Kandukondain Kandukondain

Characters

Mrs. Dashwood — Padma
Elinor — Sowmya
Marianne — Meenakshi/Meenu
Willoughby — Srikanth/Srika
Edward — Manohar
Brandon — Bala

What's different

Kollywood's take on Sense and Sensibility is significantly altered, both to modernize it and to make it more appealing and relatable to Indian audiences. (Kollywood refers to the Tamil-language film industry based in Chennai; Bollywood refers to the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai.)

I think it might be easier to list the things that are the same. Like in the book, there are three sisters being raised by their widowed mother. The eldest daughter is practical and dependable, while the middle daughter reads too much poetry and speaks her mind. They each want something different out of a relationship, but they both find love. The family experiences financial hardship following the death of their patriarch... And now I'm out of similarities, aside from small details like Bala being a veteran and Meenu hurting her ankle.

Is it a Sense and Sensibility adaptation if no one carries Marianne?

The most obvious difference is that this adaptation is set in southern India in the year 2000. Various elements of the story are changed to modernize it, like Sowmya being a computer programmer and Bala owning a successful flower farm. No one is living off the interest of their inheritance here. A multitude of subtle and not-so-subtle elements of Indian culture are also present, like arranged marriages and matchmakers, though neither of the heroines ends up in an arranged marriage. And of course there are over-the-top song and dance numbers, including one shot on location at the pyramids of Giza.

It's Britney, bitch.

The biggest difference, in my opinion, is the complete removal of Lucy Steele and her whole storyline. Manohar openly pursues Sowmya from the start, but he can't marry her right away because of a promise he made to himself that he would direct his first movie before getting married. This creates the necessary delay in their relationship, but it's not nearly as dramatic as a love triangle.

There are several small-to-medium sized differences in Meenu and Srika's relationship compared to Marianne and Willoughby's. Srika leaves twice, by my count. The first time is right after his company goes bankrupt, but Meenu finds him again (actually Bala finds him for her). Srika proposes to her but says he has to go to another city and talk to a financier who can solve all his money problems, so he leaves again. The next time Meenu sees him, he's engaged to some rich girl.

The Kollywood version of going out to buy cigarettes and never coming back.

They reunite yet again, though, in a version of Willoughby explaining his actions to Marianne. Srika talks to Meenu directly and explains why he married another woman. He still loves her, though, and he offers to "marry" her secretly, which would effectively make Meenu his mistress. What an asshole! But tbh that does seem like something a modern-day Willoughby would try.

Srika's money problem is interesting to me in itself. He runs some kind of banking/investment company, and a lot of people from poor villages have invested in it. If it folds, a lot of people would lose their life savings and be destitute. According to Srika, this factored into his decision to marry for money so he could save his company and the investors wouldn't lose everything. This makes his decision more of a moral gray area for me, personally. Willoughby's motivation is purely selfish, but is Srika less contemptible?

What I liked

This was my first experience of Indian cinema, and I think it's a good introduction. Manohar is an aspiring director who studied in America and wants to include elements of American cinema in his directorial debut. His family and his colleagues, however, are not convinced and insist he must include all the tropes of a traditional Tamil film, and it's kind of a crash course for uninitiated viewers like me. The movie also shows Manohar at work on set, providing a behind the scenes look and some interesting context.

The giant wrenches are crucial to the process.

I love the boss bitch vibe I get from all three sisters, and that includes Margaret/Kamala. Just by existing and not sucking, Kamala is the best portrayal of Margaret so far. She's mostly in the background (as she should be, she's not a major character in the book), but she's always studying or talking about science, which I love to see in or out of an Austen adaptation.

Like all girls, Kamala appreciates a fine botanical specimen.

Kamala is going places, and she's got two great role models in her older sisters. At the beginning of the movie, Sowmya is a school principal with computer programming experience. She gets a job as a programmer and writes a program that becomes very popular in America. Meenu is a talented singer who gets a record deal and becomes a minor celebrity. Even their mother is a badass because she married against her parents' wishes and made a life for herself on her own terms. There's a lot to admire in these modern Dashwoods.

There's an added angle on Sowmya in this adaptation that I wasn't sure about at first but really liked by the end: she's bad luck. I don't quite understand why she has this reputation, but I think it's something to do with her horoscope. Every bad thing that happens in her life is blamed on her bad luck, including the death of her previous fiancé. The point of Elinor is that she suffers just as much as Marianne, but it's all hidden below the surface. This adaptation does away with the Lucy Steele situation, but the bad luck angle works really well to make Elinor suffer in a similar way. This reputation has followed Sowmya her entire life, her mother casually discusses it around her, and it's clearly part of her daily life. She's internalized it, and it's become her greatest insecurity. Then she finds someone who loves her, she lets her guard down just a little, and she gets hurt. Sowmya overhears Manohar saying that he changed the name of his movie because he consulted an astrologer who told him the letter S is unlucky for him. I found Sowmya's struggle to accept him after he kind-of-almost called her bad luck very relatable. It's so human to trust someone and to be devastated when that person voices your own worst fear about yourself. That shit is real.

Nooooo, Sowmya, you deserve love!

 
Another pro is Bala, who is my pick for the most wholesome Colonel Brandon so far. Obviously Mammootty (Bala's actor) is no Alan Rickman, but to be fair, Mammootty is a huge star in his own right; he's placed at number 2 on this list of Top Ten Actors in India, which is clearly the authoritative source. When we first meet Bala, he's a mean drunk who lost a leg in the war (don't ask me what war) and is bitter and disillusioned. His love for Meenu inspires him to take better care of himself, stop drinking, and be a happier person. He gives me Darcy vibes because of how he swoops in to problem-solve for Meenu: he tracks down Srika to reunite them, finds Meenu the perfect job when she needs work, and plays matchmaker by bringing another guy to meet her once she's over Srika. And through all of this, Bala is so happy and cheerful just because he gets to be in Meenu's life, with no expectation of anything more.

What I disliked

Sowmya's computer program is so successful in America that her company wants to send her to Califnoria for a little while. She's about to leave for the airport when Manohar shows up to propose to her, and she cancels the trip after they reconcile. I'm kind of bummed she doesn't get to go to California anyway, especially since their whole relationship was put on hold for months or years for the sake of Manohar's career. What about Sowmya's career, right?! I just want to see her hold onto and value the parts of her life that are entirely her own.

I also wish this movie was funnier. One of the tenets of Indian cinema that this film taught me is the idea that a movie should have it all: action, drama, romance, singing, dancing — but what about comedy? If having a mix of all genres is important, then I'm surprised there was so little comedy in this adaptation. Truthfully, I think this might be a matter of humor not translating well between cultures. For example, there's a scene in which a minor side character performs a wedding for his two cats, and it feels like it's supposed to be funny. Who knows, maybe if I had grown up in India, I would find a cat wedding hilarious.

*Cue laugh track*

Adaptation wish list

1. Is it funny? —No, but it's fun as hell.
2. Is it bitchy? — Not at all.
3. Is Brandon less pathetic? —Yes.
4. Is Marianne more believable? —Yes.

This movie is such a trip, y'all. The story is recognizable as Sense and Sensibility, but it's a very different experience. It's not really funny (to me), and it's definitely not bitchy, but every single main character is likable, which is something I never expected out of any adaptation. Even Willoughby is maybe slightly redeemable? I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but go watch this movie and decide for yourself! I recommend it.