<p class="bodytext">Dasara is celebrated in Mangaluru as Marnami (Tulu for Mahanavami), and tiger dance (pili vesha) is one of its main attractions. ‘Maarnami’ is set in this context, in a small coastal town. Chethu (Ritvvikk Mathad), a pili vesha performer, has vowed to never perform again after his mother’s death. Following her death, he is raised by his uncle and aunt. Deeksha (Chaithra J Achar) enters his life and they get married. All of this is happening in the background of a gang war. Circumstances bring indifferences between the husband and wife. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Chethu performs again, breaking the vow he took as a boy. What makes him break his vow? The film follows his story. </p>.<p class="bodytext">On paper, Chaithra’s character looks interesting, but despite her strong performances in the past, she comes across as loud rather than bold in this film. When she is introduced, it looks like the director had envisioned a strong character — she flirts with the boy, leaves home to marry him, and when things go wrong, she is not shy about looking at other options. But by the end of the film, everything seems to be in the man’s control. There is so much blood and gore — all of it glorified as if that was the right thing to do.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Chethu grows up with simple dreams of having a big happy family, how does he end up following the path of violence and harbouring the urge to kill? </p>.<p class="bodytext">As a story, ‘Maarnami’ is an interesting one. However, the film is marred by a weakly written screenplay, which is all over the place. To add to this are unnecessary montages of the coastal town, which are aesthetic but don’t add anything to the narrative, and a runtime close to three hours. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The only redeeming quality is Charan Raj’s music — beautiful songs and a somewhat familiar background score. </p>
<p class="bodytext">Dasara is celebrated in Mangaluru as Marnami (Tulu for Mahanavami), and tiger dance (pili vesha) is one of its main attractions. ‘Maarnami’ is set in this context, in a small coastal town. Chethu (Ritvvikk Mathad), a pili vesha performer, has vowed to never perform again after his mother’s death. Following her death, he is raised by his uncle and aunt. Deeksha (Chaithra J Achar) enters his life and they get married. All of this is happening in the background of a gang war. Circumstances bring indifferences between the husband and wife. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Chethu performs again, breaking the vow he took as a boy. What makes him break his vow? The film follows his story. </p>.<p class="bodytext">On paper, Chaithra’s character looks interesting, but despite her strong performances in the past, she comes across as loud rather than bold in this film. When she is introduced, it looks like the director had envisioned a strong character — she flirts with the boy, leaves home to marry him, and when things go wrong, she is not shy about looking at other options. But by the end of the film, everything seems to be in the man’s control. There is so much blood and gore — all of it glorified as if that was the right thing to do.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Chethu grows up with simple dreams of having a big happy family, how does he end up following the path of violence and harbouring the urge to kill? </p>.<p class="bodytext">As a story, ‘Maarnami’ is an interesting one. However, the film is marred by a weakly written screenplay, which is all over the place. To add to this are unnecessary montages of the coastal town, which are aesthetic but don’t add anything to the narrative, and a runtime close to three hours. </p>.<p class="bodytext">The only redeeming quality is Charan Raj’s music — beautiful songs and a somewhat familiar background score. </p>