Teenage Trauma

It is sad that Vazhakku No: 18/9 (Case No: 18/9) did not get a wide release in Kerala in spite of being presented by UTV, produced by Thiruppathi Brothers (Noted director N Lingusaamy and his brothers) and directed by Balaji Sakthivel (who gave us Kaadhal and Kalloori in the past). I had heard so much about the movie and now with someone like Manianpillai Raju producing the Malayalam remake being helmed by M Renjith (Noted producer and actor Chippy's husband), I thought Vazhakku had something in it.

Thanks to Emirates, finally managed to catch the movie on the flight. Vazhakku is a summary of what happens to Teenagers in today's world with misuse of mobile phones and absolute absence of parental care. It is so close to reality that it shocks and you may end up worrying about your teenage kids, cousins or acquaintances.

Moving back and forth in time, Balaji Sakthivel narrates the story of Velu, a teenager who works on a platform food stall and is silently in love with Jyothi, the housemaid who crosses his shop everyday while on her way to work in the apartment complex. It doesn't help that Jyothi dismisses Velu as another roadside romeo and her foul mouthed mother misunderstands the relationship that Velu shares with Rosy Akka, a sex worker who saves him from death.

On the other hand, you have Aarti, a +2 student who is constantly being followed by Dinesh, the rich teenage boy with a fancy mobile, a fancier car, a super rich single mom who never cares for him and his coterie of friends who always appreciate his ability to charm girls and record their private moments on his mobile camera.

With great difficulty, Dinesh manages to make Aarti fall for his charm but things go awfully wrong when Aarti comes to know about Dinesh's true intentions. How this affects Velu and Jyothi forms the rest of the movie. Giving out anything further would be damaging to the viewer especially since a Malayalam remake is on its way.

What works in favor of Vazhakku is the fact that the storyline and the events in the movie are easily identifiable. It could happen to anyone around us and that is what makes it scary. The characters and the situations are so close to real life and there has absolutely not been any cinematic liberties taken. It helps that the entire starcast comprises of newcomers, there is not even a single known actor even playing supporting roles. This brings a rare freshness and that "real life" feeling to the movie. In spite of being a teenage love story at its core, there are no aberrations in the form of meaningless duets and there is not even the compulsory kuthu pattu that is being forced into Tamil movies these days.

It is not just the lead cast that shines, it is also the supporting cast, because every character is deep rooted and has a "character" that is so rare in today's mainstream commercial cinema- be it the owner of the street shop, the helper boy- a koothu pattu artiste, Jyothi's mother who lets out her insecurity and frustration in bringing up a teenage daughter all alone by picking up fights with Velu, Aarti's working mother who has little time for anything or Dinesh's upmarket mother who in the guise of a school correspondent is actually the concubine of a minister and runs flesh trade.

It also helps that all departments synchronize very well to put up a fabulous movie- be it the camera that captures the streets and slums of Chennai, the sharp editing which is a pre requisite to keep you engaged in a narrative that moves back and forth, the sound recording that captures the background noise so well that you feel you are hearing a conversation that happens around you, the make up and costumes that have been kept as real as real can be and the background score that enhances your involvement in the proceedings...

The actors shine but all credit to Balaji Sakthivel who takes charge of the writing department and the direction. He proves that he is not a flash in the pan and has more aces up his sleeve. Here is looking forward to more from the maverick director...he is already in the league of yesteryear stalwarts like Mahendran & K Balachander who always made socially relevant cinema without following to the diktats of commercial cinema and still made popular films...A big salute to you, Mr. Sakthivel. Keep them coming...