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Mouna Raagam (Silent Symphony) (1986) is a Tamil
language feature film directed by filmmaker Mani Ratnam. The score and
soundtrack are composed by Ilayaraja, and the film's cinematography is by P. C.
Sriram. Critically acclaimed upon release, it hit cinemas in the mid-1980s and
was a stylistic landmark in romance-drama filmmaking in the south Indian
motion-picture industry. It is in fact an inspiration for some of the films in
Bollywood.
The film is essentially a psychological study revolving around two central
characters, a newly-married husband and wife, who find themselves caught in an
unexpectedly tense, complex and untenable relationship.
Middle-class young woman Divya (Revathi) accedes to familial pressure and
marries Chandrakumar (Mohan), an affable, soft-spoken company manager from New
Delhi. She is unable to reconcile her marriage with a haunting past marked by
memories of a former lover, Manohar (Karthik), and yearns for a separation.
Chandrakumar graciously acquiesces to her wish, but because the law stipulates
that a divorce can only be granted after a one-year period, they continue to
live divided lives under the same roof for the duration of the period.
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