Thavamai Thavamirunthu Review

Cheran is back with a bang after Autograph. Cheran has identified his strength and used that to a maximum in Thavamai Thavamairunthu. Like Autograph, this story takes us in a trip down the memory lane but this time the theme is different. The theme that is hardly touched upon by the Tamil filmmakers before. It is about an ideal father. So far we have seen only stories that celebrated the greatness of mother but now Cheran throws a bright light on the sacrifices and struggles that every father faces in his life for their prodigies to come up in life. The father figure is portrayed like a god. It is shown effectively in such a way that when we go back to home, everyone (at least I do) will look at their father differently and treat him with more respect. And this I feel is the major success of the film.

Almost every frame of the movie shows the homework that Cheran has done on the script. The story is simple and straight. There are no major twists and turns. The movie is 3.20 hours long but it was not at all boring except for few moments in the second half. The two songs in the second half, “Oru muraithan” and theme music are stretched too long. Especially the theme music used in the montage while showing that family lives happily after all the problems. But there are just too may clips which makes it boring after a point and same is the case with “Oru muraithan” song which is used while showing the struggle of the lovers after they run away from home.

Without any compromise, Cheran has taken sufficient enough (little longer) time to unfold every single scene and that tests the patience of the audience a little. Yet I feel the movie will go down well with all type of audience. We all would have heard or seen such stories in our day-to-day life. But the way it has been transferred to celluloid is what that is laudable. Though it is a well-known story, it is great to see that there are no clichés in the screenplay. There are lots of touching moments and dialogues in the movie. One is sure to shed tears many a times while watching the movie. People may call it melodrama but I don’t find any fault in it if it can take the audience close to those illusionary images and make them empathize with the characters. Actually Cheran has tried to maintain subtlety in emotions of characters in most of the scenes and to be as real and natural as possible in every aspect of the film.

Rajkiran in the father character is the heart and soul of the movie. He has given an extra ordinary performance (May get a national Award) and may be his best in the career. Just look at his face expression and body language when he comes to know that his son was arrested for seeking a prostitute. Cheran has improved his acting skills. I didn’t like his performance in Autograph. Padma priya looks cute and fits to T for the role. Saranya has got some one-liners and she too has done a commendable job. The casting is perfect for all supporting roles are perfect especially the lady chosen for first daughter-in-law of Rajkiran role is perfect for that role.

Technically the movie is at par. Cinematography by M.S. Prabhu is true to life. For a change, he has shot the flash back scenes in color and present period in black and white. I thought that when the screenplay that travels between past and present meets at a point, the color scheme will transfer but that didn’t happen. It is okay, that was just my idea. Songs by Sabesh –Murali are good gels well with the movie. They have done a fairly good job in Background score too. The main theme cue is very good and that is being used all through the movie exhibiting various emotions through different orchestrations. I don’t whether this movie will be as successful as Autograph. But according to me, this movie is better than Autograph.

Though Bhagvad Gita is just a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna; it had something to say to all. While reading it, you feel like it is being told to you. Similarly, this movie has something to say to all of us. The highlight of the movie is that it drives the point home without being preachy. The movie teaches a lesson to the parents, the adult children and the society about the values of culture and family tradition. It tells how a father should grow his child and also how a son should take care of his parents in their final days.