Prem Kumar does an excellent job in establishing the bond between Arulmozhi Varman (Arvind Swamy) and his village – the streets he cycles on, the pillars over which his house is mounted upon, the temple elephant that grew up with him, the mango tree in his backyard and more of all, his family and friends. It’s quite beautiful to see how Prem Kumar has made Needamangalam and Thanjavur as an important character in his film – a place that Arulmozhi Varman hates since he was forced to leave behind a big chunk of himself, only to discover that him and his family has unintentionally affected the lives of many – the bus conductor he meets, the strangers he is introduced to as “vaathiyar magan”, the tale of his cycle – and that he could never be who he is, if not for the village or the people.
The major drawback is the duration which wouldn’t have felt this odd if it was an extension of their heart-to-heart exchange but it was a rather ill-fitted and gratuitous sequence of politics and Jallikattu which made it an inorganic injection of political recitals.
However, it is quite refreshing to see stars in soulful, emotional and complex characters instead of the uni-dimensional, revenge-filled, bloodshed needy borderline sociopaths. Karthi has pulled off an annoying (self-aware) yet charming villager who has so much love to give for all – he’s so energetic and zesty that you cannot keep up with him while Aravind Swamy on the other hand plays a more clutched, composed but sensitive person who would rather run away from confrontation than sit down and face it.
To see two men on screen, rejoice and bond over cycles, fishes, grocery lists, Ilaiyaraja songs, be vulnerable and emotional while letting go of their macho, and virile masculinity was truly revitalizing.
This act of anti-patriarchy is reflected on how the female characters are structured too. Although Sri Divya enters only in the second half, she plays a soft-spoken but an adamant wife who stood her ground in inheriting her maternal house. It’s also quite appreciable to see Karthi take great pride in Sri Divya speaking English as a teacher. But the director has rather dropped the ball in characterizing Hema played by Devadharshini as Arvind Swamy’s wife – she is a supportive, empathetic wife and a big emotional pillar to her husband but her character is nothing but an auxiliary; we’re given no insights as to who she is as a person, whether or not she holds a job. She seems to be an ‘ordinary’ housewife who cooks, feeds, steam irons and cleans up after her daughter, husband and husband’s parents.
Like 96, Meiyazhagan too, stands out for the relationships it forms over its run-time – there are many characters throughout and they are the magic that drag you into their world; like the plaintive relative (Indumathy Manikandan) who opens up to Arvind Swamy about her drunkard husband and grieves over how she’s been left to fight him alone or Bhuvana, his sister who brings the entire wedding party to a halt because she wanted to open her brother’s presents then and there or Chokku mama (Rajkiran) who stands up to talk to his ‘Athhaan’ on phone.
If Arvind Swamy as a reluctant, anxious and distressed man in a wedding he doesn’t want to be in isn’t salient enough, then he will woo you with his eloquent eyes that express such grief and guilt but if that isn’t expressive enough, then the conversations and the poeticism in a mentor-mentee relationship of Arvind Swamy-Karthi will rope you in. This combined with the soulful Govind Vasantha’s fervent tunes keep you emotional throughout, paired with Mahendiran Jayaraju’s scintillating and alluring frames of Thanjavur make Meiyazhagan a heartfelt and wholesome film.
Rating – 3/ 5
