Madras Pattinam

18.07.2010

Madrasa Pattinam

This is a sickly sweet romance from the Kalpathi stables that merits watching. The story is a flash back of a love affair between an English Girl who comes to Madrasa Pattinam just before India attains Independence. In fact the climax scene is on the eve of Independence when the British are slowly walking out.

The story follows the well explored English Lady Meets Country Lout formula of Lagaan and Nadodi Thenral and so on. There are also fleeting resemblances to the Ivory Merchant Production of Ruth Prawer Jabhwala’s “Heat and Dust.” People who have read E M Forester’s “Passage to India” may also see comparisons. At least its not a case of “The Empire Striking Back.” Quite the opposite as we follow the hapless old lady’s travails in trying to locate her long lost beau.

The scenes of Old Madras are bewitching and it is this aspect of the movie that takes it above the normal. The recreation of the settings of Mount Road, Central Station and Spencers would produce nostalgia. The bridge on the Cooum with the imposing Central Station in the back drop while boats ply up and down sluggish river truly transport us back to this bygone era of elegance intertwined with arrogance and brutality.

The plot is tight and the last scene is apt. As the lady dies here she reenters the old Madrasapattinam where her lover awaits her return. This scene have gained more weight if they had played the “Vaamma Duraiamma…” song as she enters the shot.

The song immediately after the interval could have been avoided. Similarly ignoring or downplaying the role of freedom fighters in obtaining Independence could have been avoided. But the director has rightly decided to merely usethe Freedom Struggle as a broader canvass on which to paint in more detail the lives of the ordinary people who rely on the British for their livelihood.

As we walk out we long wistfully for those days when Chennai was Madrasa Pattinam. Will this longing be sufficient to bring about a cleaning up of the Cooum and its environs so that we can once again ride on a Thoni down the Adyar Creek or up the Buckingham Canal?