99 Songs - Story, music and visuals combine to enchant
A.R. Rahman writing and producing a musical is enough to get any moviegoer into the theaters. '99 Songs', his first venture in those capacities has been made as a pan Indian flick with an intense theme and visual granduer. Whether it strikes a chord with the masses remains to be seen.
'99 Songs' is about a young man Jay (Ehan Bhat) who is lured towards music in spite of his dad forbidding him to pursue it telling him that it is the most intoxicating and destructive thing in the world. H falls in love with a mute artiste Sophia (debutante Edilsy Vargas) and her business tycoon dad (Ranjit Barod) puts out the condition that Jay should join his lucrative business. When the young man refuses, he challenges him to create 100 songs and if one of them changes the world he can have his daughter. The rest of the screenplay is whether Jay overcomes his inner and outer struggles and achieves his dual goals of music and love or not.
Debutante Ehan Bhat is quite up to the challenge of playing a role that requires varied emotions and his best is evident in the love scenes and the struggles he faces when creating his music. Latina actress Edilsy Vargas is stunningly beautiful and carries the role of Sophia effortlessly and she also has a surprise transformation that shows her in a completely different light after Jay ignores her. Tenzin Dalha shines in the key character of Jay's friend and is responsible for both the most positive and negative moments in the screenplay. The supporting cast of Manisha Koirala as the psychiatrist , music composer Ranjitt Barod as the business tycoon, Lisa Ray as the jazz queen, Rahul Ram as a musician and especially Aditya Seal as the father of the hero lend more than adequate support.
What works best in '99 Songs' is first and foremost the story written by ARR that contains heart touching elements of young love, the totally contradictory mother and father sentiments, friendship and conveys the message that music has not only the power to heal but can transcend beyond boundaries set by humans. The entire Shillong portion has a lot happening firstly there is jazz music aplenty, turmoil in the friendship between Ehan and Tenzin, then there is sexual tension between Ehan and Lisa and then it all culminates into a tragedy due to the drugs. The role of the mother of the hero who works from beyond to help him achieve his goal finally is a masterstroke in story telling. Visually there is a surreal feeling in the way the scenes are shot amplified by the background score that helps emphasize the core theme that music is indeed the most intoxicating of them all.
On the downside for the Tamil version at least one cannot overlook the fact that there is a disconnect due to lack of nativity. The love between the lead pair could have been explored more deeply so that their pain in separation could have affected the audience as well. There is also a feeling that the screenplay itself lacks depth and the emotions pass by on the surface level alone.
The biggest plus of '99 Songs' is ofcourse the Isaipuyal's enchanting songs which help to convey most of the story to the audience with special mention to the "Amma" song that is heart melting. Tanay Satam and James Cowley have created visuals with a mix of painting like effect and magic that translates on screen several of the film's themes. Akshay Mehta and Shreyas Beltangdy have given a smooth flow to the proceedings. Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy on debut has impressed in his extraction of good performances from his cast and in the experimentation visually
Verdict : Go for this musically and visually enchanting new experience with a distinct A.R. Rahman touch.
