Mouna Ragam (1986) User Reviews (20)

Ahead of its times

[vanaja_raja · 8/10 · 21 May 2006]

Mouna Ragam is definitely one of the better and more subtle movies of Tamil Cinema. Mouna Ragam deals with the story of lost love and arranged marriages. Revathi's character is the typical south Indian daughter who silently rebels against her family by falling in love with Karthik. Unfortunately fate does not bring them together and she finds herself married to the soft spoken Mohan.

The second half of the movie deals with Revathis contempt against her husband and her struggle to come to terms with her marriage. The scene where she particularly rejects her husbands advances and likens it to an insects crawl and the hurt he displays in his face was quite wonderfully done. The movie shows how her feelings metamorph from the passionate and reckless young love that she shares with Karthik to the soft and more mature love that she feels for her Mohan. A really nice movie and one of the classics of tamil cinema.

excellent, mind-blowing.

[ebblish · 9/10 · 25 January 2006]

this is one of maniratnam's best movie. the role played by all the characters in the movie is perfect, because it has been given to the right persons. the story perfectly reflects the conservatism of Indian society. revathi is perfect in her role and her acting perfectly reflects the agony she is going through. mohan gives his best performance as a perfect husband. the cameo played by karthic is excellent.music given by illayaraja is perfect for the storyline of the movie. p.c.sreeram's photography is perfect for the movie. this is movie to be watched by all age group and this is a perfect family movie.clearly this is one of the best family movie ever made.

Mani Ratnam Zindabad !!

[hguy1 · 8/10 · 5 October 2018]

This was my first Mani Ratnam movie and it left a lasting impression on me. Though this is an out-and-out Karthik movie, we cannot discount Murli's performance. Murli had to underplay the role. Karthik came as a tsunami and left leaving a wreck of emotions behind. Revathi bearing the most.

There is one scene in the movie that I can never forget. Revathi tell her husband not to touch her because it feels like caterpillar walking on her skin.

A timeless classic

[Cajun_Blues · 10/10 · 30 January 2001]

Mani Ratnam has made so many great films(Nayakan, Agni Natchathiram, Roja, Bombay, etc.,.) over the years. But this masterpiece is what put him in the limelight. Mouna Raagam is a perfect example on how a Indian movie should be made. Along with Roja, I believe that Mouna Raagam is Ratnam's best movie. Mohan and Revathi give brilliant heartfelt performances. Some of their scenes will really make you feel what they're feeling. As great as Mohan and Revathi were, Karthik was the real star of Mouna Raagam. He's on-screen for about 25 minutes and what you see is simply a revelation. His defiant ways, his playful antics towards Revathi will make one wonder why he wasn't in the movie longer. Illyaraja's music is absolutely brilliant, but special mention must go to his BGM. The BGM used in several scenes(especially the Karthik-Revathi scenes)is one of Raja's all-time best.

P.C. Sriram's photography is just the icing on the cake. Mouna Raagam won several national awards, including best film, in 1986. I believe it deserved all the awards it got. A real tamil classic.

maniratnam's best

[m_madhu · 10/10 · 27 September 2001]

maniratnam is hailed universally as a great film-maker with a unique style. although i am not a great fan of his, this movie i think was his best - even ahead of roja.

mouna ragam is a tender movie that pulls at the heartstrings, revathi - in one of her best ever roles - absoluitely steals the show. maniratnam handles the complex relationship between the husband and wife beautifully. kartik as the wife's ex-lover scintillates in his cameo.

the capacity of the human heart to love, its wont to love more than one person is tenderly shown, revathi's reluctance to love her husband and how she slowly changes heart but refuses to acknowledge it are what makes the movie a delight to watch. a movie that can and should ne seen many times over.

this is a tru classic that deserves a full 10.

