| Release date: 18 December 2020 (India) Genre: Drama IMDb rating: 8.1 Director: Sudha Kongara, Vignesh Shivan, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Vetrimaaran Cast: Kalidas Jayaram, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Anjali, Kalki Koechlin, Simran, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Sai Pallavi, Prakash Raj |
The year 2020 seemed to be the year for anthology films in India because we had a slew of wonderful anthology films in a variety of genres and languages. And I’m here to talk about this one particular anthology that is not the sweet joyride you might be expecting.
‘Paava Kadhaigal’ (literally meaning “Sin Stories’ ‘) is a Tamil anthology film comprising four stories directed by Tamil cinema’s leading directors, all connected by the common thread of honour and love. Having the tag of being the first Tamil Netflix production surely piqued everyone’s interest. The movie’s trailer literally said “four gut-wrenching stories” and I was instantly hooked. I mean who doesn’t love a good sob story?…no one?…just me…?
The first segment “Thangam” tells the story of a transwoman Sathaar who loves her childhood friend Saravana who in turn loves Sathaar’s sister Sahira. In Spite of living in a village that constantly ridicules and Ostracizes her, Sathaar brushes all of that aside for the happiness of her friend and sister.
Kalidas Jayaram gives his best performance yet in his heartbreaking portrayal of Sathaar.
Tweet
Although I was disappointed that the role didn’t go to an actual transwoman, I’m glad that director Sudha Kongara had a transwoman on set to direct and help Kalidas with his performance. Shanthanu also turns in a brilliant performance as Saravanan. The story might waver here and there but the performances and the brilliant background score comforted and broke my heart all through the runtime.
The second segment “Love Panna Uttranum” was a bit of a doozy for me. It tells the story of Jothi who plans to confess to her conservative father that she loves Penelope but things take a different turn. I liked that director Vignesh Shivan went for a comedic route to tell a serious story but it was not executed well. Anjali and Kalki were good but there wasn’t anything great to write home about. And I was not a fan of the “twist” towards the end, it literally does nothing to the story.
The highlight of this segment was definitely Jaffer Sadiq as the annoying henchman Narikutty. He definitely livened up all his scenes.
Tweet
And I also liked that last bit of callback burn by Kalki (I do love a good swear word).
The third segment “Vaanmagal” directed by Gautham Menon was unlike any film directed by Gautham Menon before. Grounded with a brilliant performance by Simran and Gautham himself, the dark tale of a family’s ordeal after their young girl gets sexually abused was told in a great manner even if it sort of wavers towards the end. It was so good to see Simran in her role as the strict and old-fashioned Mathi who only wishes the best for her family. She manages to show those raw emotions and angst as the guilt-ridden mother.
The issue of the segment was handled delicately and ends in a kinda positive manner for once. There was this one segment towards the end that I was not a fan of but other than that I enjoyed it very much.
And finally we have “Oor Iravu” directed by Vetrimaaran.
Saving the most devastating yet fantastic segment for the last, Vetrimaaran tells you the story of a father who seeks forgiveness from his pregnant daughter Sumathi after she eloped with a man of a lower caste leading to her father cutting ties with her.
Now she goes back to her village for her baby shower rituals where her father tries to amend his relationship with her. Based on a true story, Sai Pallavi once again proves that she can be a phenomenal actor given the right role. And we all know that Prakash Raj is a veteran and I’m adding nothing new when I say he was also brilliant. Both of them made us feel a lot of emotions of different kinds, but both equally devastating and heartbreaking. I could really sue Vetrimaaran for emotional trauma for we all know what’s coming but we all suffer in the agony nonetheless. Easily the best segment of the film.
In conclusion ‘Paava Kadhaigal’ is not for the easily disturbed. It’s a tough watch at times but one that thoroughly manages to engage you.
Tweet
It has its ups and downs but also soars high in the right moments. I highly recommend this Netflix outing if you’re one to enjoy heartbreaking emotions and powerful performances.
My verdict:
Sumi Rauf
February 27, 2021 at 1:55 pm
Tough watch description makes it interesting, lovely take!