A story set during the last weeks of India’s struggle for freedom, but its not about Freedom Struggle. A beautiful tale of romance between a Indian washer man and a British girl who is the daughter of the then Governor of Madharasapattinam (Chennai).

Parithi (Arya) is a young, daring and brave man living in washermanpet. (The cold stare and strong physique of Arya suits well for this character).

Amy is introduced first as a old woman in her eighties reminiscencing her past adventure and romance with a young Indian. (very similar to Titanic)!!

Through her eyes we see the flashback… We are transported to Madras in 1947… Like Rose in Titanic, Amy Wilkinson (Amy Jackson) lands up in India and on her way to the Governor’s residence,  she meets the young and strong Parithi. She is later so impressed with his bravery when he stands with chests high and unmoving before the British Commissioner of Police while all other men flees from the place.

She takes an liking for him instantly; while the Commissioner of Police loathes him and beats him up. Parithi is saved from killing by Amy’s intervention. Parithi on realizing the favour Amy did for him, wants to thank her desperately. Language comes as a great barrier for their communication. With great difficulty, he manages to convey his thanks to her.

This breaks the ice, and from then the duo start meeting each other often. Parithi starts learning English (language) for her. When he is sitting in a boat with her trying to show her the English sentences he had learnt, she stuns him by speaking Tamil! Apparently she had been learning Tamil to be able to communicate with him. Those scenes are lovely to watch!!

Later she falls in love with Parithi. Her father and her stepmother opposes this strongly and wants her to marry the British Commissioner of Police for Madras. This guy reminds me of Matt Letscher (Capt. Harrison Love character) from the Mask of Zorro. So he becomes the villain to their love and especially to Parithi ever since he opposed the Governor’s golf-course project.

The night before India gets freedom, this couple is found running for their lives! Due to the circumstances that arises then, Amy had to leave Parithi and go alone to London.

She calls it “her fate” when she is questioned on why she did not come back to India until its too late (in her eighties).  She also calls it her “unfinished business”, to meet Parithi and return the Mangalsutra that he had given her.

Did she find Parithi ? Well, at least I should leave that for you to watch it on screen.

To the review…

Amy Jackson is so cute and lovely and has done some brilliant acting too. Unlike some north-Indian actresses who have trouble speaking Tamil (lip-sync), she is able to deliver the lines very well.

She sings a song in English (like Celine Dion in The Titanic) for a moment, and in another moment she is seen singing a Tamil song beautifully! Considering this is her first movie and that too in a foreign language film, she deserves greater applause! She is definitely one of the reasons, you should watch this movie!

Arya, as I said is well chosen for the role. I cannot imagine any other Tamil actor who would have done that role better!

Late Cochin Haneefa, adds up to the humour quotient of the movie. Claiming himself to know six languages and being a Translator in service of the Governor, his antics are thoroughly enjoyable!

The cinematography and screenplay is very good. The non linear story telling (switching between old Madras and present Madras back and forth) has been done meticulously. Kudos to the director (Vijai)!

Coming to music, I had not listened to the songs previously. But one or two songs were good, though I don’t remember the lines now (In fact, I remember Vaama Duraiamma which was good in music and in picturisation). Overall, the music and background score were good. GV Prakash does not disappoint nowadays

The first half was enchanting but the pace reduced during the second half of the movie. Repeated and prolonged ‘chase’ sequences were the cause. The movie was a bit of dragging towards the end.

Another flaw in the story is that how Parithi could have established so many organisations (schools, hospitals, orphanages etc) without education and without any money in hand. Even if it is forty years, it is impossible to own such things (For a moment I thought, I was watching Sivaji the Boss )!!

But for these minor flaws, the movie was excellent and brilliant!

In 2010, I faced a movie-starvation with no good Tamil movie being released. This is the first good Tamil movie that I liked in 2010 (liked Naanayam, though I did not see that in Theatre). Would love to add this movie to my DVD collection once it is released.

So, Strongly recommended for a watch! However I heard critics say that the movie in the first half, closely followed the 2001 Hindi film, Lagaan. I haven’t watched it, so I don’t have the trouble of comparing which one was better

If you go without much expectation and the comparing-with-other-films thing, you would definitely love this movie!!

 

Samjosh

P.S. This movie is timely, as I would be shortly moving to Chennai, after 5 years of stay in Bangalore Madharasapattinam, Here I Come!