Karumegangal Kalaiginrana

intriguing interpersonal conflicts in stories, was confident in how he wanted to tell the story of Karumegangal Kalaiginrana. The story he has written, to his credit, is wonderful; looking at the world through a kindly lens, he strives to tell a cordial tale of two fathers searching for their daughters, and a son who seeks to redeem himself. However, the film (that comes across as a work of literature translated to screen) opts for a specific technique of narration, one in which the necessary details are held back for far too long in a bid to keep us hooked. So much so that more than halfway through the film, well past the irreverent intermission break, all you know is this: three subplots are finding their way, like a puzzle, to make a big picture. A 75-year-old retired Judge Ramanathan (Bharathiraja) — after an unfortunate incident involving his lawyer-son Komagan (Gautham Vasudev Menon) — leaves his home for good and gets on a bus to Manamadurai; just ike his near and dear, we too don’t know where he’s going and in search of what, but Komagan pursues after him. A middle-aged man named Veeramani (Yogi Babu), working at a parotta stall, is troubled by the memories of a young child named Saaral who calls him ‘appa’, and after her repeated attempts to contact him from the authoritarian orphanage she lives in, he caves into his emotions and goes to meet her only to get beaten up by the child’s father with whom he shares history. The third subplot involves a woman who works at the orphanage (Aditi Balan) and the mystery surrounding her past, and the death of her father during the COVID-19 pandemic. Slowly, moment by moment, Thankar tells us who these characters are and you realise this is a story that needs to ‘show’ the nuances of the complicated situations these characters are in. Hence, deciding where to spend all the attention becomes pivotal, and brevity should be the friend you need in these times. Unfortunately for Thankar... Here's my full review: