36 Vayadhinile (Tamil, 2015)

It is indeed the perfect film for Jyothika, to hopefully get back to being in front of the camera regularly, where there is a bit of real-permeating-into-reel sort of plot, given her absence from the silver screen for quite a few years. Women-oriented films like Queen & Kahaani are uncommon in Tamizh cinema and even a script like this needed somebody like Jyothika to pull in the masses and she doesn’t disappoint one bit shouldering the film exceedingly well. It is an opportunity which another darling of Tamizh audience, Simran did not get & she has had to get satisfied with supporting/bit-part roles.

In spite of the theme of the film dealing primarily with empowerment of married women, there are many men who treat the protagonist with respect aiding her in realizing her dreams, and more importantly being comfortable to be led by a lady, something that is pretty rare to see in Indian cinema. The roles of Office colleague Prem, Father-in-law ‘Delhi’ Ganesh, Wealthy businessman Jayaprakash, the neighborhood teacher who helps in convincing the colony folks to join in Jyothika’s mission, etc are very refreshing to see.

With scores of ladies in the corporate world who are faced with the predicament of shedding their dreams/careers due to their spouse moving to another country, this film is extremely relevant, relatable, motivating & inspiring. The subplot of organic farming is again well thought of in these days of increasingly incurable diseases affecting relatively young folks. This trend of movies in the recent-past where farming (considering Kaththi & Kurai Ondrum Illai) has been given attention is nice to see.

While there is no true antagonist for the film, Rahman is the closest we get as a character that is not always in the right. It is almost unreal to see a husband spew such venom at his innocent wife but Rahman does make it seem convincing, portraying his frustrations of middle class monotony brilliantly. The teenaged daughter too does her part adequately.

The running time being just 115 minutes, the necessity of dialogues hitting the mark without rigmarole is paramount & Viji delivers on this aspect. Jyothika’s video to the people who follow her troll Facebook page, progressive change in exchanges with her husband over the course of the movie, lovable conversations with her daughter and so many more dialogues stay fresh.

In the time of every family member traveling by car or bike; it is so refreshing to see the usage of public transport aka Pallavan bus. The sequence where a beggar tells her that ‘Kai e kaatina auto than nikkum, bus nikkatthu. Bus stop is there madam’ reminds us of the famous joke of Vivek. The two instances where she tries to catch a seat bring a smile, contrary to Mani Ratnam films where buses/trains always seem to be relatively empty!

The sequences involving video calls from Ireland could have been created in a better way. It shows that it is a set. A little VFX could have resulted in a better output. A similar instance would be finding the office completely empty when Prem was showing them Vasanthi’s video. The office which was just teeming with people a few seconds ago seems to just have a handful of people present.

For a story that talks of woman empowerment; it leaves us wondering if Vasanthi has to struggle less than what is required. Her troughs and peaks are so momentary and the dialogues would be a case of blink-and-miss. There is a clip to support what is running on Vasanthi’s mind; but it does not develop. It appears more like episodes than a cohesive story at one point.

Having given space to folks like Delhi Ganesh & Rahman; it’s a grave injustice to waste the talent of whole bunch of other supporting cast such as Devadarshini-a mere sounding board, Sujatha – a jealous adversary, the vegetable seller, Jo’s supervisor, Muthuraman etc. It looks like they have been just placed as eye candy lending credence to the air of superficiality that prevails.