Rhythm (2000) User Reviews

A throwback to the 80s style tamil filmaking

[stylegamer · 8/10 · 26 November 2007]

A mature love story that never fails to touch the heart... Rhythm is a movie which has a mature aura, presence and performance by two of the biggest stars in tamil cinema history - Arjun and Meena

The movie basically is about widowed people meeting each other by chance and forming a relationship in a city. both of whom hide sadness in their pasts and find out that they have more than just this sadness in common.Much of the movie centres around their lives and the people around them. Although the movie did not do well at the box office, years later,It became cult favourite on the internet because the events shown can happen to anyone in real life. . This movie makes the most impact in multiple viewings . Year after i watched the movie a dozen times and it still does not fade away. Each viewing gives a better feel than the first time one watches it and tends to erase any memory of the movie .

The movie has a solid script and screenplay for most of the time bordering on narcissism and nostalgia.It never resorts to cheap or forced sentiments at any point and a touch of realism pervades the entire movie.many of the movie events on screen can be related to real life. Looks like director vasanth did his usual experimentation at last minute and stuck to a bound script. Good for him. A must watch movie and excellent contender for Oscars performance especially for the female lead Meena throughout... Although the movie was not a big success at the box office, it wins critical acclaim , much like the stuff one sees in international film festivals.

The lead actress Meena , a popular 1990s actress who seems to have recently retired from the scene was exceptionally brilliant performance in each scene. Strangely enough, she looks the best in this movie in terms of makeup ...In my opinion, this movie had her in her best performance to date...Kudos to director vasanth

Actor Arjun primarily known for action roles has attempted a totally offbeat movie this time and probably the only movie which shows him in a restrained performance

The other best part of this movie was the music which came as a refreshing break in the year 2000. the music for this film by AR Rahman was one of the finest in his career. Combining new age styles with commercial acoustic , The background score is a clear winner and is used effectively by the director vasanth and AR Rahman to convey the intense emotions on screen.

Camera work is slick but restrained for a movie in this time period, with a mixture of ambient lighing , natural landscapes and effects as rain. THough the visuals generally come as pleasing to the eye in the first half hour of the show ( train station, subway and the metro city feel of bangalore), they seem to be marred in the later stages..By then u will not notice too much of that though since the story have gotten quite absorbed into u by then

Overall Rhythm is reminiscent of yesteryear's tamil movies of the 1980s which touched on subjects like marital ,divorce, death and hope. Real life, real people and real events. ALso in the mix are themes like strict culturalism and traditions of India that are still continuing in their modern society.

Overall , Rhythm makes yr heart go Rhythmic. Highly recommended

An excellent, low-key film that is apart from the norm

[prasakodees · 9/10 · 21 July 2010]

As a foreigner, "Rhythm" was the first Tamil film that I saw that I truly enjoyed. I worked in south India for ten years, but I could never really enjoy the films, which seemed to be made primarily for mass appeal in the Tamil market, and didn't really have a lot of appeal internationally. "Rhythm" was a refreshing break. It still had traces of those clichés: there are still song duets that feel out of place in a serious story, there is some pointless action scene in the second half, but overall, it was a very satisfying film. At its heart, it is a very simple love story between widow and widower, but it's told in a very subtle, adult way that is somewhat rare to find. Both the characters are very likable and their dialogues and interactions are all played in a realistic and quiet manner. Their relationship grows gradually and comes to a slow conclusion - there is no big climactic emotional romance scene. But that quiet approach makes it very believable and sweet, especially because it doesn't drown itself in sentimentality. This is the kind of love story that might just be happening somewhere in the world today, instead of just in a movie.

I just wish that it didn't have any of typical Indian film things like song-and-dance numbers. Don't get me wrong, the songs are nice, but they are something that feels weird to moviegoers outside of India. If "Rhythm" was a 100% straight movie it's something I would recommend to anyone without a second thought, even if they aren't familiar with Tamil movies.

A nice film...

[Navaneethan · 8/10 · 19 May 2012]

We like so many films. But we like to watch only a few films any number of times. For me, Rhythm is one such film.

This is definitely Director Vasanth's best film.

The performance of all the actors were good. This film is the best film of Arjun Sarja as well as Meena. The small boy has done his role superbly. Nagesh's role and Lakshmi's role impressed me.

Visual Effects could have been better, but that doesn't really matter.

The music by A. R. Rahman was awesome. Camera by P. S. Vinod was very good.

The film has all the contents to satisfy the audience.

A must watch for all.

Aging well

[shan-12487 · 8/10 · 11 August 2020]

I felt the movie was slow when I watched at tender age.. watching 2020 I feel this is masterpiece by arrahman in bgm department and story is great

One of the best Tamil movies ever made!

[subramanian1408 · 9/10 · 10 February 2010]

This movie is a classic; one of the best movies you'll ever see. It has a simple and modest storyline, a well scripted screenplay, characters that you can easily relate to, subtle romance, beautiful settings both in Ooty and in Mumbai, a beautiful and haunting background music score that brings out your emotions even if minor flaws in acting fail to do so. Arjun is very mature - one of his best displays of acting, Meena looks stunning as a widow who develops feelings for another widower but hides her feelings fearing the social stigma against widow remarriage, Jothika and Ramesh Arvind play their roles to the T. Lakshmi could not have done more justice to the role of a staunch and orthodox Iyengar mother-in-law who disowns her son and later feels guilt and sympathy towards her daughter-in-law after having lost her son.

Easily the most beautiful family entertainer (in tamil) of the past decade!

9/10

Unique film , presentation style and brllliant music!!!

