Mayanadhi- the Mystic River

 Mayanadhi, a romantic thriller movie, setting quite a standard in its genre, released in 2017. Ashiq Abu helmed the project with Tovino Thomas and Aishwarya Lakshmi in lead roles, as Maathan and Appu respectively. The soundtracks in the movie, composed by Rex Vijayan, saw huge reception among Malayalees (Mizhiyil, sung by Shahbaz Aman, still is a constant in most of my playlists).

To me, Mayanadhi is essentially, Life, a River meant to flow on, meander, thin, surge, but never halt. The movie captures this spirit as its essence. It takes us through the parallel stories of Mathan and Appu, intersections of their life, and later a separation.

What also makes impacts are the other characters, like Sameera, played by Leona Lishoy, and Darsana, played by Darsana Rajendran. These characters bring out a dimension different from the celebrated central track of romance and passion.

Sameera and Appu portray a dichotomy, that of Endurers and Fighters. Sameera is quick to reconcile to her fate,nevertheless manages to milk the best out of her opportunities. She doesn't fight her chauvinist brother, rather complies, accepts and endures her given destiny. Appu is a polar opposite. She isn't willing to go down without a fight and her struggles as an actor is enough testament to this. Thus, Maathan is fully justified in calling her a "Fighter".

The different plots and subplots merge beautifully into the Mystic River of Life.

Maathan's and Appu's life, once happened to merge in the Mayanadhi, but certain eventualities cause Appu to bid her goodbyes and seek her own trail. Maathan is not able to let go as easily, and seeks her out in his days of desperation.

Their flows merge once again,until, another, graver turn of events force them to part ways, maybe forever.

As a viewer, this story still haunts me. The open ended climax, ending on a note of expectations (or is it false hope?), strikes a metaphorical similarity to the gesture of Living; sometimes, accepting facts needn't be the best way to live, sometimes the Hope of A hope is enough to keep you going.