Marina Movie Review

Marina Movie Review

Banner : Pasanga Productions
Cast : Shiva Karthikeyan, Oviya Helen, Jayaprakash V, Pandian, Ameer, Sasikumar, Prakash Raj, Vimal, Sneha, Vikram…
Producer : Pandiraj
Director : Pandiraj
Music : Girish
Label: Sa Re Ga Ma
Lyrics : Na Muthukumar

Indian film industry doesn’t make movies specifically for Children. Years back, Manirathnam tried his luck with Anjali and of course long before decades Shanthi Nilayam had such elements catering to the tastes of children. Not to miss Superstar Rajnikanth’s Raja Chinna Roja that had lots of entertainment factors for the young children and in fact had some message for the youth cohorts getting involved in drugs as a sub-plot.

But none of these movies had a strong and caring message for children until Pandiraj came up with Pasanga. The movie was a splendid drama laced with humor and sentiments with a commendable theme on how children can make a big change in your lives. It looks like ‘Children’ based genre movies happens to be the favorite territory of Pandiraj. And again with Marina, the director strikes the harmonious chord enlightening us with a message – Education is a must to every child and of course makes every Chennaite prouder as Chennai serves as paradise to everyone as the famous quotation goes – Vandhaarai Vaalavaikkum Chennai.

The promo song itself was more than enough to give a clear-cut perception about the movie Marina.

The movie has a very simple storyline as it traverses through the lives of 7-8 characters in the backdrops of Marina beach amongst which Ambikapathy (the child artist in supporting role in Pasanga) is the protagonist. The story moves about the way the children roaming as vagabonds in the sun-kissing beaches of Marina and their lifestyle has been delineated in an unique way while Nathan (Shiva Karthikeyan) and Sopna Sundari (Oviya) are seen as lovers in the parallel tracks of the movie.

Filmmaker Pandiraj deserves special appreciation for sketching the characterizations with more intensity. Although major portions during first half are dominated with the establishment of each character in the movie, it keeps us intact for the gripping narration of the director.

Take a walk through the sands of Marina where Bay of Bengal meets Chennai and you’ll have lots and lots of stories over there. Each person has a story to tell the gigantic waves and Pandiraj has captured some of them through his lens.

Incisively, the movie serves as a docu-drama in few places, but the humorous quotients are on its peak through the track of Shiva Karthikeyan and Oviya. Their presence keeps tickling our funny bones. Watch out for Oviya’s outburst every time Shiva addresses as Soapna Sundari and his funny acts as Leelai No.1, No.2 and so on.

On the flip side, there aren’t much factors but the narration gets stuck to a little extent during first half and second half turns preachy. However Pandiraj doesn’t spoil our moods, but instead keeps us engaged from beginning till end.

On the whole, Marina is interesting in parts and has a good message to keep the audiences connected.

Verdict: Go watch it