‘96 (Tamil) – A Stirring tale of love, loss & (still) caring!
Movie review – Warning : Spoilers inside!
I happened to watch the Tamil movie ‘96’ last week, upon the insistence of my wife. I can say that it was one of the most memorable movies I watched in recent times (well, I don’t watch movies often….)
The movie does have its share of dramatisations and exaggerations, but the movie comes out exceedingly well overall, despite not exactly having an entirely ‘realistic’ storyline.
For one, there were no ‘song and dance’ or ‘stunt’ sequence in the movie and there was no nudity or vulgarity anywhere. That itself is a commendable thing, I guess, this being a Tamil movie!
However, what I found most ‘touching’ about the movie was the realistic (well near-realistic) depiction of the love, the sense of loss and sadness of the main characters, especially so with the lead woman character, Janu (S. Janaki Devi).
The story is basically about two high school kids having a crush on each other, which they express (well, the girl expresses it better than the boy) and which they both acknowledge. Then they get separated unexpectedly and meet after 22 years at a school reunion. The guy is still a bachelor and a wanderer, the girl is married, well settled in Singapore and have a daughter.
Their conversation through the night reveals to both of them how close they had come to reuniting and how, by an unfortunate sequence of events, they ended up not meeting and not getting to live together. Janu also comes to know that, having felt rejected by her and still unable to forget her, Ram (K. Ramachandran) had kept tracking her closely till the time she got married; including him attending the wedding in a clandestine way. He literally ran away from Janu and her life, from the venue of the wedding.
Janu is heart broken, but the real world is waiting for her to return to her role of a wife and a mother. She is distraught learning that Ram lived all these years unable to forget her. She is not in a position to acknowledge and return his love now. Well, she does acknowledge, but she is unable to return the love. She has to take a return flight to Singapore and go back to her current life, leaving Ram to fend for himself.
In a heart rending per-final scene, Janu bids goodbye to Ram without saying anything but expressing the love she always had for him, which she still harbour hidden away (from her family) in some deep dark recess of her mind, with her gestures (but no, they don’t hug – anywhere in the movie!)
The final scene shows Ram tucking away the pair of dress Janu forgot in his apartment in a box, along with his school uniform, which had ink from Janu’s fountain pen spilled on it – by Janu – and closing the box (and shutting out Janu and her memories as well?)
The scene where young Janu spills ink on her classmate Ram, with both of them standing on a bridge was another adorable and touching scene in the movie. Ram and Janu already had acknowledged that they were ‘special’ to each other, different from the way all others were mere friends to them. Of course, Janu is the more outspoken and bold among the two and Ram is reserved, shy and unable to express his feelings openly, though he can very well see that Janu liked him and he also cared for her.
The final exam of 10th standard gets over and vacations are starting from the next day. Ram and Janu are not going to see each other for two months. Both are not happy about it, but both do not say anything, and quietly rode their cycles till they reached the bridge where they have to go their separate ways. Janu probably expected Ram to say something, but Ram being the meek guy he is, dares not open his mouth. It is evident from his expressions that he wants to say something to Janu and he is expecting her also to say something to him before she goes away. But Janu starts riding away, after waiting briefly and expectantly to hear a few parting words from Ram. Dejected, Ram also start riding away in his cycle, slowly, but stops mid way on the bridge. Janu returns, approaching Ram quickly on her cycle, stops near him, takes out her fountain pen, removes the cap and swings the pen couple of times over Ram, spilling the ink in trails, all over Ram. His white shirt is riddled with streaks of blue ink, with ink even staining one of his teeth. Both do not utter a single word, but your heart will melt, seeing the happiness, the glow, in both their eyes and their smiles! How so romantic, intimate, yet completely non-sensual expression of love it was! Guess Janu was probably feeling like “I want to do something to this guy” but having no clue what to do with the shy, clumsy Ram (ഇവനെ, ഈ മരങ്ങേടനെ, പിടിച്ച് എന്തെങ്കിലും ചെയ്യണമെന്നുണ്ട്, എന്നാൽ എന്താ ചെയ്യണ്ടേ എന്ന് ഒരു ഐഡിയയുമില്ലലോ ദൈവമേ….). After throwing ink on him she gives a cute smile, says nothing and rides away.
The movie is indeed an unusual one. A highly romantic film which deals with love and caring in a deep, stirring way, yet there is no trace of sensuality anywhere! This is what I call a really good movie! Don’t you dare miss it!
