What is “Mani Ratnam Romance” ?

The latest movie directed by Mani Ratnam was “Kaatru Veliyidai”. Although this movie released in 2017, this was based in late 1990s. So technically his last movie on modern relationships was “OK Kanmani” back in 2015. It is a known thing that Mani Ratnam brings out the best on-screen romance in Indian Movies. Gautam Vasudev Menon comes next.

So what is “Mani Ratnam Romance” exactly?

Although every movie looks different, his bottom-line remains the same. The woman is quite strong, calm, patient, educated, introvert, ambitious. The woman has also gone through deep emotional trauma during her childhood or early adulthood. The Man is sweetly childish, chirpy, extrovert, pampered and at times moody and emotionally vulnerable. When such personalities meet there is a lot of energy transferred between these two. It is covered extensively in his movies.

Right from the first meeting, which is usually a silly blunder or an act of charity from the Man, to which the Woman reacts in a strong way (mostly because she misunderstands him). This sort of reaction from the Woman makes quite an impression on the Man and he becomes even more chirpy and mischievous in his quest for the Woman. What follows this pursuit is a string of intensely romantic situations covered extensively through duets and everyday life scenes. One specialty of Mani Ratnam is that he does not base his songs in some honeymoon locations. He keeps it as real as possible. This has a resonating effect in our daily life.

Whenever we (men) end up waiting for a special someone we are reminded of the Man in Mani Ratnam movies. Whenever we (men) see a special someone being mentally strong and looking naturally beautiful we are reminded of the Woman in Mani Ratnam movies. Whenever we (men) have to meet the parents of someone special we are reminded of the epic scenes from Mani Ratnam movies. Even when we are laying aimlessly in front of our special someone during a casual meeting we thank Mani Ratnam (in our minds) for teaching us how to be a natural romantic!

Is the “Mani Ratnam Romance” still alive?

No!

Well, there are many reasons.

#1 reason – WhatsApp / Social media.

Half the romance is transferred on to the 5 inch screen on the top of our palm. On social media there is no silly blunder because it would be considered stalking if you bump into someone unknowingly. On social media there is no real gauge of mental strength because we all project our best face forward through hashtags and proverbs as taglines for our selfies. Expression of intense romance gets diminished to kiss smileys and heart Gifs.

#2 reason – Nobody has time

In this mad rat race for money and fame, we end up doing many things that we actually don’t want or don’t like. So there is no quality time left with anyone these days. Even if one does have time it gets lost in traffic!

#3 reason – Ample choices

We live in a fast food world now. There are ample choices for us. Right from the smartphones to hospitals to movie theaters to friends to girlfriend/boyfriends, we have a lot of options and a lot of supply. We live in an era where we are never spoilt for choices. In such a generation its very difficult to expect loyalty. Even a casual fight may result in deep separation. Having too much choice is a bane sometimes. Of course its a boon when we get dumped for a stronger/ deeper reason.

Food for thought maybe? Dump the social media chats, meet your special someone directly, take them out on a date. Feel like a Mani Ratnam Movie Man (or) Woman in 2017 again!

–Varun Mannava

#DatingCoach

#IdealPickupArtist