Episodic film has relatable characters and words of wisdom
THE episodic Tamil language drama premiered on streaming site SonyLIV recently and sees talented director Chimbu Deven returning to his lowerbudget filmmaking roots.
It is a stark contrast to his mega-budget last release Puli (2015), which was a fantasy action-adventure headlined by a big star. The neatly crafted film sees six separate stories that are artfully linked together and explore the butterfly effect idea of subtle actions profoundly changing the lives of strangers. Each story offers up an unexpected turn and relatable characters from different areas of society, who are ultimately looking for a little hope and happiness.
The film starts off with a gentle romance and picks up pace as it progresses. It offers up a surprise element in each of the subsequent stories, which touch upon emotions ranging from the light to the decidedly dark. The well-written screenplay flows freely and is peppered with important words of wisdom. It is beautifully brought to life with great camerawork and a cast that is very much on top of their game. It is difficult to single out any one performance because all actors immerse themselves into their respective role and make it look convincing. Unlike other episodic Indian films that have been released this year, all the stories are consistently good, and their connectivity elevates each one. There are a few missteps along the way including some fractured writing in places and those who like the heavily commercial movies may find it a little slow, but that doesn’t stop this from being one of the finest Indian films of 2021.
Major credit goes to the director for offering something that is a world away from what we are used to seeing.