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Directed by: C Prem Kumar Music: Govind Vasantha Lyrics: Uma Devi, Karthik Netha Starring: Arvind Swamy, Karthi, Devadarshini, Sri Divya, Swati Konde, Rajkiran, Jayaprakash, Sriranjini, Indumathy Manikandan |
I haven’t really been watching films or reading many books lately; hence, the surfeit of song posts. But recently, my husband, flipping through the movies on Netflix, chanced upon Meiyazhagan (loosely translated to ‘Attractive of body’). I had heard positive reports of the film, so,curled up on the couch next to him, I decided to stay and watch.
The film begins with a family of four leaving their ancestral home. Arivudai Nambi (Jayaprakash), his wife, Valliammal (Sriranjini), and their two sons leave Thanjavur with a heavy heart. Nambi has lost a case filed by his siblings and is forced to relocate to Madras with his family. No one is more traumatised than young Arulmozhi Varman (Saran Shakthi), the younger boy. He can barely hold back his tears as his parents bid their final goodbye. When his father asks him what they should do with his bicycle, Arul couldn’t care less. Give it to someone who needs it, he says.
Time passes. Arul (now Arvind Swamy) lives in Chennai with his parents, wife Hema (Devadarshini) and daughter, Jahnvi. He has never returned to his hometown these past twenty-odd years, though he keeps in touch with his maternal relatives. But now, he is forced to return – his younger cousin, Bhuvana (Swathi Konde), is getting married and she insists that she won’t do so unless he attends. His wife, Hema (Devadarshini) persuades him to go.
On the way to Thanjavoor by train, and then to Needamangalam by bus, Arul is tormented by memories of the past. So much so, he wants to return at the first possible instance. But he’s welcomed so warmly (and emotionally) by his uncle and assorted cousins, and by Bhuvana, who is overwhelmed by his presence that it only increases his tension.
But the worst is yet to come – a young man (Karthi) accosts him with familiarity, calling him ‘Athhaan’ (cousin/borther-in-law). He’s a cheerful, jovial chap, at ease with all of Arul’s relatives and even the cook. He insists on carrying Arul’s bag, makes the cook bring out the best delicacies for his athhaan, and is so garrulously inquisitive in the most endearing way. He talks familiarly about Arul’s family, asks after his wife and daughter, and seems to know everything about Arul’s life. Arul can hardly shake him off, this burr of a man, and the problem is he has no clue who the young man is.
Meiyazhagan is a sweetly meandering conversational film of estranged relationships and personal growth. Arul is a man who has never been able to let go of his past. One wonders then how such an emotionally repressed man can have such a tender relationship with his spouse. Devadarshini's Hema is no-nonsense and practical, but she loves her husband, understands him, and yet, is not above gently teasing him to be a better man. It is she who persuades him to go to his cousin’s wedding, she who lends a shoulder when he returns, an even more broken (though not for the same reasons) man.
Arvind
Swamy’s performance here surely ranks as one of his best. Except for one –
uncharacteristic – outburst, he plays Arul with such empathy and understanding
that the viewer cannot but empathise with his pain. There is no self-pity or
whining here; he’s obviously moved on with his life; it's just the news of the wedding that brings back hurtful memories.
Arvind brings out that hidden trauma beautifully. He says very little, but his eyes convey a lot. Arul, whose journey from a man who has been cut off from his roots to one who finds himself through the sheer kindness and love with which he is treated by one who is essentially a stranger to him, is – through Arvind’s performance – accorded a dignity that leaves us moist-eyed. One can ask why Arul couldn't have just asked his uncle or cousin who the stranger is; but one also understands his embarrassment at having forgotten someone who seems to know him through and through. By the end, he's determined to remember who this man is, by himself, because not doing so seems an insult to the unconditional love he's received.
In complete contrast is Karthi, the other protagonist (if you will). Karthi has, in a way, an easier task. He is the cheery, hail-fellow-well-met character who loves everyone and is beloved of all. But even this performance is delightfully intuitive. He brings a smile to your face when he appears on screen. Even if he annoys Arvind to the hilt. But there’s more to his character than just ‘lovable buffoon’. He follows his heart and believes in paying his intangible debts forward. His relationship with his wife, Nandini – a lovely performance from Sri Divya – is also loving and relatable. (Note his pride when she speaks English.) This is a character that could easily have gone over the top, but the way Karthi plays him, one is reminded that there are still good people on this earth. It’s a lovely feeling.
Director Prem Kumar (this is his second feature; I haven’t seen the first) draws little vignettes of life around these two characters. Animate and inanimate objects find their way into the story, making it seem like a whimsical fairy tale. Parrots, cats, street dogs, a bull and even a cycle become part of the narrative. Yet, the core of the film is solid and one can relate to the many side characters who people this film.The small scenes around these characters are equally heartwarming.
Whether it is the emotional welcome that 'Sokkumama' (Rajkiran) gives his nephew, Arul, or the conversation between Arul and his cousin, Latha (Indumathy Manikandan) where she admits frankly, if rather wistfully, that she would have done better to marry him (her husband is an alcoholic), or even the emotional reunion between Bhuvana and Arul, which is easily one of the most touching scenes in the film. I loved how the director mingled laughter and tears here. It evoked the same feelings in me.
At the wedding, relatives talk amongst themselves while others wait in queue to meet the bridal couple; the feast is very important and the cook holds the whip hand; the cinematographer's camera captures these little vignettes and more.
At its core, Meiyazhagan is a quiet film; a film about people and relationships; of the camaraderie between men and of the women who love them; of losing and regaining oneself; of how 'karma' need not always be vengeful; of nostalgia for a time gone by but also of how a home and your roots can be yours even if you are far away from them; of what is left behind and what we take with us; of severed connections and of learning to let go; of how forgiveness transcends resentment and bitterness...
What could I have wished for? The second half meanders a bit compared to the first. Mostly focusing on the conversation between the two men, it could have done with a tighter focus on the main narrative. But as a drunken conversation, all the tangents seemed rather realistic. There's no set pattern to such conversations, and even the off-key singing in between is organic rather than seemingly shoehorned in.
I also wished the three female characters had some more screen time. I wish their narrative arcs had been explored a little more thoroughly. But that's nitpicking. In that short screen time, the writing gave each of these women a distinct personality, and Devadarshini, Sri Divya and Swathi Konde infuse their characters with both dignity and agency.
In a world so riven by hatred and othering, a movie that shows you how a random act of kindness can make a difference in someone’s life and how living a life of love and kindness can change someone’s perspective, is like a gentle shower that leaves you both smiling and teary-eyed. I cannot recommend this film enough.
p.s.
I am told that there was a lot of political discourse interwoven with the dialogues in the theatrical release. That wasn’t the case on streaming. But the editing was done so seamlessly that one didn’t miss those scenes.
