“Relative” Values

Your face lights up when one of the many husbands in the movie tells his subordinate that he might be a Bank Officer by profession but at home he is husband to his wife and it is his duty to help her out with household chores. The feeling is the same when the husband in the lead pair tells his wife that he is the happiest when he is able to nurse his wife during times of ill health. Or when he takes his wife to the pooja room and shows her the mirror and tells her that in his house, they believe that God is in everyone and that is the reason why they have hung the mirror in the Pooja room instead of photos of deities. You fall in love with the hero Nateshan’s sister (Devadarshini making a strong impact in a miniscule role) when Vishalakshy (Sneha) tells her that she is tense about the bride seeing ceremony considering the fact that she is going to meet a huge family and the sister very cleverly sends everyone away for the darshan at the temple and makes Sala meet the people in batches and eases her out- These remarkable scenes and the detailing that has gone into the characterization of each of the characters is what makes “Pirivom Santhippom” stand out.

Karu. Pazhaniyappan has always trodden a different path- he advocated that character matters more than looks in “Parthiban Kanavu”; he exhorted the youth to revolt against the political system through “Sivappathigaram” and at a time, when everyone is craving for their own “space” in life, Karu. Pazhaniyappan through the character enacted by Sneha is out to prove that the joint family system any days is better when compared to nuclear families!

His choice of subject and its treatment is both the plus and minus of this film- the theme is not really one that has enough scope to be made into a feature film; the movie focuses on its characters and their emotions so deeply that towards the second half of the film you feel it is not moving ahead at all. On the positive side is the director’s choice of actors who fit the bill perfectly and put in credible performances- Cheran is a delight to watch as he subtly underplays Nateshan and Sneha is the life of this movie- it requires remarkable courage for a mainstream, commercial female actor to appear in saris throughout a movie (the song sequences included) and that too with very little or even no make up!

Jayaram plays an interesting cameo- playful and serious at the same time. His endearing act as the doctor who understands Sneha’s predicament and the solutions and the insights from his own life that he offers Cheran makes even the young audience feel that may be Karu. Pazhaniyappan is right in saying that joint families are better! But will all joint families be able to carry forward the picture- perfect life as drawn by Karu. Pazhaniyappan is debatable and a difficult question to answer- and that pertinent question is what makes Pazhaniyappan’s concept a little difficult to digest!