'Deivathirumagal'-REVIEW

'Deivathirumagal'

You’ve got to give it to him. From now and then, he turns up with one of those ‘memorable’ performances that invariably surprises you and catches you off guard each time. Be ready to face yet another extra-ordinary performance from this extremely gifted actor in his latest film ‘Deivathirumagal’. Director Vijay has struck gold yet again after his much-appreciated ‘Madarasapattinam’ last year. The director sure has made optimum use of the talented star cast with his solid story and script.

Unmistakably, ‘Deiva Thirumagal’ is a stand-out film which stands out from the crowd. Kudos to director Vijay for having taken up a sensitive subject and treating it sincerely. The movie is near perfect and is likely to rein a horde of awards for most of them concerned with it.

Krishna (Vikram) is a mentally challenged person (person with ‘special needs’) who is looking for 5-year old daughter Nila (Sarah), Ironically enough, Krishha himself is just five years old at heart. He comes across two lawyers in Anuradha (Anushka) and Vinodh (Santhanam), who are in search of a case to launch their profession. Anu understands Krishna’s problem and decides to help him.

The flashback shows Krishna’s life in Ooty as a helper in a chocolate factory. His wife dies after giving birth to Nila. Krishna, whose IQ is that of five years old, struggles to take care of his child. But he manages to do with his deep love.

The child is taken away by the rich and powerful Rajendran (Sachin Khedekar), Krishna’s father-in-law. They don’t want Nila to grow up with a ‘mentally ill’ person.

Now Krishna wants his daughter back. Anu and Vinodh decide to reunite them come what may. They challenge his father in law in the court but he hires an experienced and most successful lawyer Bhashyam (Nasser) against the inexperienced Anu. With a will to help Krishna at any cost, Anu is ready for the challenge. She is ready to go to any extent to make the father and child reunite. Watch the movie to find out what transpired later.

Vikram has rendered a stunning performance and excels in a role not many top heroes would take on willingly. His realistic portrayal is the key to the success of the characterization of Krishna. His overallperformance and in particular the climax sequence is amazing.

Baby Sarah is cute and lovely and surprisingly matches Vikram’s performance in the Court scene. Anushka looks very pretty and has put in a sincere acting prowess, staying away from her usual glamourous acting. Comedian Santhanam has thankfully stayed away from his typical double-meaning and vulgar dialogues and has done decently. Amala Paul, who loves the little girl and wants to retrieve her from Krishna, has done well. Nassar shows his class while MS Bhaskar, Sachin Khedekar and Surekha handle their roles admirably.

Vijay takes the cake for his handling of the subject without gimmicks. He has extracted some powerful performance from his cast. That he has avoided any glamour shows his confidence in his story. He has also driven home the message that the society should treat with kindness and understanding the mentally challenged persons.

Music by Prakash Kumar is good. His background score is pleasant but songs are a huge let-down except ‘Vizhigalil Oru Vaanavil’. Nirav Shah’s camera work is stupendous; he has captured Ooty marvelously.

Deivathirumagal does have its share of flaws. That the director has lifted many scenes from Hollywood movie ‘I am Sam’ (2001) doesn’t augur well for him. The portrayal of Krishna’s character raises many questions. Does a five year old child behave in the same manner Krishna behaves? The way he brings up the child looks heartening but given the mental maturity of the character, the whole exercise looks odd. The mature decision taken by him in the climax too is too much to digest. The people around him are shown quite insensitive towards his problem. The comical manner in which Krishna’s mentally challenged friends are shown is highly objectionable. Vijay tries to make the audiencesensitive about the feeling of the mentally challenged persons. Ironically he himself makes mockery of them. Anushka getting romantically appealed with Krishna too looks odd.

Despite these flaws Deivathirumagal works a big way with its sensitive approach, good music, spectacular cinematography, and excellent performances.