Makaramanju

Plot

The film tells the story of Raja Ravi Varma at a certain stage in his life. He is in the process of painting a masterpiece. The theme of his painting is Pururavas, the legendary king who fell in love with the heavenly nymph Urvashi, who later agrees to become his wife on certain conditions, but disappears without a trace when she discovers that the conditions were violated. Pururavas wanders all around to find her and ultimately does get united with his lover. Ravi Varma, during his work, finds himself attracted to his model Sugandha Bai and this relationship begin to acquire certain shades of the legend of Urvashi and Pururavas. Together they are thrown into a torrent of love and passion from which they find it difficult to scape.

Awards

International Film Festival of Kerala 2010

Kerala State Film Awards 2010

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards 2010

Vanitha Film Award 2010

1st South Indian International Movie Awards 2010

Cast

Voice dubbing

Production

Lenin Rajendran was the first to make a film on Swati Tirunal, the royal composer from Kerala. And through Makaramanju, the filmmaker pays homage to Raja Ravi Varma. The director says it is the artist's special place in Indian art that had drawn him to his life. "A few years ago, I had done a play on Ravi Varma for KPAC. During my reading and research on him, I was fascinated to know more about the man and the circumstances in which those works were created. Here was a prince who had paid a price for pursuing his passion for the arts. He faced hostility and criticism but that did not put an end to his affair with brush and paint. Cases were filed against him but he fought against the orthodoxy and won the right to express himself. I felt there was space for a movie," he explains. Instead of a biopic on the artist, the director wanted to focus on the artist at work, and chose a single work to unfold the life of the artist and the period he worked and lived in. "Although his style was European, his themes were from Indian mythology. In each of his works on the Indian Puranas, he chose a point in the story that was filled with drama and emotion. I was stuck by the sensitivity and acumen of the man who used his brush to depict those moments. That is why I felt I could understand him better if I concentrated on a work and then narrate the story of the artist's creative process," says the director.

The principal production began in October 2009. The film's set has been put up in an old bungalow known as Church bungalow on the compound of a Lutheran church, near Pallichal in Thiruvananthapuram district. The film was also shot in Kochi and Mumbai.

Music

The film's music has been composed by Ramesh Narayan. There are eight tracks in the soundtrack, with lyrics by Kavalam Narayana Panicker, K. Jayakumar and Chandran Nair.

Reviews

The film received mixed reviews from various critics. A review by Nowrunning.com writes: "Makaramanju loses grip on its material half way through, and remains an elusive piece that doesn't tug at your heart strings. Which is why, you walk out of the hall mumbling to yourself that perhaps a bit more clever scripting could have made all the difference." Rediff.com's reviewer said that the film "is watchable but you have to brush up your knowledge of mythology and history to fully appreciate it."