Meiyazhagan Movie Review: Arvind Swamy and Karthi’s standout performances celebrate this emotional drama of longing, homecoming and roots

3.5/5

Meiyazhagan Movie Story:

Arulmozhi Varman (Arvind Swamy) along with his family had left his hometown in Thanjavur’s Needamangalam after losing their house due to certain misfortune. With a heavy heart, young Arulmozhi (Saran), his father (Jayaprakash) and others leave. Years go by soon and Arulmozhi returns to his native to attend a wedding. It becomes a bitter-sweet journey of homecoming to Arulmozhi, as he meets a relative (Karthi), who sports an infectious and childlike smile, and brims with innocence, as the former struggles to recollect who he is.

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Meiyazhagan Movie Review

A woman jumps in joy knowing she can nail the houses as much as she wants, when her husband reveals that he is planning to buy the house they are on rent. In another instance, a bride makes sure she unwraps every component of her brother’s gift on the stage, and her priority also extends to cleanly unpacking them without creasing the gift wrapper. Why? Because the cover is as important as the gift itself. What is trivial? Or what is important? Well, in Prem Kumar’s films, the importance lies in what the little joys matter to people, rather than belittle them on a macro level. Because what is life, if you don’t celebrate the little moments? 

Meiyazhagan is also a testament to this, the small joys of life, the random acts of kindness that have the power to percolate deep into someone else’s mind and memory, changing their lives. But most importantly, Meiyazhagan is a film about a man’s painful revisit of the land he once called home. Why would anyone refuse to visit the place they once belonged? Why would anyone want to run away from the soil that once acted as medicine to their wounds? Why would you run away from the emotions that have the power to make you realise how much you miss the place? Meiyazhagan may not give straightforward answers to these questions, but tickles that bone inside you that once suffered the loss of innocence to the harshness of life. And when life happens, humans are changed forever. Meiyazhagan becomes a soothing balm for the wounds you never knew you had.

When Arulmozhi skeptically visits Needamangalam, a place which once gave him the unbearable pain of separation, he is bombarded with so much love and affection from a certain man. Let’s call him the annoyingly sweet relative who might appear childlike and innocent, but understands pain and personality like no other. A few hours are enough for him to know his urban-return attan (as he fondly calls Arulmozhi) cannot adjust to unkempt lodges at his village, but it takes a whole film for Arulmozhi to know who the relative is. Prem Kumar convincingly makes a case for this, by weaving in stories of the past (sometimes with strongly laced political statements). Of course, a man of few words, Arulmozhi finds the relative talkative and overbearing. But he begins to understand why he is a chatterbox when his wife Nandhini (Sri Divya) says that this one day will provide fodder for the rest of the year to recall their time together. Prem Kumar tucks in details like this in fleeting moments, but long enough to register that after a point you are taken into this family like one among them.

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Prem Kumar uses the medium of flashback several times in Meiyazhagan, just like his previous film 96. In fact, the magical year 1996 too repeats in the film, the year Arulmozhi and family left their hometown for Chennai. The flashbacks start with a family losing their final hold on the land they call home, and then several ones come through the later stages, one about a bull named Dhoni, about a cycle, and another about a temple. Finally, the one that ties up both the men through a childhood memory. A butterfly effect you may call it, or a small deed that might have a lasting impact. Either way, your actions have the capability to leave a permanent impact, and Meiyazhagan is a testament to that.

There are no two ways to tell Arvind Swamy and Karthi play their roles so perfectly, and with extreme casualness that it almost feels like a reunion that we never knew we wanted. Arvind Swamy, as a restrained relative who needs enough time to loosen up, and Karthi as that relative who slowly grows on you in the most beautiful manner, make up for perfect choices. 

But this apart, Prem Kumar plants too many good souls in the film; a bus conductor who is the first to recall who Arulmozhi is, a groom who is never tired of listening to his bride telling stories of her brother, a flower seller outside the temple, a daughter who secretly knows about her father’s longing and dials the number he has been debating about, a father who sheds uncontrollable tears remembering his home, to name a few. It never becomes overwhelming because Prem Kumar also knows where to make you cry and laugh. Pockets of humour, some strong references to Sterlite killings and Jallikattu protests, and meaty characters stay longer to hold your emotions.

Also read: Director Prem Kumar Interview: 'If 96 made you cry in sadness, Meiyazhagan will bring you happy tears' | EXCLUSIVE 

Meiyazhagan Movie Verdict

Meiyazhagan is a film that truly holds the meaning of beauty in each of its frames. Brimming with emotions that get hard to put into words, Karthi and Arvind Swamy brilliantly shoulder the film with their simple yet nuanced performances. There is enough meat to chew, but Prem Kumar serves you with a neatly told narrative, very much like how the delicacies are served on the banana leaf in the delta kalyanam Arulmozhi and the relative visits.