After 22 years, Arulmozhi (Arvind Swami) travels back to Needamangalam, which is close to Thanjavur, to attend his cousin Bhuvana’s wedding. At the wedding, he meets an unidentified man (Karthi), who clings to him like a magnet, he informs his wife Hema (Devadarshini). Arul is unable to respond when Hema asks him who this man—let’s call him A—was since he is unsure himself. However, A treats Arul with the highest respect and shows him affection despite knowing everything about him.
Arul leaves his village in 1996 and doesn’t return for 22 years, until 2018. He wants to leave Bhuvana’s wedding celebration quickly so he won’t have to deal with his memories or any family members because he has both happy and sad recollections. But meeting Bhuvana and giving her the wedding gift, makes her as well as Arul tear up (watch the film to know why).
There are hardly words spoken at one point and yet you can feel the emotion between the brother and sister. Furthermore, this is not the only scene in the movie where silence effectively expresses emotions and talks louder than words. The film explores connections, memories, and stories, and while a bewildered Arul smashes his head trying to figure out who A is, the two unwittingly start a bond.
We now have Meiyazhagan, which examines human connections and the interaction with environment, from director C Premkumar, who gave us the lovely 96, which talked about unrequited love. He has also uncannily linked this movie to his first directing role; the movie is set in 1996, and in one of the village scenes, there are posters for the movie in the backdrop.
In Meiyazhagan, two men who are complete opposites form a friendship over memories and a missed way of life. It’s similar to 96. A is a straightforward, naive, country bumpkin type of person who is content in his own world, while Arul is a very reserved, urban-bred man who is looking for his roots. Because he respects Arul so much that he believes nothing Arul does is wrong, A is too nice to be true. While Arul can’t forgive and forget what happened in the past, A believes that the past has taught him so much that he is thankful for.
First of all, Meiyazhagan is not your typical commercial fare; rather, it is a masterfully written, poignant life narrative that develops gradually over 178 minutes. Karthi and Arvind Swami share fantastic chemistry on screen and have delivered excellent performances as have the other cast members like Devadarshni, Rajkiran, Sri Divya, Karunakaran and Jayaprakash.
Karthi genuinely inhabits the part of the naive and outgoing villager, a position we have seen him play in previous films. As we witness how well Arvind Swami performs the tremendous restraint and poise needed for his character as Arul, it is clear that he has grown as an actor. Karthi is Arvind Swami’s ideal companion on his path to self-discovery.
It feels like some parts could have been cut out to avoid the slowness and convoluted plot, but the filmmaker has taken a lot of artistic license with the nearly three-hour running duration. For example, the song during the history lecture, the jallikattu scenes, or the feast from Bhuvana’s wedding reception.
Here, Govind Vasantha’s music must be discussed. After 96, director Premukmar collaborated with the music director once more, and he once again produced quality work. The song sung by Kamal Haasan, Yaaro Ivan Yaaro, and the BGM stands out due to the music director’s eerie tones. The subtleties of rural life have been skilfully caught by cinematographer Mahendiran Jayaraju, and some of the scenes—particularly the silent nighttime scenes—are engrossing.
Karthi and Arvind Swami are responsible for making Meiyazhagan a memorable movie since they masterfully and captivatingly brought Premkumar’s intricate tale to life on screen.
