Meiyazhagan Movie Review: An affecting, if slightly overlong, emotional drama

Meiyazhagan Movie Review: Like his warmly received ’96, director Prem Kumar’s Meiyazhagan is an engaging, conversation-filled emotional drama, that’s filled with affecting moments and leaves us chuffed. The story revolves around two men — one, reticent and with an emotional baggage, and the other, cheery and winsome. The former, Arulmozhi Varman, is played by Arvind Swami, while the latter is played by Karthi, and it’s his identity that provides a bit of suspense to this simple tale.

The plot kicks in when Arulmozhi, who has been forced to uproot himself from his hometown, Thanjavur, decides to visit the place after 22 years — to attend his cousin sister Bhuvana’s (a superb Swathi Konde) wedding. Even though he and his family are estranged from their money-minded relatives and have been living in Chennai, Bhuvan is the only relative he has an affection for, apart from the affable uncle Chokku mama (Rajkiran). His plan is to attend the reception, for Bhuvana’s sake and return to Chennai the same night. But then, he runs into a young man whose naivete is equally annoying and charming, and this meeting leads him on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.

Despite the potential for overblown melodrama inherent in the plot, in Meiyazhagan, Prem Kumar goes for a tone that’s somewhere between melancholy and heartwarming. The film does have a handful of moments, like the one between Arulmozhi and Bhuvana, that leave us all misty-eyed and choked up. But it’s the smaller moments that make it even more special. Like the scene between Arulmozhi and a wistful female relative (Indumathy Manikandan), who candidly tells him about her drunkard husband and how her life would have been better if she’d married him instead.

The director also injects humour into the scenes with throwaway quips that bring a chuckle and also help lighten the sombre mood a little. Mahendiran Jayaraju’s cinematography captures the comforting quietness of small-town nights while Govind Vasantha’s evocative score and haunting songs, especially Poraen Naa Poraen and its reprise version Yaaro Ivan Yaaro (in the impassioned voice of Kamal Haasan), worm their way into our hearts.

In his interviews, Prem Kumar has spoken about writing his stories as novels that he adapts to screen, and we see that literary quality in many portions. A lesser filmmaker might have even broken portions of the film down into episodes — The Saga Of A Cycle, The Victorious Bull, History Lessons, and so on — to inject additional drama into the plot and show off their new-age-y credentials. However, Prem Kumar is more of a classical filmmaker and chooses to let the scenes play out in organic fashion, in an uninterrupted manner that adds an experiential quality to the film; when Arulmozhi and his relative have their conversation, it feels like as if we are a fly on their wall.

Perhaps this wouldn’t have been an issue if this were a mini-series, but some of these episodes, like the portions involving a bull, and a speech by Karthi’s character on history, heritage and wars, do feel long drawn out. Some of it also feels like political posturing, and comes across as elements force-fitted into the narrative. Given the sedate pacing, they make the film seem overlong and a bit overindulgent.

That said, the first-rate performances from the cast ensures that even minor moments and characters, like the ones played by Karunakaran, Raichal Rabecca and Ilavarasu, linger in our memory. Even if senior actors like Rajkiran, Devadarshini, and Jayaprakash appear only for a handful of scenes, they make their characters feel real with their astute performances. Even Sri Divya, despite appearing only in the second half, makes an impression.

But the film belongs to Arvind Swami and Karthi, and the two actors do some splendid work here. Arvind Swami, in his most vulnerable role yet, superbly captures the angst of a man unable to escape his past; even the actor’s shoulders droop down, signifying the burden that the character’s carrying within himself. And playing a slightly tricky character, one that could have become an irritant with just one false step, Karthi finds the right pitch to make his character endearing.