An ode to Ye Maaya Chesave!

It is often said that good cinema is a conversation between a movie and its viewers. It can not only transcend you to another world, but also leave its imprints when you are back to reality. Some movies become bed-time stories for kids, while some become vehicles for fans to rever their ‘stars’. Yet, there are some movies which have a calming and soothing effect on you. Commonly referred as ‘feel-good’ cinema (never really understood the origin of it!?), every cinephile has a set of movies that they keep going back to, probably to ‘feel good’ and cleanse the fatigue caused by life (and watching a variety of other cinema). Simply put, it’s the ‘reset button’ that restores you to ‘default settings’.

In my long list of favourites, Gautham Menon’s Ye Maaya Chesave (YMC) comes right at the top. After a long & tiring day at work, give me A R Rahman’s melancholy-filled beautiful soundtrack and the raw chemistry between the naïve and new, Samantha and Naga Chaitanya, and you have me sorted! If one isn’t a sucker for slow-burning love stories, YMC may seem slow and insipid. But, if one is patient with this movie, it most certainly grows on you.

YMC came out in 2010, when I wasn’t clued in enough about Telugu movies. Bollywood was Bae then. On a lazy afternoon with nothing better to do, I decided to watch YMC only because I saw A R Rahman’s name on the poster. Mind you, this was the 8^th or 9^th week after its release and I hadn’t even heard a single song or seen its trailer. It was a noon show in an almost empty screen at Cine Planet, Kompally, Hyderabad (I reckon it has become Asian Cinemas now). The fact that I had zero expectations helped YMC take over me completely over the next two and half hours.

Rahman’s magic begins with the soothing instrumental version of Hosaana, played along with the opening credits. After meandering through the backwaters of Alleppey, we are taken to a church where the leads are introduced to us in the backdrop of a wedding. A young boy (Naga Chaitanya) in the guests begins with the movie with a question that essentially becomes the recurring question (for the viewers as well) – Prapancham lo inta mandi ammayilu undaga, nenu Jessie (Samantha Akkineni) ne enduku preminchanu? Aah! The wails of a broken heart! It is quite clever of Gautam Menon (also the writer) to set the theme right in the first scene itself. Because the rest of the movie revolves around you trying to decipher and decode Jessie.

We are quickly taken back in time. Karthik (Naga Chaitanya) is a mechanical engineer with keen interest in film-making. While trying his luck in the films, he falls for his Christian Malayali landlord’s daughter, Jessie. Jessie, two years older than Karthik, is an obedient daughter who wears cotton sarees to work and is raised in a family that considers movie-watching a sin! But, fate makes Karthik fall for Jessie in the first sight itself! But you cannot blame him. The stunning cinematography by Manoj Paramahamsa can make anyone fall in love with the beautiful girl walking awkwardly in a blue cotton saree. Just like Karthik, even the viewers are in trance and A R Rahman’s soulful music only pushes one further into it. Very few contemporary directors (other than the late Yash Chopra) romanticize the beauty of their heroines the way Gautham Menon does. Jessie is one such epitome of beauty and grace.

Along with the opposing the couple, Gautham Menon layers YMC with a highly confused and complex character, that of Jessie. Her stoic and unaffected face acts as a perfect façade for her internal turmoil. While she likes Karthik, she cannot admit it fearing the wrath of her domineering father. She first rejects Karthik, berates him, walks out on him. But then, she also breaks her wedding and feistily admits her love. A moment she appears calm & patient and the next moment she impulsively breaks up with Karthik. None of this makes her look demented. She is a victim of her circumstances and ends up messing up two lives – hers and Karthik’s. You root for them when Shreya Ghoshal mellifluously sings ‘Vintunava’ and we see Jessie & Karthik unite. You root for them harder when a sinful ‘Aaromale’ plays to the backdrop of their separation and estrangement.

The makers deserve a pat on their back for writing such a layered character and then trusting a complete newcomer with it. It is an undeniable fact that the fresh leads appear unbaked in their skills as actors. While many may disagree with me, I think their raw chemistry and unpolished acting skills add to the depth of their characters – they are two young and confused people torn by love.  

Another reason why the movie worked for me is that it ended on a positive note. For such a melancholic story of love and separation, when the estranged lovers meet in Central Park, New York, you can’t help but root for them! Speaking of which, the sequence between the two in Central Park is one of the best scenes in the movie. (I know the dialogues of this scene by heart!). The shock to see your beloved after a sudden separation and then the small talk to break the ice is captured brilliantly! The vastness of Central Park complements their palpable sexual tension. When an impulsive Jessie agrees to marry Karthik, almost as impulsively as she breaks up with him over a text, one tends to forgive her! This high that the viewers get at the end is a perfect reward for staying through their love story. Fortunately, Gautham Menon altered the sad end from the Tamil original and am glad he did!

I write this as I watch Yem Maaya Chesaave for the millionth time. After a long day at work, on the eve of Gautham Menon’s next release, Enai Noki Paayum Thota, I want to reset myself with this ‘feel-good’ movie.