Life is full of 'what if's!

Dhuruvangal Pathnaaru (16 Extremes)

Back in the 90s, my sisters suggested that I should watch a revolutionarily new Tamil with a new format, 'Puthu Puthu Arthangal' (New Meanings). A then new to the Tamil cinema, Rahman was the star. Later, he acted in 'Sangamam', another milestone depicting the clash between classical Indian music and the folk music. Rahman was rarely seen after that till I saw him in this rare neo-noir Tamil crime drama film. The years have been kind to this lanky star. His appearance has not changed much over the years.

It was quite engaging to watch this flick. From the word go, I was hooked. Initially starting with the cliche and cute philosophical lines, I was keen to know how it would progress. The curiosity increased as the narration flip-flopped between the present and five years into the future. A retired police officer has a chat with a chap whom he mistakenly thinks is his subordinate's son. Thinking that the visitor ('the son') is a keen follower of his last unsuccessful case, they discuss details of it at great lengths. The storytelling is so compelling. The police procedures are discussed quite meticulously with no chance for holes. I thought that this film who also follow what most Tamil films do - make the story quite complicated and end it with the most ridiculous impossible explanations just to tie the loose ends. Luckily, it did not end that way here.

One has to watch till the end to appreciate the twist at the end and then suddenly all the profound voice-overs by the narrator would start to make perfect sense.

Life is full of possibilities. Whenever something does not turn out in our favour, we always ask ourselves 'what if', 'what if'. What if I had pursued another career path? What if I had married my first girlfriend? What if I had stayed single? What if I had not answered the phone when I was driving? What if I had not been mean to the stray dog? Life is full of unanswered questions. I am pretty sure I would be asking the same questions if I had taken the alternate path.

A story as told by one person may put him as the protagonist, the hero. To another person, this same story would be narrated as if the first person is the villain. It is all one's perspective. A surprisingly cerebral film from a 22-year-old debutante. Way to go!

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