Iruvar Mattum Review

Monday, December 04, 2006
The film features only 2 stars and the two who deserve appreciation for this novel attempt in Indian cinema are the producer and director.

The milky waterfall, the gurgling brook, movement of wildlife that puts a chill down your spine, the twittering of the birds that's music to the ears, and the hero who lives all alone in this forest and has no one to talk to but himself.

The hero sounds like he is an unstable person, but he gives shelter to the bird chicks that fall down from the nest atop a tree and finds joy in feeding the tiny animals. This makes him a wonderful person.

In such a situation, the heroine gets lost in the forest and comes across the hero. She gets enchanted by the strong coffee served by the hero, interspersed with the love he shows and the beauty of the surroundings and things progress nearly to marriage.

Abhay says the wedding has to take place only with mother's blessings. Sunita asks how his mother can come to the forest. He takes Sunita by her hand into a dilapidated room and tells her, "Mother is here!" and points to a corpse.

Along with the heroine, the audience is also astounded and as the hero asks, "Shall we be 3 from now?" the film stops for intermission. The second half of the film shows what Abhay's true character is and what happens to Sunita.

Cinematographer PKH Das has shot all the beautiful and scary aspects of the surroundings. Seeing the location and the camera angles, one can deduce how difficult it had been for the director and the film crew.

With varied expressions and suitable body language, newcomer Abhay comes across as an experienced actor. Sunita's character is a compact combination of glamour and acting.

The lyrics "kaadhu vazhiye kanngal vaithu uyirai thaydu..." in the song "Azhagaa azhagaa..." are noteworthy.

Vijay Anthony's score for the racy film is apt except in places where he unnecessarily gives an impression of a ghost film. For example, when Sunita Varma is bathing as monkeys watch, the music is of a scary type.

Feeding tiny morsels to the birds, making a doll for Sunita out of coir and making a cradle out of the heroine's skirt for the baby birds are aesthetic to watch. The wooden house near the waterfall and the mother's corpse are examples of art director Murali's handiwork.

Despite all these plus points, the length of the film and lack of logic in some situations could stop attracting viewers. If these drawbacks had been attended to, director Dwaraki Raghavan could have commanded more attention.