Pannaiyarum Padminiyum

One of the hidden gems for sure. Every single actor has performed incredibly well. Excellent example to show happiness is in enjoying simple things in life. This movie is full of love and affection. People who complain and crib about everything cannot find love anywhere. People who care for others always find love in almost everything. There's very little plot but it's a joyful emotional ride. It will remind us of our innocent childhood especially if you are an 80s or 90s kid. Director of this movie is a monk who knows true value of life. Vijay sethupathi is a fantastic actor and kudos to entire team for creating heart touching cinema. Lovely movie!

Well, though this released earlier this year, I missed it, and was able to finally catch it, courtesy BIFFES'14. A charming, old-school, lazily-paced sentimental drama, that revolves around the material attachment the leads form to a classic car, this one's quirky and weird, but don't be fooled by its premise, since, in spite of retaining all the frills typically associated with mainstream potboilers, in terms of pace-breaking songs (thankfully, no one devolves into song-and-dance, though each song completes its full runtime to the movie's detriment, IMO, since they're not as catchy as turns perhaps by a Santhosh Narayanan or a Nivas Prasanna) and twists designed to tug at one's heart-strings, (thankfully just stopping short of getting into full-blown tearjerker mode). What I liked: The smashing of the good daughter caricature that's a signature in all movies within this genre, with the good ol' daughter in this turning out to be anything but. Also curious was the mother-daughter dynamic, which was puzzling, yet gloriously refreshing. The side romance track, which sometimes threatens to overwhelm the main track, finally does Not take mainstage, and I was pleasantly surprised to note that aspect. The aspect of how our materialistic urges dictate our every interaction, (mostly) forcing us into stuff we'd not actually do, has been depicted wonderfully, with each of the characters showing a subtly varying facet of that with the 2 extremes being the mom and daughter duo (along with their curious dynamic) and the male leads falling somewhere in-between. The best part? Everyone remaining unapologetic about that right until the end, and even going forward. It is rare for a mainstream drama to fully embrace that, and for that alone, I'd give whatever points that the makers deserve, forgiving the other transgressions when analyzed from that kinda perspective. Performances: Sethupathi has been consistently good in all his efforts, and this one's no different. The titular 'Pannaiyar', essayed by Jayaprakash, is solid, as always, and is a treat to watch in every scene he inhabits. The comic track is typical of a mainstream potboiler, and painted in broad strokes, with quite a bit of physical gags thrown in, and I guess it's better than most, but did Not work for me. If it were not for the fact that its written into the screenplay esp. for the final denouement, I'd have done away with it altogether, had I had the ear of the editor. Dinesh ('Cuckoo') and Sneha are good in their respective cameos, but it was not necessary to have roped them in, since it did not do anything much for the plot itself. * The revelation, though I've seen her before, in characters that are relegated to the background in mainstream Indian cinema, is Thulasi. Her rendering of a loving wife and mother-figure is typical, and she gets no assistance from the writing whatsoever, but she's made of sterner stuff, and makes the role her own. Award-worthy is an understatement, since she successfully steals every scene she's in, from stalwarts such as Sethupathi and Jayaprakash. No mean feat. I'd re-watch it to just focus on how much she's had fun making this. To me, this will always be Thulasi's movie. And that's a good thing. The background score is apt, but the time-wasting foreground scores are something this flick could've done without completely. All in all, a good-great watch, for all the reasons articulated above, in spite of its various/many shortcomings.

The movie is an essay on the ever-contemporary evolution of every human through the alternating steps of possession and release we climb through, energising while possessing and growing as we give until we are so comfortable with our position with our possessions that the joy of giving is all that's left. Vijay is a natural in portraying powerful emotions through understated flicks of eyelids and it was a joy to see him scale his insecurities and grow with a crisp look here and another there. I started watching the movie thinking I was going to finish it loving the Padmini, not too dissimilar to my experience with the Red balloon(English) or Cycle(Marathi). And I was overwhelmed with the love of the people instead, as they projected their own love for each other on to the car and grew, growing me. The casting is so beautiful- making me want to visit the little village even if only to see a little yellow flower fall gently on to the place where Pannayar's Padmini stood. Clearly another film for the all-times-classic rerelease series, lest most of us who missed watching it the first time are left out.

Amazing cast , story , cinematography ! All the characters did 10/10.