Roja (1992)

I've been listening to the soundtrack for about 20 years, so I figured it was probably time to actually watch the film that introduced the world to A.R. Rahman's genius, and which catapulted Mani Ratnam to fame.

The experience was a little disappointing - great soundtrack, obviously, and some gorgeous cinematography from Santosh Sivan, but the politics - both national and personal - are handled with far less nuance than in Dil Se.

It's disappointing to see Mani Ratnam indulge in the kind of nationalistic chest thumping that is common enough in Indian films, but that I wouldn't have expected from him. Either he evolved a lot in the following years, or he didn't feel free at this point to openly question India's contribution to the ongoing conflict in Kashmir. Or gender roles.

Guess I'll go back to just listening to the music.