Neerparavai Review

Film watching must be a unique experience to the viewer. When you invest your time & money in watching a movie, then it means sense that it gives something back to you in terms of good pure unadulterated entertainment or raising a social issue or atleast making you forget all your stress & worries. Neerparavai is one of those movies which make you think about social, political issues around fisher- folk community. Their traditions, hopes, dreams are told beautifully in celluloid.

 

The film begins with some spectacular shots of sea captured wonderfully by N.Balasubramaniem, a young couple visits their ancestral village to meet Esther (Nandita Das) who lives alone in her home spending most of the time looking at the sea. Her son wants to sell their home so that he can build a new house in the city, but she refuses to sell her home because of her husband who went out to sea 25 years ago had not returned. The couple dig their backyard of their home and find their corpse of his father, Esther is arrested and then she tells how she met her husband Arulappasamy played by Vishnu an alcoholic & wastrel. How they fell in love, how Arul reforms into a responsible person is told in a simple manner with some heart wrenching moments which leaves you a tear in your eye.

 

Neerparavai stands out for its excellent casting: Saranya Ponvannan is brilliant as Arul’s mother, Ram as Arul’s father has lived his character which stays in your heart for a long time. The supporting characters such as liquor-vendor Mother Ebenezer (Vadivukkarasi), Church Father (Azhagum Perumal) & Joseph Bharathi (Thambi Ramaiah) impress with their subtle & effortless performances. Samuthirakani as the boat builder is terrific. Their lives revolve around the sea &the church, their emotions and customs are told in an authentic way.

 

The Dialogues by Jayamohan are hilarious & thoughtful; N R Raghunandhan's music elevates the film with superb songs like para para, ratha kaneer and yaar vettu with excellent lyrics by Vairamuthu. The entire first half of the film moves very slowly, the melodrama in some places gets overboard. The film essentially a love story & it’s the other characters that makes an impact, the romantic portions fail to make an impression. Sunaina as younger Esther doesn’t have much to do; Vishnu has done a lot of hard work and training to look every inch as an alcohol addict & then the reformed fisherman. Nandita Das adds dignity to her character & she performs very well in the climax courtroom scene.

Seenu Ramasamy has given a memorable film focusing on the day to day problems of fisherman community, their communal harmony, hardships & harsh realities are portrayed magnificently. It’s a compelling and wonderful movie watching experience.