THANGA MEENKAL MOVIE REVIEW

Director Ram, renowned for his dark and critically-acclaimed 'Katradu Tamizh', is back after a hiatus with 'Thanga Meenkal'. To be initially produced and acted by Karunas, the film has undergone transformation in casting and production, with Ram himself making his splash as a lead actor and Gautham Vasudev Menon co-producing it with J.Sathish Kumar. Ram's intense and thoughtful writing, is a pleasure for those who crave intellectual script-writing. Will this be a proper follow up to the outstanding, 'Katradu Tamizh' ?

Ram, as a lead actor is undoubtedly fabulous in his role as an affectionate, but with a different sets of strong but radically different views and philosophies, against his conventional folks. He has breathed life into the role of Kalyani and being the writer himself, there can be only a select few in the industry who can pull it off, other than the director himself. The character does look over-emotional and hyper-sensitive, but the traits are the actual elements, which adds myriad of shades to the emotional content of the film. Sadhana, makes a very strong debut as a child artiste in this film. It takes a lot of conviction and maturity beyond her tender age to pull of the character, envisioned by the director, with utmost ease. And Sadhana did just that, with a magnificent portrayal of Chellamma. Hats off to this child prodigy ! Nabhukumar Shelly, who plays the mother of Sadhana, is another splendid performer, whose nonchalant and nuanced performance, marks her firm presence in some sequences. 'Poo' Ram and Rohini were befitting of Ram's old-school parents, and they were natural and realistic in their respective portrayals. Another child artiste, Sanjana makes her debut as well, and she's an absolute sweetheart, in her own rights ! The rest of the cast such as Umapathy, Lizzy Variyar, Ramya and others were very apt for their roles. Padmapriya makes a very noble and lovely guest appearance. Kudos to Ram for a great casting !

Ram has the privilege of having the best of technicians as important film crew members for 'Thanga Meenkal'. Rajashekar has choreographed very natural and realistic action sequences, wherever it warranted. Production design was handled by Rajeevan and since most of the film were shot on actual locations, Rajeevan has appropriately put in necessary props for the settings, especially with the classroom setting and also with the protagonist's home. Veteran master editor, Sreekar Prasad's editing is flawless and though the film is a little stretched, the flow was not disrupted at all, and the slow-moving screenplay was a necessity for this script. Arbhindu Saaraa's cinematography was beautiful, especially with the scenic, hillside and lush mountainous landscape, wonderfully captured with his lenses. Also, the rustic beauty of Nagercoil was well captured as well. Ram has extracted the best of works from a newbie, pretty much !

Yuvan Shankar Raja, reserves some of his career-best works for Ram, and 'Thanga Meenkal' is not an exception. "Aanandha Yaazhai" is a beautiful melody, shot on Ram and Sadhana having their little escapades, in the spectacularly, breathtaking Achankoil hilltop region. Its an absolute treat for the eyes and the coloring for the graphic portion was well handled. "Nathivellam" has plenty of montages shot in and around Cochin as well as Nagercoil, with very well-shot frames. "First Last" was shot on Sadhana, in an exam-oriented backdrop, with the school, serving as the location. "Yaarukkum Thozhan" is the final song, which also has few montages and some of it were shot in the deep regions of Wayanad, with its misty and surreal greens pastures, serving as perfect backdrop. The background score was superbly handled by Yuvan and 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraja would have been proud by his offspring's achievement. Hats off, Yuvan !

Though the entire focus has been projected on the deep and loving relationship shared between father and daughter, Ram has actually brilliantly veiled the issue of the dark-side of private-funded schools, which runs on donations done by parents. Ram has wonderfully weaved in the agony gone through by poor-performing kids in such high-demand private schools, who vouch on their false-promises, of providing excellent education. The theme is something very topical and contemporary in nature, in respect to the current living conditions of middle and upper-middle class sections of the Tamil Nadu populace. As for the crux of the film, Ram has etched out many beautiful and poignant scenes for the father-daughter relationship episodes, and has also not forgotten about the other obvious characters present in the family, with equally well-written sequences. The story has been given credits to Ram and Shri Sankara Gomathy Ram. For those who were expecting another hard-hitting, high intensity, 'Katradu Tamizh'-type of film from Ram, 'Thanga Meenkal' might be a slight disappointment, but nonetheless, Ram proves yet again that he's a fabulous and well-read and well-thought writer. A big round of applause for the producers, for showing real passion by producing such a gem of a film.

'Thanga Meenkal' - A passionately done, sweet film with the highest order of acting and writing.


Ratings: 3.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL