There are movies that entertain you and then there are movies that take you for an experience of a lifetime. ‘ManjummelBoys’ written and directed by Chidambaram falls in the later category as it explores the perilous mission of a group of friends to rescue their buddy in the dangerous Guna caves in Kodaikannal in Tamilnadu.
Spoliers ahead.
Highlights
- Extraordinary sound design and background music by Sushin Shyam takes you right into the middle of action in this edge of seat thriller.
- Fantastic cinematography by Shyju Khalid literally makes you wonder how some of the scenes were shot through especially in the second half of the movie.
- Amazing crew of actors along with show stealer ‘Soubin Shahir’ have effortlessly fit into each of their roles of ‘Manjummel Boys’. Their various emotions shine through in the various frames of the movie. Incidentally Soubin Shahir has also acted in one of my favorites as well – “Ela Veezha Poonchira”.
- Phenomenal usage of ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ song (originally from ‘Guna’ movie) reference in the movie. The final part pf the rescue effort synching up with the beautiful lyrics provides ample goosebump moments.
- Finally a absolute hats-off to master writer and director ‘Chidambaram’, who has beautifully woven a cliffhanger and brought life to an amazing untold story. The sudden trauma induced chokeof crevice fallen person on his rescuer and the rescuer sniffing on lemon to alleviate the smell of the rock crevice are beautiful hidden gems in the director’s writing and screenplay effort. Sincerely hope that he can replicate this effort in many more movies to come.
Right from ‘Roja’ exploring the Kashmir issue through a family drama to ‘Enthiran’ being the first pan India movie, Tamil movies were once considered the gold standard of South Indian movies. Telugu movies with Bahubali, Kannada with KGF series and Malayalam with Dhrishyam and other fantastic movies have pulled far ahead. It is time for some serious introspection for Tamil movie industry with at least the roles of ‘story and screenplay writers’ be given their due importance.
Nevertheless, a standing ovation is due for the original ‘Manjummel Boys’ who put their life on the line to save their best friend. I have been quite lucky to be a part of our own ‘EagleRock Boys’ group and have had some wonderful memories . Do let me know in the comments about this must watch movie and about the friendship groups that you have been part of in your life.
