Madras Matinee is a family drama starring Kaali Venkat in the lead role. Sathyaraj plays a narrator here. The film is directed by debutant Karthikeyan Mani.

Premise: It is a slice-of-life subject that emphasizes a middle class family. Kaali Venkat’s efforts in upbringing his children and how they evolve as responsible grown ups forms the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction: The film begins from Sathyaraj’s point of view, an intellectual story writer who aspires Steven Spielberg to make his Superhero script as a movie. But he is challenged to develop an easily relatable subject for the majority of the public, the character metaphorically represents the writer/ director Karthikeyan Mani. Sathyaraj’s voice-over with partial physical presence is existent throughout the film, it did feel like a convenient tool used to orally explain what is going on. Certain dialogues were too niche in Radhakrishnan Parthiban style which didn’t really fit in the shoes here. It probably could have been better and saved more time if the focus was only on Kaali Venkat and family. The other couple of aspects which were odd in the flow is the weirdly detailed showcasing of the officer from the Electricity Board and the unnecessary briefly discussed backstory of VJ Archana’s character. All said and done, the core of the film is Kaali Venkat, his family and the people around them who were part of the journey. They cover the majority of the runtime and the portions are beautiful. Be it the childhood setup, there are many cherishing moments to feel good about. Their bonding is portrayed in a poetic manner and we get to root for all of them, even for their pet dog. The sequence that takes place at the EB office is the main highlight, and especially Kaali Venkat’s arc in this particular situation is absolute cinema. The political angle involving Geetha Kailasam, the driving school portion with George Maryan, etc uplift the entertainment value of the film in a natural manner. Classy climax indeed which is as real as life, doesn’t just conclude things for the sake of it.

Performances: Except for an over-enthusiastic Sathyaraj who goes off limits with the dialogue delivery and choice of words, this film has got perfect casting. The supporting artists who are part of the area, the members of the family, Roshini Haripriyan in particular and the girl who played her younger version were amazing. Hands down this is Kaali Venkat’s best work till date, full feast for him to settle his acting hunger. Kudos to the director for creating such a powerful character which is so innocent and close-to-reality at the same time.

Technicalities: Songs could have been better as the film deserved more soulful tracks which were missing to elevate the mood. On the other hand, background score respects the flow by being a valuable asset, the calming stay in between the scenes are rightly utilized. The camera angles, short divisions and compositions truly raised the bar technically, the finesse that a film of such small scale is able to achieve is fascinating to witness. Kudos to the handheld camera operator who worked tirelessly to keep up with the vision. There was an evident potential to scissor the duration down to a crisp two hours, otherwise a tidy work in transitions.

Verdict: Sathyaraj’s character hinders the soul of the flow, mainly the opening stretch takes its sweet time to kickstart. The travel is adorable once things settle, the relatable characters along with worthy situations make it a memorable flick.

MADRAS MATINEE - A Neatly Made Empathetic Family Drama!

Rating - 3/ 5.