Make yourself Ready for the adventure Of arranged marriage 🤗

[dinija-65209 · 10/10 · 13 June 2020]

The movie revolves around initially with a Forced arrange marriage b/w Matured guy and a childish lady !! Where the Guy liked her at the first sight, but our heroine is not ready for this marriage. But to compromise family she anyway marry and flew to North India with her husband ! Situations dont favour our heroine,where her only demand is divorce . Hero tries various ways to win her, but she stays away and finally reveals a Heartbroke she had in the past, which is super narrated in crispy way , The duo enjoyed and are about to do register marriage,but unluck favour, Her lover who is also a social activist, gets accused and on their marriage day,lover gets gun shot by police and leaves his life. So , our heroine narrated her story to her husband,then he realises her love. But still he loves her deep down. The movie also has some classic comedies , which is famous and all time favourite. So , they roam about Agra and give some time to spend time.But still heroine needs divorce. So our hero decides to give divorce notice to fulfil her wish. All of a sudden, hero gets attacked by his ex office members and he will be severely bleeding . Our heroine shows her identity as she is the wife of the dying person, which will be portrayed in a very sensitive touch . Then she start to take care of him, once her parents visit them, he shows some disrespect to her parents . When our heroine aask reason for his act, he admits that they should understand that this divorce should be mutual. So our heroine feels guilt on this . Then the final days arrives , they are about to be seperated , where heroine is about to leave her husband and settle with her parents. !!! As always , a happy ending is all we want , our hero runs a long way. Our heroine Pull the train chain and stop the train. A happy ending scene where our hero lifts our heroine to take her back to home, ending in a Note where the two rails gets joined. 💞

A beautiful story of love with nice music

[eguru · 26 August 1999]

A true Mani Ratnam classic. In a world where people walk away from relationships the moment there are signs of trouble this movie shows that love and commitment are rewarded. If you care to look under the surface, this movie explains how and why marriages in conservative societies last even though people are brought together by fortune rather than by a liking for each other.

The characters in the movie are powerful and well supported by the cast. Ilayaraja shows why he was the king of Indian movie music with some lovely and captivating music.

Recently bought the DVD and watched it 5 times already

[paddy-raghunathan · 10/10 · 13 January 2011]

What kind of a love story would possibly be there in an arranged marriage? And yet, that is what the female protagonist finds out...that she can actually fall in love with a man she has been forced to marry in spite of all her misgivings.

What you will see is a beautiful love story that depicts how men are from Mars, women are from Venus, but in the end they need to communicate. A story that shows no matter how a man and woman meet, no marriage can last if it is not borne out of mutual respect, love, and understanding for each other.

Ilayaraja uses a simple tune in almost every frame (except songs) as the background score, but varies it using different instruments and scales to convey the various moods and passions.

Absolutely Maniratnam's best movie, and Revathy's finest performance. Enjoy again, and again, and again. Everything about this movie is special, and the songs are outstanding as well.

Mani Rathnam's greatest film to date

[Anil_Kumar · 10/10 · 12 December 2002]

A movie which made Mani Ratnam a household name in Tamil nadu, which tells the simple story between a husband and a wife. Mani Ratnam has tackled some major issues over the past 10-13 years or so from terrorism (Roja, Bombay) to politics (Iruvar), to melodrama (Idayathai Thirudathi, Anjali) and thrillers (Thiruda Thiruda). It's funny how this simple yet complex story still remains his best to date. As aforementioned, the story tells of a troubled marriage between Mohan and Revathi - as Revathi was in love with her boyfriend, Karthik. I won't go in too much detail, but this film, in my sincere opinion, was the best film of the 1980's.

