​Is Mani Ratnam Unhappy With The Remake Of His Film?

Kapoor & ‘Sins’….Aditya-Shradha Lack The Chemistry Of  Dulquer-Nithya From The Original

Mani Ratnam who has allowed his favourite protégé Shaad Ali the right to remake his last Tamil hit Ok Kadhal Kanmani was apparently keen to have the orginal lead pair Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen in the Hindi remake.

Watching the trailer of the Hindi remake, going by the trite and corny title  of  Ok JaanuI could understand why Mani chose whom he did in the original film. Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shradha Kapoor as a live-in couple,or as a living-in-sin couple,look like two teenagers caught with their hands in a cookie jar with their pants falling to the ground.

The man catching them red-handed is Naseeruddin Shah who plays the landlord with a  wife who suffers from Alzeihmer’s.Strangely,the Hindi remake drops Prakash Raj who was excellent in the Tamil original as the landlord, and casts Naseeruddin Shah . But former censorboard chairperson Leela Samson is retained as the landlord’s absent-minded wife.

A R Rahman’s songs from the original are also retained. This is in keeping with the pattern of Shaad Ali’s remake of his mentor Mani Ratnam’s Saathiya. But while Rahman’s melodies from Saathiya were eminently transferable and adaptable the songs in Ok Jaanu sound like Tamilian mongrel melodies masquerading as modern music.

Aiye yai yo, dude!

The cinematography which was handled with masterly astuteness by the legendary  P C Sreeram in the original seems to have been ably taken over by Ravi Chandran in the remake. Chandran captures the couple’s mutual passion amidst the bustle of the Mumbai metropolis.

The film LOOKS right. But doesn’t quite feel right in the trailer.

The main problem, as far one can see in the trailer,is the absence of  temperance in the lead pair’s mutual affection. They have their hands mouth feet and tongue all over each other , and they think living in together is some  kind of an adventure instead of a way of life for a certain section of youngsters.

“Kya hum theek kar rahen hain?” Shradha coyly asks Aditya .

“Ghor paap kar rahen hain. Lekin baar-baar karne se yeh paap dhul jata hain,” grins Roy Kapoor as he mounts his co-star hungrily.

The above dialogue could well apply to all the Mani Ratnam films that have been clumsily remade into  Hindi. One hopes Ok Jaanu does not go the Dayaavan(remake of Ratnam’s Nayakan) way.