Arulvaan – An earnest and educative film within its limitations!

Bharath Vijayakumar 

After ‘Thaen’, director Ganesh Vinayakan takes up another subject about the plight of the marginalised. If his previous film was about the lack of medical facilities for those living in the hills, in ‘Arulvaan’ it is about the lack of primary education to such people. The focus here is on the Kadar tribe. A note at the beginning informs us that though the characters are conversing in Kadar (their native language), it is translated into Tamil for the benefit of the audience. This decision results in mixed results.

The first half of Arulvaan spends time on the life of the Kadar tribe up in the hills and the forests. The focus is on Kurinji (the young girl who can be called the lead of the film) and her parents, played by Aarav and Ramya Pandian. The first of Arulvaan is watchable at best. The narrative isn’t focussed and we get scenes in bits and pieces. The information about the lifestyle of the Kadar tribe and the difficulties they face are fine. It even works like a docu drama. But the other portions involving John Vijay leave a lot to be desired. Arulvaan could have either opted for a completely docu drama style of narration or a tried to be a mainstream film with villains and all that. It tries to be both and this doesn’t really help the first half of the film.

In contrast, the much better second half works because it is focussed. The focus is on Kurinji and her plight. We are now invested with her character, and the emotions too work much better. The fact that Kurinji does not know Tamil and only converses in Kadar becomes an important plot point. I would have personally liked the interactions in the first half of the film too to have been in Kadar with Tamil subtitles. It would have lent more authenticity, but I can understand why the makers would have wanted to play it safe. Baby Krithika is quite good in the second half and carries the film through. Arulnithi plays what can be called an extended cameo. He is happy to take the backseat.

Arulvaan ends on a high after a much better second half. Wondered how the impact would have been much better if the difficulties faced by the tribe in the first half was translated more effectively on screen. For now, it comes across more as information than us understanding it through the characters and their emotions. Take for instance the scene where Kurinji travels 15 kms all alone to visit a school. The enormity of the act is never established. It is just conveyed through a dialogue.

 The cinematography (M. Sukumar), music (G.V. Prakash) and art direction (Lalgudi N. Ilayaraja) enhance the movie to a great extent. Despite the issues in the first half, the scenic visuals and the different milieu are what that keep us invested.

Bottomline:

An earnest film that wants to educate the audience about an important social issue. Working within its limitations, Arulvaan does manage to put its point across. The crisp runtime also helps.

Rating: 3.25/5