Mani Ratnam doesn't make the camera the star of the movie here unlike he has done with his future films - which fools the audience into thinking they're watching a good movie. (ex: Iruvar, Dil Se). Instead, he goes straight for the screenplay and characterization and etches out some of the best characters in tamil cinema. Mohan, one of the most popular stars of the 80s, comes through with a decent performance - very subtle unlike his other films. Revathi, the star of the show, gives quite possible her best performance in a tamil movie. The anger she shows against Mohan and the playful emotion she shows with Karthik, will make you wonder why she didn't win a national award for this film. Karthik, in what can called one of the greatest supporting performances, gives life to his extremely likable character and is an absolute delight when he's on screen. Future Mani Ratnam lead heroes (Aravind Swamy, Madhavan, Shah Rukh Khan) were all modeled after Karthik's "Manohar". A great performance by the great actor. P.C. Sriram is behind the camera and it shows. Whether it's the soft colors of the Taj Mahal, or the beautiful lighting work he does indoors, P.C. Sriram accomplishes it brilliantly and then some. Ilayaraja provides Mani Ratnam with another great soundtrack. "Chinna Chinna" and "Mandram Vandhu" are two of the best songs Ilayaraja has composed for Ratnam. This is a must-see for all Mani Ratnam fans and anybody who wishes to see how a classic is made.

I love this Movie

[steggy · 10/10 · 14 March 2002]

An excellent movie. It is fast paced and has very melodious songs. This is probably Manirathnam's best movie. The song "Nilave Vaa" has become an all time classic. The beauty of the song is in the meaning of the lyrics.

Well made movie but.......

[sendmailtojk · 7/10 · 27 December 2013]

I am a great fan of Mani Ratnam. Seen and enjoyed many of his movies. I just saw this movie today ( somehow missed it so many years) and loved it. While I see all reviewers have posted glorious and flattering reviews I thought I should post my observations about what was wrong or missing......none of that takes away the greatness of the movie though.

1. Revathi shows no sorrow about having lost her lover in the starting scenes. She is shown as an innocent fun loving girl in a traditional Tamil family somewhat rebellious but otherwise obedient typical daughter.

2. In 1986 most educated and employed parents had no more than 2 kids. And Revathi's parents had 4? Also most people would try for sons if they had daughters first...in this case the eldest one was already a boy.

3. For a Personnel Officer employed in a manufacturing organization in Delhi, CK ( the husband) was given a posh bungalow. That's hard to believe. And he had a car too....

4. Continuing from above, CK buys a train ticket for his wife when he should afford an air ticket in the last scenes....given that he lives a luxurious life in an apparently posh area in Delhi.

5. Revathi's parents travel from Madras to Delhi and don't bother to call their daughter ahead of time. That's unlike her very disciplined and strict father.

As I said earlier just saying Mani Ratnam is a great director not a perfectionist.

Worth the time

[sangeeswami · 10/10 · 1 October 2008]

Wow, what can I say! A true master piece of Maniratnam.

It handles the emotions of a simple middle class couple excellently. To the minute details. Each frame in the movie captures our heart. Well, I was inspired by the movie when I was way back as a kid. Its difficult to control our emotion when we watch the movie.

It portrays the marriage turbulence. Especially people in today's world have less time for emotions & feelings. They are witness a lot of uncertainness in life. Marriages are shaken hard during testing times. This clearly explains one such tale.

Illayaraja stands out unique.

Inconsistent / Incorrect / erroneous MOHAN Character

[rajwip-90232 · 1/10 · 11 June 2023]

Never saw this movie.. saw for the first time in YOUTUBE

Mohan's Character has been portrayed as a well-founded, deep, profound, patient, accommodating, philosophical personality, in comparison to Revathi's (at least for the most part, where her character comes across as a little immature, depthless and her first love as little shallow.... and flimsy. Which is all FINE... (She is young and likeable to fall for first lover... like that))

But what is fundamentally wrong is this

At the end, When Mohan hands over the Divorce paper, Revathi makes some dramatic, touching statements and says that "YOU like me and but you don't want admit it".. and rest of the movie Mohan does show his love to her (running after the train and so and so)

There is fundamental conflict/DISCORD in Mohan's character, which goes utterly unnoticed, for most viewers, I think

