'Mayilu' (Tamil)
Director: Jeevan
Cast: Shri, Shammu, Vidharth
Cinematographer-turned- director Jeevan’s new release (after‘Nyabagangal’), ‘Mayilu’ has taken nearly four years to hit the theaters. Its a rustic love story set against the backdrop of ‘superstition versus rationalism’. The film though fairly neatly scripted, has a jaded look.
And with about 145 minutes of running time, is a tad too long and dreary. The story centers around 'Mayilu',bold and fiesty, and of her love for the village elder’s son Chellathambi (Shammu, Shri). The love affair between the duo have a realistic feel, the two actors natural in their performances. When the village oracle dies, Chellathambi has to take on the mantle, his life turning topsy turvy.
An atheist and an activist of the rationalist movement in the area, the youngster is now caught in a dilemma between religious beliefs and superstition, and his own conviction. Temple rituals and folk-arts have been meticulously integrated in the script. The narration is very leisurely and slow paced. Too many songs slacken the tempo further. The love story changes track with the inclusion of the ‘Thozhar’ angle, and the episodes in a border Kerala village where the lovers had eloped to.
Vidharth makes a brief appearance as a an activist of the ratonalist movement and the hero’s friend. Kanja Karuppu’s comic antics hardly generate any laughs. ‘Mayilu’ offers no great entertainment for a viewer.