Magalir Mattum (Tamil, 2017)

One of the best things about that film is the immaculate work in casting. Credit to the entire team involved in the selection and approval of the younger versions of Gomatha, Rani and Subbu – Vandana, Shobana and Niveditha respectively. Nasser’s own son, Luthfudeen is chosen to play his younger self and Shobana who plays the younger Bhanupriya is cast as her daughter, Archana! That does not take away the effort in bringing together towering performers, Urvashi, Bhanupriya and Saranya for this film.

The follow-up to the outstanding Kuttram Kadithal would have always been challenging. But Bramma has risen up above that challenge to deliver a wonderful heartwarming tale in his sophomore venture. The way he inter-cuts between the past and the present instead of having a single long conventional flashback has worked wonders for the pacing and ends up engaging evenly.

All 3 seniors deliver mature performances with Saranya and Bhanupriya particularly shining due to their well-written back stories. Saranya shines when going from one extreme to another with absolute ease. Bhanupriya is majestic when she takes control of the car from Prabha and brings out about an aura around herself effortlessly.

Pavel, Livingston and Nasser play good supporting anchors to the leading ladies. While Nasser stays one dimensional, Pavel and Livingston perform admirably and delight us with their performances.

Ghibran’s songs and background score add value to the proceedings. The art directions and costumes play a vital part is convincing us of the period setting. The choice of photo for Bhanupriya’s campaign and her pressure cooker symbol are well thought-of. Manikandan’s camerawork is excellent in the flashback portions amidst the dimly lit hostel corridors and rooms.

In spite of mostly the holding the film together, Jyothika does go over-the-top on quite a few occasions coming across as the know-it-all rather than giving out the woman-who-empathizes feel. While her presence might have commercially made the film work, a bit more underplay and focus on conveying without uttering a dialogue might have elevated her role a lot more.

The film has either the immaculate husband or the ever-hating male chauvinist and does not give space for any male character who occupies the middle ground. Perhaps the male character who accompanies Prabha on her quests needed more screen time.