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Thanga Meengal: A Honest & Very Brave Cinema

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Thanga Meengal is a sincere, honest and a brave cinema, it is not an ordinary & routine Tamil film that comes every Friday. Thanga Meengal tells the story of a Father a school dropout who doesn’t have any regular job struggling to make ends meet, his daughter is his world and the two share great affection and care. Kalyani (Ram) is married to Vadivu (Shelly) and is working in a silver polish unit. His daughter Chellama (Sadhana) is studying in a Matriculation School, he is unable to pay the school fees since his salary is due for more than four months. He goes to work in Kochi and the rest of the story is how he gets back to his daughter is told in a heartwarming manner.

Kalyani’s father played by ‘Poo’ Ram is a retired government teacher who takes care of the entire family. Chellama is unable to cope with the teaching style adopted in the school & she is ridiculed by the teachers and the students, she has learning disability similar to what we saw in ‘Taare Zameen Par’ but the similarities end there. The film doesn’t address the medical condition of the student but rather focuses on the childhood behavior.

Ram takes a strong stance against the inefficiency of the schools to understand the hidden talents of their children, he also shows how children get attracted and prone to the happenings, incidents surrounding in their environment. The emotional scenes between Kalyani and Chellama have been handled beautifully and their conversations about Gold Fish, Santa, Death, are very lively. Ram has given a great performance as a struggling father not able to fulfill his daughter wishes, but the character lives in his own world much like Prabhakar in ‘Katradhu Tamizh’. He is happy, calm and peaceful in the company of his daughter but his behavior is different with his wife, father and others.

Sadhana is terrific as Chellama bringing a lot of energy and her expressions are magnificent. The interactions between Chellama and her friend Nithyashree (Sanjana) are the cutest moments of the film, their fantasies are bought out wonderfully well. Padmapriya makes a cameo as Evita teacher and she doesn’t have much to do but she adds dignity and credibility to the character. The second half of the movie drags when Kalyani goes to kerala for work and goes in search of a rainmaker in order to buy a pug for his daughter costing Rs. 25,000

The location itself is a character in the film with green hills, pretty streams and a railway track with frequent sound of passing trains, the cinematography by Arbhinduu Saara is absolutely breath taking. He has captured joy, desperation, tear of each & every character brilliantly. Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is out of the world to be honest right from the title credits to the end the BGM is truly remarkable, the songs Aanandha Yaazhai, Nathi Vellam are great with wonderful lyrics by Muthukumar. The paintings appearing in the title credits are beautiful and they set the tone for the film.

Ram deserves a standing ovation for making a brilliant film focusing on today’s educational system and how private schools pressurize students. Despite its slow second half, high melodrama in some scenes Thanga Meengal is a terrific, honest and a brave film told with utmost simplicity which is a rarity in these days. A film is not meant only for entertainment it also has to engage the viewer, make them travel with the characters, immerse you with its visuals & music and finally leave with a point, issue to debate and discuss.

Thanga Meengal is a must watch for its honesty, approach and treatment. 

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