wet. What else can be said about Mammotty? He is a proven actor then and now. That is why he is one of the pillars of Malayalam cinema. In this film too, he just plays the role effortlessly. His scenes with Rajnikanth are some of the best scenes of the film. Like 2 eyes are not enough to experience such stuff. In his first film role, Arvind Swamy gives a very strong performance. Although a smaller role to play, he really brought his role to life with some solid acting. While Shobana looks gorgeous and delivers a very charming performance, it is Bhanupriya who gets a very challenging role and she performs excellently. She just has 1-2 dialogues in the film. That means she really acted with her eyes and it is a remarkable achievement. Amrish Puri shows up for 3-4 scenes in the film and he gives the quintessential Amrish Puri villain performance. The usual artists in a Mani Ratnam film like Kitty, Pradeep Shakti and others give their best in the film even though they get minutes of screen time.
The technical aspects of the film are very good. The cinematography by Santhosh Sivan is very good. The best shots of the film have Surya and the Sun together. In pivotal scenes of the film, the frames are arranged in such a way that Surya and the setting sun are aligned to each other and those frames are very good. This film was meant to be slow for its time but the editing should have removed some smaller bits of the film to really tighten things up. The music by Ilayaraaja is as usual very good. The songs in the film have the usual Maestro touch with all his experiments with Carnatic music. The best song in the film is the introduction song. It literally gives you goosebumps. The art direction, make-up department, costume design and all the other crafts do their jobs well.
Overall, this film is a must watch for Thalaiva fans, Mani Ratnam fans and film lovers in general. It comes right in the top 3 of the best Mani Ratnam films for me. It is available on Amazon Prime Video. Go have a look.
IMDb Rating : 8.5/10
My Rating : 9/10
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