Which is a trend setter? Anything that successfully tries something really new could be termed as a trend setter. Mysskin's second venture 'Anjathey', with many successful and effective experiments can be hailed as a trend setter of sorts.
Director Mysskin proved his talents as a distinctive filmmaker in his maiden venture 'Chithiram Pesuthadi' itself. His visual sense, capacity to create powerful characters, musical sense, writing a script that has twists without cheap sensation, and extracting excellent performances were evident in 'Chithiram Pesuthadi'. The success of the movie has obviously given him confident to go for more intense and powerful narrative with many new attempts in his next venture 'Anjathey'.
The first scene itself ' which opens with the blue sky and comes down to a playground ' tells you that you are about to get a unique experience in terms of visuals. Later, a whole scene narrated through low angle shots with very minimal dialogues, proves the point beyond doubt.
Apart from the visuals, if you look at the characterization and the script, you could feel the difference. The portrayal of the friends and their family indicates that this is not your run-of-the-mill stuff that is dolled out in Kollywood day in and day out. The characterization of everyone, including the supporting characters like Kuruvi, has been consistent through out the film.
The twist in the tale in the initial reels ' the reversal of fortunes of the friends ' promises a lot and elevates the film to a new height. The investigation process is well conceived and executed.
Mysskin has got everything right - cinematography, music, cast (who else could have imagined Prasanna and Pandiyarajan in such roles?), and above all, script. A careful look at the movie could reveal that the director has taken adequate care to establish what he wanted to tell. Narain's dollar that makes Ajmal feel for his mistakes in the climax doesn't come as a surprise to the audience. The director hasn't cheated the audience by hiding the dollar from their eyes. It is shown when Narain removes his shirt to help the girl left on the road to cover her body.
This is just a sample. There are many such fine aspects that make the audience feel satisfied. Mysskin has shown respect for his audience by his brilliant narrative style that avoids explanations and melodrama.
It has been once again proved that you don't need skin show of fair skinned and curvaceous girls to woo the audience. It has shown that you don't need to make the audience laugh by cutting cheap jokes. It has also proved that you could impress the audience without any gimmicks.
'Anjathey' has intensity. It has a message but it is not a chocolate coated. We can even say that 'Anjathey', with all these things, is a trend setter.
It is heartening that such movie being received well not only by the critics but also by the masses. The success, one could hope, might encourage many filmmakers to come out with meaningful efforts on celluloid.
