Film-Snehavin Kadhalargal
Director Muthuramalingam
Cast Keerthi, Udaykumar, Athif, Thilak, Ratna Kumar
The film centres on a woman and the four men in her life. The title may mislead one into thinking it’s an erotic journey of a woman and her lovers. But the eroticism is limited to just one song picturisation. It’s more about the travails of a woman, her search for her soulmate, and her inner journey of self discovery. Helmed by debutant director Muthuramalingam, a journalist, it has some fresh faces and little known names in the cast and crew.
Most of Sneha’s story is unravelled as she goes on a long drive from Chennai to Kodaikanal with one of her suitors Ezhil. As she narrates her past to him, and her reason for rejecting his marriage proposal, we get an insight into her character. She is bold, confident and uninhibited — a female protagonist far removed from stereotypes. Keerthi aka Advaitha of Azhagarsamiyin Kuthirai, portrays Sneha with intuitive understanding and easy assurance. The men in her life include Santhosh, her collegemate, who had a crush on her, Pandian an assistant film director in Chennai, whom she is drawn to, the reticent Ilavarasan, and Ezhil who is drawn to her by the end of their road journey.
The college campus scenes are the usual ones with guys teasing junior girls and professors, and the mandatory campus song and dance number.
There is an interesting episode of Pandian, where the filmmaker takes a swipe at the film industry. He touches upon superstitions, the games of survival, the unabashed borrowing of plots from foreign films (Korean Films), the exploitation of assistant directors by unscrupulous producers and the luring of gullible glamour-struck moneybags with promises of roles.
The parts where Sneha shifts her attention from one suitor to the other as she searches for her soulmate have a realistic touch.
The supporting cast fits in suitably and change of locations and entry of new characters remove monotony and help sustain interest to an extent.
But the Kodaikanal sequences and the Ilavarasan episode slacken the screenplay.
There is a bit of suspense towards the end. The finale could have been crafted better. It seemed the director was in a dilemma here on whether to make it a positive or a negative ending.
A promising effort by a debutant filmmaker, the film is laudable for its attempt to move away from stereotypes and take on gender-relationships.