Modern Love Chennai - Review of one episode
I wasn't intending on doing a review of the anthology series currently on Amazon Prime. But a criticism from one of my friends about the episode ~Paravai Kootil Vaazhum Maangal which I considered to be one of the more mature of the list triggered this review.
The criticism was that it wasn't a concept of Modern Love. And that the wife was totally disregarded for the whims and fancies of a man's extramarital relationship.
My take on it: The two individuals met when they were young, fell in love and decided to get married - the reasons for why they fell in love could be manifold but the assumption here is that somewhere along the way, the man fell out of love. These things happen - probably the girl he met, fell in love with is different to the woman he sees now. He never sees her in a bad light or treats her badly. He has fallen out of love - there is a huge difference between being in love and loving someone. He loves his wife but not in love. It’s just that. Then he meets this person - the montage (during the “Yen iniya pon nilaave” song) doesn’t talk of physical intimacy or lust but a lot of conversations, interactions and discussions. Probably this is what he was missing in his life. In any case, he is now in love with this new woman. He has realised it and wants to come clean with his wife.
About the wife accepting it mutely, we never know that. She may have complained, cried, fought hard with him about separation. We are never shown this but this could (probably) be assumed. She finally surrenders to the fact that he doesn’t love her anymore and it is not worth destroying everyone’s happiness.The resolution to this is not to carry bitterness around. She is not in awe of this new woman but only want to make sure that her children do not suffer in this entire episode (this is the only reason she invited her over for dinner).
It is modern love - when you love someone you go for it. Citing Delhi Ganesh and Kishore’s discussions, he wanted to marry his wife ages ago despite any opposition. He has now fallen in love with this new woman and he wants to marry her. He doesn’t know if this is going to last - he hopes that he doesn’t fall out of love again but what he knows for sure is he is now in love now.
The wife probably loves him - again is she “in love” with him? We don’t know - she knows for sure that what she wants now is her independence to seek clarity on what she wants out of life. Her very statement that somehow she has missed out on gaining clarity about what she wants is testament to the fact that she has enveloped herself with so many things - taking care of her husband , kids, husband’s dad - that she probably lost herself in the process. She is now glad to get that break , probably not the way she would have wanted it but , a break from the rigmarole, in any case.