A "Profound-Equanimous" person like MOHAN falling in love with a "KIDDISH-IMMATURE" person like "REVATHI" is quite ALARMING and WRONG.... Given the fact that REVATHI acts hostile to him (to her married Husband) for the most part ( unable to forgo of past and accept Mohan as the present and future)., the only way MOHAN can have continued to develop / retain / grow any love for Revathi must be just some sort a "Physical Attraction" ( which is very superficial and hence contrary for the overall Character of "Mohan").. The fact that it was an arranged Marriage, also means MOHAN have not much time at all with Revathi to SEE / FALL in love with her true deeper nature (if she has any.. but I think she has some.. which is revealed to MOHAN only at the very end).. HOW a "Deep-sort of Matured Person" like Mohan can fall in love with a girl like Revathi (during the first meeting & through the tumultuous initial marriage days ) is hard to understand because Mohan never gets to see her good side... and so it must be concluded that Mohan's liking (can we call it as "Love" or "Affection") for Revathi can only be purely "Physical" and hence contradictory to the characterization of Mohan as "Calm-Matured" character... unless otherwise.. MOHAN can be considered as CALCULATING MANIPULATIVE. CUNNING Scheming person.. who fell for Revathi's physical attraction on the first meeting and MANIPULATES her to like him (not a TRUE love at all from Mohan's part)

It's 2021 the story is still relevant and relatable

[Rafimohamed99 · 10/10 · 25 January 2021]

I personally believe it's Mani Ratnam's best film because it doesn't have any political plotlines like his other films and so it can be enjoyed by general audience.

The film's story is still relevant in 2021. Women in India are free to make every decision except their marriage. Women may date many men or even fall in love but they can't marry without their parents permission. Arranged marriages used to work well back when there were no social media platforms. But now many arranged marriages don't last long because it's easy to meet new people. This film has protrayed plight of every Indian women in the society.

Revathi has given phenomenol performance and eliyaraja's music is icing on the cake.

Heart Melting Classic

[shatish1995 · 10/10 · 22 January 2017]

This movie is one of the best movies i had seen.brilliant acting from kartik who steals the show and revathi has done amazing job too. manirathnam did not go with the cliché by suddenly bringing revathi and mohan together. he takes his time and works on their relationship. how mohan uses all the hurtful things revathi said is just heart melting .there are some parts of the movie where you will actually feel what the characters are going through. and illayaraja does amazing job the songs are just amazing and fits right in every scenes and lyrics are just so damn accurate to the movie sequence.one of the best music albums in tamil cinema history with out any argument.i felt that kartik should have given more screen time as he was brilliant. if you look deeply you will see two kinds of love one is very raw,passionate and immense from kartik and the other one is just pure mature love from mohan. how revathy moves on from one to other is the plot and maniratnam has done amazing job on that. there are few logical flaws which are totally fine you will only notice after watching 3 or 4 times . brilliant movie must watch......

Raaja Rani was well made

[saru2020 · 10/10 · 29 October 2023]

Watching this film nearly 35 years after its initial release was a pleasant surprise. The fact that the movie still resonates and works effectively is a testament to its timeless quality.

I now understand why the director emphasized showcasing genuine emotions that align with our everyday experiences. This connection with real-life emotions has the power to endure across the years, making it a timeless and eternal aspect of the film.

After this viewing experience, I couldn't help but appreciate how well "Raja Rani" was crafted. It proved to be a well-made film that skillfully adapts to the sensibilities of a modern audience. The movie's ability to connect with viewers across generations highlighted its enduring appeal and storytelling prowess.

Most memorable movie

[arvamaha · 9/10 · 3 January 2023]

One of the best films I ever Seen. What a lovely classic. Soulful music. Beautiful melody all time ever. The lead character Mohan beautiful lu portrayed intelligence. He would always respond with heroine and doesn't react at all. Bgm excellent one. My favorite one is especially I'm first night scene when heroine say would want to sleep that moment a bgm woulad be played. Extra ordinary. Karthik character would be lovely Manirathnam best movie for me. None else would match with this. Mandram vantha thendral. Nilave vaa sing pani vizhum irave spb mesmerize. What a performance .all would make this film Memorable.