[singaporesivaji · 7/10 · 12 March 2011]

One of the better movies released at the end of the 90s. The big thing is the usual high quality music of AR Rahman and Vasanth's family oriented romance story Karthikeyan(Arjun), a photo editor in Bombay, is a widower, having lost his wife Aruna(Jyotika) a few years back. His parents have only one mission in life - to see him married and happy again. Chitra(Meena), a tamil girl whom Karthikeyan meets, gives them hope. She is a widow, her husband(Ramesh Arvind) having died too, and also has a son Shiva(Master Aditya). When they exchange their sad stories, Karthikeyan and Chitra find out that their pasts are linked.

In fact i like this movie for the fact that it is so realistic that it could happen or is happening to someone u know in real life or even your own life in the future. Like all Vasanth's movies, they show their quality years after u view them..He lets his films do all the talking' His films had a strong message and he managed to reach the masses with his excellent narrative style.

A.R.Rahman with his music and the cinematographer Arthur Wilson have done an excellent job together with the director vasanth to deliver. The editing and camera-work is subdued, subtle and portray still frames long enough to view the audience in the the story.

Every stage of the relationship between Arjun and Meena has been told naturally and with minimum of fuss. Their initial friction and subsequent gradual friendship are uncontrived and natural. the couple meet several times at the train station in the first half and these scenes are well done.. Both their actions and dialogs during these portions are very uncinematic and real like what happens in real life.... The role of Meena's neighbour is also inessential and is obvious as a ploy that allows Arjun to indulge in a fight sequence and maintain his 'Action King' sobriquet. But Vasanth recovers in time with a crisp climax that is underplayed and very effective with rain pouring down in cold ooty train station

I wish this talented director all the very best for all his future projects and hope that the stars shine bright for him

A masterpiece

[swethaselsi · 10/10 · 9 March 2021]

Amazing movie and a music, Meena and Arjun's acting is mind blowing. It gives me a chill whenever i watch this movie.

Low budget, But well done, Superb music and visuals

[oblackbig · 7/10 · 12 March 2011]

...Well penned and straight from the heart.. Personally i thought this was a great movie after watching it many years later.

The simple story is about a reporter, Arjun, who falls for a bank employee, Meena, and their troubles in expressing their love for each other. Each of them is trying to recuperate from the agony of losing their spouses to a terrifying train accident. As circumstances warrant their need for each other, Arjun and Meena try to move away from their love. rhythm is actually a genre of movie which fits in between mainstream and a niche art movie, but tries to be both. The result is an unique effort not seen often in Indian cinema

Low profile, low budget movie with a A list Music composer AR Rahman, A list stars Arjun and Meena including supporting cast, and an A list art-house director Vasanth who was a once a former assistant to India's top director Maniratnam.

A. R. Rahman and Vasanth worked together for the first time in this film.

Undoubtedly the other big highlight in this movie AR Rahman's music. Its melodious , clear and distinct for such a theme THe movie has a slow, tempo to it but very realistic.Its based on the 5 elements,It draws on various images, music and moods of love to evoke the elements. While the sky is the vast longing for the beloved, water is the beloved woman in different stages of life. Wind is love, blowing you off your feet, while fire is the coming together.

The cinematography is excellent when seen in the cinema big screen and the sounds, music invoke immersion in to the story. The plot flows seamlessly scene after scene Something which is rare in today's Indian movies. The cinematography is apt for the movie with lighting set at the right places and scenes.

OK, so "Rhythm" is no masterpiece and has quite a few flaws, but it is entertaining and keeps us hanging until the end, on whether the lovers can get together and what more could a viewer want? But "Rhythm" has a lot of good points that override the above thoughts. For example, in the ultimate age of sentiment, this is a basically unsentimental movie.� The characters and scenery are realistically picturised, the acting is almost perfect , and the screenplay is well-written. The story is different,and the beat of the movie is good.the greatest achievement of the movie is that this is a basically emotional movie in the sense that it makes the viewer feel it instead characters of portraying them on screen.

And even now whenever I view this movie , it takes me to the past to those great days in my college. I can say Rhythm is realistic that it relates to events in our lives . All of them would have had the same feelings when you hear or see some movies, songs and music , the movie shows realistic things that takes you to the period of your life during all those happened during that time, the movie strangely carries that factor.

Watchable for the niche theme , music and fine acting 7/10

Best In Tamil Cinema

[ranjithsemmozhi · 10/10 · 9 December 2012]

The movie rhythm is till one of the top 10 movies in the Tamil cinema History. The story line of the movie was simply superb.

I think this was the best movie of there life time for who acting in This movie like arjun,meena & ramesh arvind.

The expression of the actors is really great for example the final Scene arjune, meena,child & laxmi came together to arjun apartment and Nagesh saw this who waked from sleep the face expression of him says He was a greatest actor.

U want see 4 fight scene,4 songs,some cheap punch dialog this movie Definitely not for u.

This movie contain feelings the real feelings of love & emotion.the Connection between the characters was not like movie goes like a real Life of some.

If i talk about the movie this page should not enough for me.

U must see the movie at least one time. Otherwise u missed something Great in Ur life time. Thank you.

One of the best in tamil

[anbuf · 10/10 · 18 March 2019]

I watched this movie 20 times. What a music, meena & arjun's matured acting. Every time watching this movie end is heart peace.

Classic feel good movie

[chandana-karanam199 · 8/10 · 17 August 2020]

One of the best storylines in the south Indian films. Very sensible and heartfelt movie. It instills a hope in life every time I see this film. Beautiful screenplay which makes it a special film amongst stereotypical Indian films. And music of this album is one of the best work of A R Rahman. Each song of this album is beautifully composed based on earthly elements. A must watch Saturday night Romantic Movie.