2018, Tamil, Amazon Prime, 8.8/10 IMDB, Directed By Pa. Ranjith
Discrimination as never seen before and it’s pain as never felt before.
The debuant director Mari Selvaraj has etched the pain in our minds with beautiful characterisations.
The opening scene with ‘Karuppi’ the hound dog accompanied by the nellai slanged ‘Madhayaanai Koottam’ boy Kathir, both emote organically to translate the suppressions that staunchly affects us viewers as the rivals kill the dog in the railway track.
The story dates back to 2005 where the social media wasn’t in play which justifies the incapacitated instances in the storyline.
The story evolves away from not just being a mere revolutionary kind due to its unique treatment.
The unnamed relationship between Kathir and Anandhi in the thirunelveli law college, has been spun refreshingly, though inevitably reminds ‘Autograph’ Sneha and Cheran.
The immensely naive female lead who doesn’t understand the discrimination shown to Kathir by her family, does make you question her sanity but that turns out to be the game changer in the climax, the justified dilemma in the upbringing of the next generation without sowing the seeds of discrimination.
This transitional phase of the deep rooted discriminations are inspiringly captured by making the father character of the heroine have the fear quotient and moral policing creeping in and out to curtail his urge of discrimination.
Kathir’s dad’s proffesion a well kept secret, when revealed shakes you and the scene where his dignity is sabotaged, you are made to question the saddism in humans, behaving like uncivilised savages, which they indeed are.
Santhosh Narayanan transports you to those lives on the barren land and the picturisation of creepy crawlies in Naan Yaar song makes you understand the disgusting feel they are put to live with.
Significant characters are plenty, like the law college proffesors, principal, the mason of a temple who fills in as kathir’s father, the outstanding among them are the honour killing old thug (ervamatin advertisement dub voice could have been avoided) and Yogi Babu has a flair for subtle tickle simultaneously drawing respect to the character he plays.
Characters from Ranjith’s Madras and Kabali distracts one as the mind plays tricks tracing back to the roles they played in those movies, but its all short lived as the main stream grips gently creeping on you.
Ambethkarist references from the blue painted black hound in flash backs and blue painted revolutionary montage sequences, but one doesn’t need those to say what the movie stands for.
The clarity in the climax just slaps you on the face when he says, ‘discrimination will continue till the person discriminating doesn’t change and the person being discriminated is treated a dog’.
As an Indian movie goer one is tuned to expect the hero to retaliate violently to the suppressions but the reality scenario plunges in to remind us, thats not how a person would react in real life when he is insulted and treated demeaningly..
The scene where the camera is inside the car with Anadhi’s father and when Kathir breaks the front glass, you get to have a peek of his life’s grievances and his suppressions through the broken hole in the glass and the father is still making up his mind whether to pick the knife or not, is a shot which makes each of us the caste discriminating self of ours to whinge and lower our head in shame.
Mission accomplished Mari. Make us experience more of what we have only heard off and read about in papers.