Love in the time of pollution
I read a series of short stories some time back and was thinking why a collection of short stories never work like a novel does. In fact it should work better because the author has conveyed so much in so little pages. Similarly I think why anthology films never get appreciated like feature films even if they’re interesting. The answer would be, whenever we read a novel or watch a full length feature film we compare it with other novel or films and come to a conclusion but when it comes to short stories or anthology films we compare it with each other and get disappointed with one or the other. Only if all the short stories or all the short films are good, only then we’ll be amazed by it, otherwise we’ll end up only being underwhelmed. So it’s a rarity to be amazed. Until and unless it’s a Sujatha story or a film like ‘Wild Tales’ it’s really tough to be truly amazed.
So with all these skepticism I went to watch Sillu Karupatti but what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. Pradeep’s voice makes you sit back and relax first up, if you haven’t already done yet. The opening is a little bit wannabeish trying to find love in the dumps of waste but it soon suits. A little bit of over the top acting by Baby Sara but that’s how she’s even in reality. The story unfolds seamlessly. The dialogues were tougher to understand due to the slang and fast pace. I don’t know why but ‘Kakka Muttai’ dialogues where loud and clear but here it wasn’t. Anyways there was a bit of humor and a lot of feel good factor. Except for the one scene where the protagonists mother says that someone had got a disease because of broken syringe, there wasn’t any sense for sympathy. They live in their own life happily.
The next story was better than the first. It had a certain ‘Before Sunrise’ feel. It had everything which could make a soupy love story. A cancer diagnosis, a marriage break up and cash crunch. In spite of all that it evolves into a beautiful story between the two leads, Manikandan and Nivedhithaa. What a terrific actor Manikandan is turning out to be. I liked him in Kaala but here he was even better. Especially the crow scene where he says to Nivedhithaa that it must be put up in Guinness. The scene was so real. Superbly written and astonishingly acted. Nivedhithaa on the other had was truly sexy and suited the role to the tea. Another terrific actor whom I spotted in ‘Magalir Mattum’. Instead of being a tear fest, it was a mild love story which brought a smile out of everyone.
The third story was for me the most disappointing one. That felt like something which was forced. Having handled a kid’s story and a youngster’s story, the director somehow wanted to fix an elderly love story too which didn’t work. Was the VTV house intentionally used? Anyways that was a good touch. Making Leela Thompson a miss rather than a missus made me cringe. I didn’t expect a toast of morality in this film. Why not Leela could have been missus and Sree Ram be single. It’d have added some dimension. The director could have her own logic for it but for me it was a drawback. The romance too didn’t work and so were the scenes. The acting and situation looked forced. Except for that one ‘dignity’ scene I could hardly point out any glimmer of hope.
The director has reserved her best for the last. A great story of a family of five, not four. I liked that welcome change first up. Sunaina looks lovely after a while. Samuthirakani could do this role even if he’s drugged. I don’t like his style of acting but he keeps the audience in splits. There are of course few jokes which were written keeping men in mind but its Sunaina’s part which was more intriguing. Especially her dialogues in kitchen on how she keeps hearing only the water droplets and clock ticking sound was horrifying. Like the climax of ‘3’. It was something very scary. The quietness of the scene hallucinated for a while in theatres.
It was a tough task to pick up the best of the lot. On any other day I’d have liked the second story best but not sure whether it’s because of the situation or the directors finesse I liked the last story best. So my order would be Turtles < Pink Bag < Kaaka Kadi < Hey Ammu
constantscribbles 