A Sensibile and Classic Post-Marriage Romantic saga by Mani Ratnam which tells the difference between infatuated Boyfriend and Responsible Husband.

[SAMTHEBESTEST · 8/10 · 4 June 2021]

Mouna Ragam (1986) : Brief Review -

A Sensibile and Classic Romantic saga by Mani Ratnam which tells the difference between infatuated Boyfriend and Responsible Husband. Mouna Ragam has remained underrated for years, especially for pan India audience. Tamil audience is very much familiar with this film but outside South industry, only few film lovers knows about Mouna Ragam's existence. The same happened to me as well. Even I watched his other Mani Ratnam classics first and then came to know about this super Classic. I strongly believe, this film deserves equal popularity as Nayakan, Roja, Bombay or other popular classic of Mani Ratnam. I consider Romance as a dumb genre cause there are hardly some classics which makes sense otherwise it's all just typically melodrama or reconciliation or immatured love stories. With Mouna Ragam, i can say that it is a very matured film for the audience who have matures taste in films. Someone who likes dumb romance like Arjun Reddy or Kabir Singh or some other blockbuster romances (commercially i meant) should stay away from it. It might cause a humiliation to your immatured and childish tatse and then you'll start disliking the same dumb love stories which you have been loving for a long time. Mouna Ragam tells a story of a forced arrange marriage turning into sensible realisation of true love and life-long commitments. It has every scene set in right zone with right conviction and all of it is highly sensible and intellegent. That's important, being intelligence is very important believe me, especially in this Dumb Genre. Revathi and Mohan both gets the roles to remember, something which will always stay with audience and especially married couples. Mani Ratnam has made many classics in other genres, and some of those films are actually overhyped by fans, i would be happy to see this film getting the same hype as those, deservingly.

RATING - 8/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Revathy and Maniratnam Excel!

[privenkatesa · 10/10 · 11 January 2023]

Maniratnam's gem of a masterpiece. This movie tops all of his movies. A simple tale of a free spirited bubbly Madras college girl in 1980's who doesn't hesitate to speak her mind and voice her opinion. Her relationship with her family, her past love and her married life are well portrayed. Divya remains in our mind even after 37+ years and one of the main reason is that Maniratnam's casting Revathi. An absolutely brilliant actress who steals the show. Mohan, Karthik both give out their career best performance. Dialogues in this movie paved way for typical Maniratnam movie dialogue. PC Shriram's camera magic with Mani started here. The best bgm and gem of album from Mastero himself.. Mouna ragam remains one of the beloved bgms piano students want to learn. Oho megam vandhadho created waves in 1986 putting Revathy's dance and singing in the rain the hottest song in town. Revathy, Maniratnam, Sundaram Master showed tamil cinema that rain song doesn't have to be vulgar and heroines don't have to wear white costume when wet(directors take note)

Kambilipoochi dialogue , Mr. Chandramoul line, en idhyam enkittaila, enkau vivakarathu venum. Adu endha kadaila kidaikuma? These dialogues are all still popular and will remain popular. Everything in this movie is great. There is no huge sets or costly costumes or fancy foreign locale, all shot in 1986 Madras and New Delhi with stunning visuals. Great work cast and crew! Brilliant work Maniratnam Sir!

A Gem. Derserves more than 10 rating

[reenavit · 10/10 · 18 June 2022]

This is movie that made first impact on me. Made me fall in love with movies and appreciate the way to experience watching a movie. In those days itself when an independent woman questions her parents about the society norms and how it affects her, it makes us agree more to that. Marriage is indeed a sweet but scary concept atleast in India because and girl and boy barely know each other before marriage. How the an independent girl deals with it and how an understanding husband has to take the consequences and explain to her and understands her and takes responsibility is soo soo beautiful. Mohan's character is like a dream husband character and Revathi is the lively person with more excitement and clever but understands late. I feel i have learnt something after watching the film. It is in a way inspiring film. Makes us question, makes us think, makes us angry, makes us romantic, makes us want to watch it again and again.