Meiyazhagan Review - A Big, Big Winner!

Ashwin Ram

Meiyazhagan is an emotional drama starring Karthi and Arvind Swamy in the lead roles. The film is directed by 96 fame C. Prem Kumar, produced by Suriya and Jyotika’s 2D Entertainment.

Premise: 

Arvind Swamy and family move out from Tanjore due to a property issue. He visits back after 22 years to attend a relative’s wedding and there he meets Karthi. The interaction between them and the everlasting impact it makes forms the story.

Writing/ Direction: 

The opening scene vaguely conveys that there is a land issue for Arvind Swamy’s family without much detailing and for which they are signing off from their native once and for all. The film’s admirable journey begins when Arvind Swamy returns to pay a flying visit after two decades for his cousin-sister’s wedding. He seems disinterested outside, but it is evident that his heart is pounding when he showers his love through a touching gift. Post which he strives to run away without informing anybody, but Karthi’s limitless affection changes Arvind Swamy’s life upside down. Their bonding doesn’t jump from bottom to top all of a sudden as Arvind Swamy doesn’t really recognize him, the graph is gradual and it is probably the best part of their chemistry. Their conversations are filled with pure and warm brotherly love, so deep, so rooted and holds the interest well. There are ample nostalgic moments that instantly connect, not because of any cheap reference or so, it is the slice of life element that grabs the spotlight. The emotions work very neatly wherever intended and leads to tear-drops at several places. Feel-good moments galore as well for us to keep a smiling face, and all these come with a great craft. Excessive yet most of the talkie portions are engaging. Flipside there are two stretches that appear out of the blue for no reason, one about the Jallikattu sport and the other one is the Chola war that goes till the Sterlite issue, these two topics atrociously occupy a twenty minutes long junk. Also, the producer 2D Rajsekar Pandian’s crisp cameo is a put-off. The climax is overly stretched and dramatized, still there are some clap-worthy ideas in it to be satisfied about.

Performances:

One of the sweet character writing in recent times that is soul-stirring and definitely the career-best performance by Arvind Swamy. On the other hand, Karthi is so lively in a villager role who has zero inhibitions and his humour is super enjoyable. Their travel and arc deliver that joyous bromance. Devadarshini, Rajkiran and Jayaprakash play their share of neat supporting artist roles. Srividya gets minimal screen time and her character sadly doesn’t have any importance.

Technicalities:

Three songs that perfectly fit in that three dragon template with each track outperforming the others, Kamal Haasan’s voice adds so much value to the ongoing emotions. Govind Vasantha’s background score is blissful, the man has delivered nothing short of magic. Frames narrate a lot of stories, the visuals are so pleasing by giving that absolute satisfaction and the way nature is captured is so soothing. Transition shots are interesting, but the editor had evident scope for trimming which could have made the output better. Live sound is implemented, dialogues are clear-cut due to impressive work in the mixing.

Bottomline

The lovely characterizations of the leads, their inspiring performances, the heartfelt conversations between them, the mix of breezy and hard-hitting situations hide away the minor flaws which are primarily in the form of lags.

MEIYAZHAGAN - Pure and Beautiful as the Title Suggests!

 Rating: 3.5/5