Movie review: Veppam Kulir Mazhai
A happily married village couple, Petha Perumal ( Dhirav) and Pandi ( Ismath Banu), has a problem. They have no children despite 5 years of marriage and are the butt of ridicule by people. There are even fights at home with the mother-in-law.
A Chennai couple on a visit to the village advice them to seek medical help in Chennai but the husband is against it. He prefers going to temples to pray instead.
When the ridicule increases the husband feels the pressure and starts displaying signs of mental instability with bouts of abnormal behaviour. His mother advices him to marry his sister's daughter, 15 years younger. One day, Pandi, the wife convinces her husband to remarry. But fate has other things in store and the couple finally decide to seek medical help instead.
Do the couple get a child? Do their lives change for the better?
The making of the film is raw and realistic which is a big plus. The leads have done a superb effort to bring out the despair and hopes, their natural romantic scenes ans chemistry works well for the story.
The local customs, songs and dialect are well captured on screen, adding reality to the ethos.
The film is high on emotional scenes with raw performances from the leads and the supporting characters, especially the mother-in-law ( Rama).
The scenes between the couple, later with their child, the fights, struggles, rage and outbursts are well captured with a very real feel.
The film touches upon the social repurcussions and despair faced by couples without children and the issue of how medical science can be helpful.
But how people react to this sensitive issue with emotions and societal expectations complicating matters more, is what the film showcases and successfully so.
Perhaps a bit less melodrama and repetitive fight and romance scenes would have helped connect a tad more with the characters.
MS Bhasker's superb act is to watch out for.
A film with its heart in the right place which could perhaps bring a ray of hope to couples in similar situations and also act as a mirror to be more empathetic than judgemenetal towards them.
Production: Hashtag FDFS productions Dhirav
Music director: Shankar
Rangarajan
Editor: Dhirav
Cinematographer: Prithvi Rajendran
Sound designer: Anand, Dhirav, Arun
Stunts: Stunner sam
Art director: Balachander
Costume: Keerthana
Lyrics: Dhirav
D. I. - Srikkanth Raghu
