Maamannan was a recent Mari selvaraj movie which hit the theatres and personally wanted to pen my thoughts on the movie. Mari's previous flick was Karnan and I will never forget watching Karnan on a packed 850+ audience during the opening weekend. Some things in life I would like to experience the way I wanted to, ex: I always have muttai parotta on road side shops when it is served hot rather than having it at a fine dine AC restaurant, same way movies like Karnan I wanted to watch amongst the fans in the first 10 rows. Corona was at its peak and Minu was mad at me watching a movie and that too packed audience but my love towards Cinema especially good movies made me book Karnan as I felt it was one of those movies you need to watch with lower strata of society rather than watching it in Prime leaning on a recliner sofa. Same way I booked Maamannan and my boys are huge fans of Vadivelu and took them also.
Watching Mari's earlier films like Pariyerum perumal and Karnan I was able to sense mood of the movie. I strongly feel Mari selvaraj has been victim of Caste discrimination in his childwood otherwise time and again he will not deal into the same subject. Pain is one word you need to experience as you cannot express pain through words. Mari's pain, frustration and ways he took to overcome the challenges are reflected through his characterizations. story, screenplay etc., Personally I have been victim of Immigration system and I have lots of pain which I will not be available to express through mere wordings. Having two fancy offers with Deloitte and Cognizant on Consulting roles and not being able to translate offers to Employment because the way Immigration system functions was frustrating; On top of that when your spouse graduates from a reputed institution such as George Washington and you spending 79000 USD on tuition fees graduating with top grades still when the Immigration system doesn't support you, trust me that pain will linger for a very long time ......Though I have come a long way and coming to realize the real purpose of me coming to where I belong I cannot hide the fact what the hell I had to go through in 2017. If I didn't adopt religious measures I would have gone in deep depression .....I am bringing my personal life into the equation because unless you 'relate' to what is told on screen you will not be able to understand the content ....Mari selvaraj without any iota of doubt has seriously been hurt, frustrated, pained by his past experiences on Caste oppression ....
Now let me get into the Movie ...Mari was very clever in choosing Salem as the backdrop as Salem is one area which is considered to be AIADMK belt and DMK desperately targeting Salem before next state elections. From casting perspective you couldn't find a better match than Vadivelu sir for the Maamannan character ..The scene where he complaints to MLA to take action against the men who claimed innocent lives was one of the best scenes from acting perspective. Vadivelu's hesitation to take a seat before Fahad was another class act from Vadivelu and Vadivelu has basically lived the character. Now Mari Selvaraj took this movie based on Dhanapal, staunch AIADMK loyalist. By roping in Udhayanidhi to produce and act was a masterstroke not in terms of casting but he knows DMK party men will flock the theatres because Udhayanidhi is acting in it and AIADMK partymen will flock the theatres because the real Maamannan was Dhanapal of AIADMK. So in a way this is a very clever act by Mari selvaraj.
Dhanapal in the year 2001 got call from JJ mam and he rushed to Poes Gardens. JJ was asking about his constituency and overall activities and enquired why he was rude by not offering food even to partymen. Dhanapal broke down and said to JJ because he was from Arunthathiyar community which is considered one of the scheduled caste community partymen refused to have food in his house. JJ realizing this asked him to work towards Victory in Sangagiri constituency and once AIADMK won the election JJ announced to the world that Mr.Dhanapal will be the Food minister in her cabinet. People who refused to have food in his house and now the whole state will have food based on his orders. JJ mam had her actions speak. Now after some time people from other community still wanted Arunthathiyar community not to grow and flourish and targeted Dhanapal because his rise gave new reputation to the whole community. JJ mam once again noted down this and once AIADMK won the elections in 2011 she appointed Dhanapal as the speaker of the assembly hall where all 234 ministers including Chief minister has to greet the speaker with folded arms. They say action speaks louder than words and JJ mam was a classic example of making her actions speak. For people who are wondering whether caste based fights happen then please refer to recent nasty Manipur incidents which is all based on caste discrimination and caste oppression.
So Maamannan was based on a true story informing all are equal. Also this was one movie I took our full time Maid along with us as I clearly informed by Boys that we will have to practice what we preach. Though movie may be average to a common audience I enjoyed watching as I was able to relate to the pain of Mari selvaraj.
