I admit, I am a sucker for films about everything romance-related. Unrequited love – star-crossed lovers – happy endings, you name it, and I'm there. Just the other day, I wallowed for hours after watching Vittorio de Sica's “Sunflower” (1970), a heart wrenching film about a couple learning how to move on after being torn apart by war. There's a delicacy that comes with romantic dramas; they are universal, yet they are individual; they are familiar, yet they are emotionally immersive all the same.Â
Tamil-language short film “Will I See You Again (Marumurai Kanbena),” however, simply misses the mark. This twelve-minute short condenses the story of Megha (Yukashridevi) and Kathir (Ajay Sarvess) who – by some weird play of fate – run into each other twice over an anonymous phone line. Little do they know, however, that they had also run into each other in real life — and Kathir had already fallen heads over heels for her. It is only a matter of time until fate ties the final knot, and draws them together – until Megha's ex walks into the picture.
There's obviously an element here that draws upon blockbuster romance dramas. The emphasis on anonymous dialogue is reminiscent of “Sleepless in Seattle”; the ideas of fated-to-be lovers is almost like Linklater's “Before Sunset” trilogy. Unlike the smooth conversations of insightful dialogue however, Megha and Kathir are more akin to puppets memorizing long blocks of text. They don't act, they simply seem to talk on camera. Even the camera seems unsure of what angle to capture. As the camera shifts from one side of the gate to another as if in implicit recognition that, well, the visual is boring. There is nothing to see in these two's self-absorbed ramblings.
Yukashridevi and Sarvess are less to blame, however, than the film's very crux: Kamal Ashinni Ramakrishnan's dragging script. One pities the actors, for they seem to be reciting from a Google-edited document where no one double-checked the script for continuity. There is no level of depth in the script; Kathir's own recollection of being awestruck almost feels like the musings of a middle school boy. It is truly a boon that the film does not exceed 12 minutes. For what could have been an epic drama of lovelorn promises and mutual yearning, the film simply flails around in its shallow dabble into the depths of a romantic drama.Â
This is not even to mention the extraneous timelapse visuals (are they stock footage?) and the film's overall lack of clarity. For a low-budget film on the beauty of serendipity, Khesshen's latest is a flop. The film may ask in title, “Will I See You Again?” – and the answer for myself is, most definitely not.
