Manigandan KR
Chennai, 11 Aug 2018 10:58 IST
Ilan's film gently hints at the possibility of how institutions like marriage and family could soon be a thing of the past.
Ilan, who is making his debut as a director in Tamil cinema with Pyaar, Prema, Kaadhal (2018), seems to have delivered a winner that is refreshingly different.
The story that Pyaar, Prema, Kaadhal attempts to tell is not one that is easy to narrate. Moreover, it is a very tricky subject to pick, considering the Indian society is still a long way from accepting modern relationships in all their glory with open arms. Nevertheless, Ilan tells his story with panache and it is hard not to admire the manner in which he has dealt with this extremely delicate topic of live-in relationships with such expertise.
Sri, short for Sreekumar (Harish Kalyan), is the epitome of what society deems to be 'good'. He is a teetotaller, a one-woman man, an obedient son and a sincere worker. In short, a man who believes in conforming to societal norms and practices. Sri is madly in love with Sindhuja (Raiza Wilson), who works in an office in the adjoining building. Although they work in two different offices that are in two different buildings, Sindhuja's seat in her office is next to a window that is exactly opposite the window, next to which Sri sits in his office.
Everyday, Sri goes early to office as it gives him that much more time to admire the girl of his dreams in the neighbouring office. As luck would have it, one day, Sindhuja quits her job and joins Sri's office. What's more, she is allotted a seat right next to him in office. Sri's joy knows no bounds when he sees Sindhuja sitting next to him. However, her presence is too overwhelming for him to muster courage and profess his love for her.
To tell about Sindhuja, she is the daughter of Vivek (Anand Babu), a western dance teacher. The young lady is a 'modern', 'progressive', 'empowered' woman, who believes in living life on her terms. Her nature is in stark contrast to that of Sri. Nevertheless, opposites attract and Sindhuja begins to take a liking for the simple, innocent nature of Sri.
The two begin to work on projects together and one night, during a weak moment in a lift, they begin to make out. Eventually, it results in the two having sex. The next morning, both wake up, content and feeling satisfied about the happenings of the night before. But then, that is where trouble starts. Sri sees the copulation act as Sindhuja's expression of love for him. He wishes to take it to the next step, which according to him is marrriage. Sindhuja, however, looks at the act as just the meeting of a physical need and decides to leave it at that. She tells him that she "likes" Sri, but does not want to marry him.
Sindhuja's stand shocks Sri, who finds it hard to come to terms with someone having sex just for meeting physical needs. Eventually, after bitter fights and tears, middle ground is reached when Sindhuja says she is okay with a live-in relationship. This is something that Sri's traditional family will not accept. What does the couple do?
The film is a wake-up call for a vast segment of society that still believes in the institution of marriage. Ilan's film gently hints at the possibility of how institutions like marriage and family could soon be a thing of the past with more and more 'empowered' women, being more concerend about their wishes and their interests. It shows beautifully how women are now more than ready to sacrifice marriage and family for the sake of their careers. The film also very gently, in the course of narrating an interesting story that primarily deals with interpersonal relationships, underscores the fact that concepts like chastity are no longer significant.
Ilan also beautifully showcases the discordance between the genders when it comes to evolution. While men deeply believe and continue to insist on following the traditional system of marriage to have a family, women seem to have 'progressed' to the next stage. The film highlights the fact that more and more women are open to having a live-in relationship and career-oriented women look at children as distractions that could focus their energies away from achieving their ambitions or goals.
The film, despite some steamy, passionate scenes, is at no point obscene. That also shows the maturity of the director and the actors who have played the lead roles.
Both Harish Kalyan and Raiza Wilson, who were part of the first season of Bigg Boss (Tamil), have done a fantastic job in the film.
Harish looks the smart boy with his roots firmly grounded in tradition, while Raiza is the strong, modern, aggressive, ambitious, progressive empowered woman of today. She does not believe in any rules laid by society and puts herself and her interests over anybody and everybody else's. Both actors come up with sterling performances to breathe life into their characters.
The film also has good performances coming in from veteran actress Rekha, who plays Sri's mom and from actor Anand Babu, the son of legendary comedian Nagesh, who makes a comeback with this film after a long absence on the big screen.
This apart, Deepz, a comedian making his debut, impresses with his measured acting.
The film has exceptionally good music, scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja, the son of maestro Ilaiyaraaja. Incidentally, the film has also been produced by Yuvan Shankar Raja. All the songs in the film are mellifluous and make one long to hear them on repeat mode. What adds to the charm of the songs is the manner in which they have been picturised. Full marks to cinematographer Raja Bhattacharya whose visuals present a feast for the eyes.
In short, Pyaar, Prema, Kaadhal is one good romantic entertainer that is bound to leave you both laughing and thinking.
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