Ramanujan Movie Review

Cast : Abhinay Vaddi, Suhasini Maniratnam, Kevin McGowan, Abbas, Bhama, Sharath Babu, Nizhalgal Ravi, Radha Ravi, YG Mahendran, Manobala and others

Cinematography : Sunny Joseph

Music : Ramesh Vinayakam

Editing : B. Lenin

Written & Directed by : Gnana Rajasekaran 

Produced by : Srivatsan Nadathur, Sushant Desai, Sharanyan Nadathur, Sindhu Rajasekaran 

Banner : Camphor Cinema

Release Date : 18-07-2014

Run Time : 02:50:00 

Though Tamil cinema has not delved deep into the territory of biopics, we have been witnessing few films on and off. In fact, the director of Ramanujan, Gnana Rajasekaran is a familiar figure in biopic arena in Kollywood. He holds an enviable repertoire, at least on paper, with two national award winning films in Bharathi and Periyar. So, it’s quite natural to expect the film to be better-than-expected. But the outcome is somewhat disheartening, to say the least.

Though Ramanujan is passably made, in the end, it looks more like an episodic series of a collection of stories taken out of record books than a continuous film. That is unfortunate and dispiriting, considering the majestic potential the story had. Undoubtedly, the life of Ramanujan is stunningly inspiring and a moving tale on paper. But, the transformation on screen could have been miles better than what it actually was.

Abhinay Vaddi, in his debut film, has delivered an excellent performance in the titular role. There is not an inkling of fear in his acting that he is essaying the role of the majestic Ramanujan. The film has a bevy of established actors including Suhasini Mani Ratnam, Radha Ravi, YG Mahendran, Sharath Babu, Mano Bala and Thalaivasal Vijay, to name a few. Everyone has chipped in with a good performance and brownie points to Suhasini for putting up a good show as Ramanujan’s mother.

The first half is an interesting concoction of scenes depicting Ramanujan’s mathematical talent. In fact, the movie opens with one such scene, where Ramanujan casually asks Delhi Ganesh what happens if a zero is divided by zero which leaves the latter perplexed. These scenes are beautifully structured and the director has given logical reasons behind the genius of Ramanujan. In the best scene of the film, Ramanujan explains to Radha Ravi the reasonale behind the symmetric V-shaped flight formation of ducks on the sky. In another scene during his childhood, he helps his neighborhood graduates on how to find the area of a quadrilateral inside a circle. These scenes will bring back memories of your childhood, but whether they are good or bad depends on your mathematics scorecards then.

The second half of the film is a big let-down. The writing appears amateurish and the continuity, bothersome. At 170 minutes, the film is evidently lengthy and one really wish Lenin had used his scissors effectively, especially in the second-half. The entire flow of the film is unhurried and sluggish, but one cannot demotivate a biopic by labeling it as slow-paced. They are bound to be so. So, make up your mind, know what you are in for before gambling. Ramesh Vinayakam’s tunes create a perfect atmosphere for the film and Narayana song is picturised so beautifully that it still lingers.

Ramanujan is a brave attempt from Gnana Rajasekaran, though it missed a golden opportunity to wrap an inspiring piece of work in a thoroughly engaging package. It’s the collective individual moments, not the payoff, that make the film worthwhile.

Ramanujan Movie Review Rating: 2.75/5

Written by Surendhar MK, 

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