Producer: Indian Theatre
Director: Cheran
Cast: Cheran, Padmapriya, Senthil, Raj Kiran, Saranya
Music: Sabesh Murali
 
Cheran has come out with yet another good film. He deserves a pat from the back for moving away from the regular Tamil film and trying out something new. In fact, he has made a brave attempt to do something new and different. He has succeeded again with ‘Thavamai Thavamirundhu’. Everything in the film unfolds from human emotion. He has also extracted the best from lead actors Raj Kiran, Saranya, Padmapriya, Senthil and Meena.

Cheran, the actor, writer and director of the film deals with the world and people whom he has come across. So, everything about the production including the sets, location, make up etc goes along so well with the story narration. His character in the film has Tamil village backdrop with emphasis on the local traditions.

Cheran once again goes back to the memory lane in this film. He brings to light the nostalgic feeling about childhood, parental love, first love, hardships in life and the determination to achieve in life. He also highlights on going back to one’s roots. He has indeed come out with a film filled with message for both parents and children.

In the film, Muthiah (Raj Kiran) and his wife Sarada (Saranya) have two sons namely Ramanathan (Senthil) and Ramalingam (Cheran). They live in a remote village near Sivaganga in Madurai district. Muthiah also owns a printing press in town. His only aim in life is to provide the best education to his sons though he is illiterate. He works with all his might, takes loans and pledges his belongings to make his dream come true. His son Ramanthan joins polytechnic college while the other son Ramalingam studies at the Alagar engineering college.

But Muthiah’s dreams beat the grounds after Ramanathan marries Latha (Meena), who finds hard to adjust with the family. Ramalingam also elopes his college sweetheart Vasanthi (Padmapriya) to Chennai following some circumstances. The rest of the film is on how the aged parents tries to accept the cruel fate of life and fights loneliness. Ramalingam then gets a job. He realizes his mistakes and goes back to his village. He takes his parents to the city and makes their last spring of life a happy one.

Raj Kiran’s performance shines out bright for everyone to see. He makes the viewers stick to the film. Saranya’s role as Sarada is indeed a very good and challenging role. She has not disappointed anyone. Cheran plays the role of Ramalingam with elegance and ease. Padmapriya’s debut into Tamil films is a success. She has performed very well in the film. Senthil and Meena are also impressive.

M.S.Prabhu’s camera work is commendable. Anil Penrickar’s make-up for Raj Kiran and Saranya is superb and makes the characters look so real. Sabesh Murali’s background music is soothing and also enhances the mood of the film. But the film is too lengthy at 3 hours 20 minutes. It would be better if the second half were trimmed a little.

On the whole, it is a family film. But you should not forget to tell your parents, family or anybody who wants to watch the film to keep their hanky handy. It’s a different kind of film that everybody would love to watch.