Written & Directed by: C Prem Kumar
How often have you been caught in a situation where someone catches you at a party and goes on a rant? They seem to know everything about you. They would tell you about your parents and obscure personal details of your childhood. The trouble is that you don't know him from Adam. You would not have the slightest clue who he is but too embarrassed to ask him. You would not want to offend the other person and appear haughty. More so when you return to your hometown, doing better than where you came from whilst the other person is still stuck in your hometown.
You slowly try to pick a cue from his sentences. You try to look deep into his eyes, perhaps to pick up any identifying features. Negative. You try politely asking people behind his back, but it proves difficult as everyone assumes both seem engaged in a conversation so deep that we are blood brothers.
You become desperate as the other person sticks on to you like a leech that does not drop off. You reach the point of no return when he says he worshipped you and owes it to you for being such a motivating icon in his life. You give up when he says he owes everything to you and insists on having a meal with you.
The protagonist, Arul, feels this as he returns to an estranged family wedding near his ancestral home. Twenty-two years previously, Arul's family had to leave the ancestral home after a family feud. Arul, a teenager when all this was going on, remembers it as a painful event in his life. So, returning to meet the same people engaged in the showdown was cumbersome for Arul.
He planned to make a lightning trip there, bless the newlyweds, and return on the last bus back to Chennai. All that came to nought when Arul bumped into this chatty, nameless chap who would not go away.
Arul simply could not place him anywhere in his life, but according to the chap, they spent a momentous summer in 1994. He clings on and on, refusing to leave his sight. Things become more problematic when Arul misses the last bus out and has to stay the night there. With no acceptable lodgings available, left to Hobson's choice, he takes the chap's generous offer to stay at his abode. Even his wife knows Arul well. He is mesmerised by the hospitality. After a few drinks, things become emotional, and the chap confesses that he would name his soon-to-be-born child with Arul's gender-neutral name, Arulmozhi.
Arul feels ashamed and leaves the chap's home without telling him. As in all 'feel good' Indian movies, resolution comes via a phone call and long-deserved confession.
It's an engaging movie minus all the masalas associated with Kollywood. As expected from a film produced by Sivakumar's family, devoted to developing Tamil and Tamilness, the film is smattered with iconography closely related to Tamil culture and Dravidian politics.
From the word go, the opening credits are written in Tamil only. Then, the viewers see Jallikattu and an Indian Kongu bull dragged into a story that is more about human relationships than the importance of the continuation of Jallikattu. Then, the framed photo of EV Ramasamy appears now and then. The spoken dialogue is recommendable for it avoids corruption with Madras basha. Tamil is relatively pristine. Tamil pride can be felt when the characters talk about their ancestors fighting for the Cholas, the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils in their civil war and the Thootukodi massacre, where Tamil citizens got killed for standing up against an allegedly polluting copper smelting plant.
Arvind Swamy and Karthi's acting is recommendable. Their chemistry, bromance, and characterisation of their roles are excellent. It's a good movie. 4.5/5.
