After winning the National award for the Best Tamil Film and a few more prestigious awards and acclaims in International Film Festivals, ‘Kuttram Kadithal’ a film from almost entirely newcomers is making it to the screens. The film is released by J.Sathish Kumar of JSK Films Corporation who has produced and distributed some really good films in the past. What does his latest outing coming with the National Award tag has to offer for the audience?
The film is a simple story of an untoward incident and its effects on various people. A matriculation teacher Merlin (Radhika Prasiddha) on her first day in school after marriage to her lover Manikandan (Sai Rajkumar) slaps a fifth grade student Chezhiyan (Master Ajay), enraged by his answer to her inquiry about a mischief he had committed. Hell breaks loose as the boy falls unconscious and blood oozes out from his nose.
What happens to the child, the teacher and the well-wishers of both the sides forms the rest of the film.
Debutante director Bramma.G’s story-line may look simple but he has taken an incident or rather we may call it an accident that is prone to happen in any school at any time and has woven a script around its effects on various stakeholders such as the students, parents, teachers, principals or headmasters who are responsible for the day to day functioning of schools, school administration, police, media, general public and the state. The unique and more admirable aspect is that the script hardly indulges in blame-game.The writer-director approaches and presents every side with profound empathy (even that of a scoop thirsty journalist!!!). The film also rightly points out the characteristics of media that are more appalling, than the oft talked about sensationalism- the lack of multi-dimensional approach to an incident and empathy for the sufferers.
The film also cautions everyone against making hasty conclusions from what we hear or see. The film gives some valuable insights on the long debated battle of having sex education as a part of school syllabus and also touches upon the relevance of corporal punishment.
Apart from all these the film scores high in emotional content as it is basically an intense tale of a widowed mother who is on the verge of losing her only hope in life and a young and innocent teacher who is struggling for redemption from the guilt of an unintended sin. The emotional exchange between these two characters coming at towards the end will either make you clap or shed a drop of tear.
The narrative techniques employed by the director would bowl you down at many points. A plastic cover stuck with the slipper of the teacher used to convey how much she is immersed in the feeling of guilt and remorse after the incident and the Karnan Koothu used as a metaphor for her plightful situation are a few examples that stand out.
Dialogues of the film evoke claps in many places.Udhayan’s sharp retort to Merlin’s mother and the dialogue uttered by the Principal’s wife that waters down the rage of Udhayan come to mind immediately.
Deeply well etched out characters lend an able support to the noble intentions of the film. Not just the lead characters but also the supporting characters of Merlin’s husband, the revolutionary uncle of the child, his associate, the caring Principal (Kulothungan), his wife (Durga), Merlin’s mother who is a rigid Christian, the PT master (Prathi) who rushes the child to the hospital, the Science teacher (Nikila Kesavan) who advocates sex education, the English teacher (Aishwarya) on whose request Merlin attends Chezhiyan’s class, Manikandan’s office colleagues, the woman police officer entrusted with the job of tracing Merlin’s whereabouts, the scoop thirsty journalist, the officer from the School Education Department who comes in the last scene and a lorry driver who helps Merlin and Manikanadan on their return journey make good impact.
All the cast members have given impeccable performances. Not to forget that except Paval Navageethan almost all others are facing the camera for the first time. Radhika Prasiddha emotes very well and her theatre background comes in handy. We can expect her to sustain as a performance oriented heroine for years to come. Sathya has very few lines to utter and she has to convey everything through facial expression. And she has done the job with near perfection. Master Ajay makes you smile with his innocent looks and naughtiness behind that.
Re-recording by Shankar Rangarajan makes the desired impact and the songs are listenable. The ‘Chinnanchiru Kiliye’ song of Subramaniya Bharathiyar comes at the right moment and it strikes the right chord with good music and shots that are used to convey the background and present situation of all the important characters of the film. Manikandan’s cinematography with mostly natural lighting and the crisp Editing by C.S.Prem compliment the script well.
The film may be a tough pill for entertainment seekers. The initial sequences used to establish the characters are a bit far stretched than required; the film gets a little melodramatic towards the end and the climax may look like a convenient option.
But these are pitfalls that would have no say in suggesting ‘Kuttram Kadithal’ as a must watch.
Verdict: Kuttram Kadithal is a must watch film that bears testimony to the standards of National Awards given to films in India.
