Nizhar Kudai Movie Review: A melodramatic assertion of toxic traditionalism
Nizhar Kudai(1.5 / 5)
There is a notion that films that profess wholesome family values have their heart in the right place. Nizhar Kudai is the perfect example of how, sometimes, films that vouch for traditional values inadvertently show the regressive foundations of the traditional family system. The film opens with a heartwarming appeal to reduce the number of retirement homes. It is an interesting storytelling choice to make your protagonist spell out the central message of the film at the very first scene instead of the climax, the way Tamil cinema is used to.
Devayani plays Jothi, a caretaker in the retirement home, who is revered and celebrated by the inmates, who, at one point, shower her with flower petals to show their adoration. After being awarded the ‘Best Retirement Home’ in the country, Jothi addresses the media (and the audience) to make a heartfelt appeal to reduce the number of such establishments, and for families not to abandon their elders. As preachy and unsubtle as it might be, the opening sequence, with its melodramatic appeal to save the disintegrating family system, is not the issue. Nizhar Kudai falters when it tries to find the roots of the problem it tries to throw light on, and eventually loses its way by professing questionable solutions.
Niranjan and Lancy are a young couple struggling to raise their daughter while managing their stressful IT jobs. They decide to hire Jothi as a full-time babysitter. The couple is cut off from their parents because they disapproved of their interfaith marriage. Niranjan and Lancy’s household, with their stressful jobs, liberal values, and materialistic inclinations, serves as a microcosm and a haphazard commentary on modern families. The film tries its best not to villainise or caricature Niranjan and Lucy, and largely tries to empathise with their lifestyle, which comes across as a nuanced writing choice. However, as the story culminates and reveals its judgmental tone towards the young couple, we realise that the nuances were just present to make them likeable, aid their supposed redemption at the end, and not to portray the complexities of contemporary marriages.
Director: Shiva Arumugam
Cast: Devayani, Vijjith, Kanmani, Rajkapoor, Ilavarasu, Vadivukkarasi
One of the most interesting portions of the film is when the young girl goes missing. In the ensuing investigation, almost everyone from Niranjan’s boss to Lancy’s elder brother, their neighbour, and even Jothi, is suspected. There seems to be credible grounds for the police to suspect everyone. Even as everyone is revealed to be a mere red herring, and the shadow of doubt is finally cast upon Jothi, we momentarily suspect her as well. Nizhar Kudai had the opportunity to delve deeper into this and come out as a complex character study on Jothi. Unfortunately, the writers opt for heavy-handed preaching over compelling storytelling. Devayani clearly outshines every other actor on screen with her flair for melodramatic performance, but with overwhelming pathos written all over her character, it becomes exhausting to see someone hold a vulnerable, pitiable, on-the-verge-of-tears expression for almost the entire length of the film.
Nizhar Kudai is an unsubtle commentary on the modern family system. However, it fails to make a pragmatic and compelling argument for the forgotten traditional values it champions. Towards the end, Niranjan and Lancy drop their dream of moving to the USA for a better life, Lancy takes a sabbatical from her work, and they realise that they need to spend more time with their family. While it advocates for a healthier lifestyle, Nizhar Kudai’s example of achieving it by giving up on your dreams renders its central message sounding bleak and hopeless. The film rightfully points to how families thrive when the elders are assimilated and not abandoned as a burden. However, the film does so with extreme examples, showing how retirement homes are the failure of modern families instead of society’s larger, psychological, and cultural failure.