Cast: Kishen Das, Meetha Raghunath, Harish Kumar, Amritha Mandarine
Music: Darbuka Siva
Direction: Darbuka Siva
Mudhal Nee Mudivum Nee (MNMN) is the debut film from Darbuka Siva, the music director of the amazing ‘Maaruvarthai’ song from Enai Noki Paayum Thotta. A lyric of the song becomes the title of this film. The film’s initial half is set in the late 90s where we follow the lives of a bunch of school teenagers. Vinoth (Kishen Das), his girlfriend Rekha (Meetha Raghunath), Chinese (Harish Kumar) and a few other characters are in their high school.
As the film starts, we see all the characters and their stories. It doesn’t follow only the lead pair, Vinoth-Rekha. As a character rightly tells Vinoth, “Enna nee hero and naangalam hero friends ah? Nothing like that” (Are you hero? And we are your friends? Nothing like that). It was quite refreshing to follow all the characters. But in the second half, the focus is much on Vinoth’s character. That inconsistency made the emotions flat.
The film’s tone is breezy and writing’s dependence on nostalgia of school memories and the 90s period memories makes the film a pleasure to watch. The nostalgia factor works big time. Each character has some unique traits and leaves a lasting impact. Chinese was such a hilarious character. The casting is perfect and one of the main reasons for the film to work.
One more reason for the film being less emotions is due to lack of strong core conflict. The core conflict is between Vinoth and Rekha, but it’s treated in a gimmicky way with the director’s cameo as cupid. Though it added a bit of quirkiness, it did not pan out effectively. Darbuka Siva’s music adds a lot of life to the film and the nostalgia makes this a pleasurable watch.
Verdict: Effective casting, great music & huge nostalgia makes MNMN a pleasurable watch
Cinephile's Amigo 
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