Paruthiveeran (2007)

When I got the Ticket, I didn't expect that I am going to a Village called Paruthiyur. Actually I saw each and every Character very near to me. I can smell the village. Its like a Fresh air. I saw the Local Dance and Festival mood.Karthi (Debut) 's portrayal of the character is impressive and he doesn't look like a debut-ant. He is so confident and have the casualness of an Experienced Actor. Then 'Muthazhagu', Priyamani (National Award Winner) what a Performance!. Her voice is very powerful and is very apt for this particular role. At Many scenes her performance can match any actress in the world and is the best role done by any actress in India in recent times, at a time when actresses are used as a Barbie doll. Saravanan and Kanja Karuppu. They give high level of support to the main cast for delivering the entertaining and tragic story of Paruthiyur.Yuvan Shankar Raja's Music was a milestone on his way to become the most versatile of all. Let it be the BGM or the Songs, Yuvan scores well and he once again proves this is Yuvan Yugam. After watching the movie at one stress you are not going to forget the song 'Aiyyayyoo' or 'Ariyatha Vayasu'., Masterpiece. Great and Splendid. He is so much talented that he proves again and again.After Bharathiraja's movies like 16 Vayathinile or Muthal Mariyathe, we had lost the touch of Tamil Earthy Movie thats so realistic and natural. Here comes the Paruthiveeran,. the story is very simple but the way Ameer had handled the script is terrific and hard to convert in letters. I wonder how this movie missed as the entry for best foreign film for Oscars. This is one of the rare movie that shows our tradition and nativity. Watching the movie in big theater will take you literally to the Village, and should watch this in at least Home theater not because this movie has 3D efx like Avatar or Roaring sound of Whistle like Sivaji or Special Efx extravagance Inception but for living along with the characters of the story. To see the beauty and simplicity of the Tamil Nadu Village.

Paruthiveeran is a great effort. With remarkable photography and great performances by the main actors. Karthik plays Paruthiveeran, a low-class orphan who is used to being a free personality, doing whatever he likes without any concern for custom or law. Priyamani plays Muthagalu, a stubborn, free minded, educated girl who is in love with him. They are, in fact, cross-cousins, and so, in a way (according to rural custom), should marry. But there was caste inter-marriage, and so, Paruthiveeran is considered unsuitable.Once Paruthiveeran falls in love with Muthagalu, everything changes. In a way, both have to sacrifice their freedom (and therefor themselves). This is a love that cannot be, but also cannot be stopped. It ends, perhaps appropriately, and very typical of Tamil folk stories and cinema (Kaadhal for example), in shocking tragedy.The story is original and compelling. Both characters are not generic, they surprise us with their decisions and choices. There is an inner tension between freedom and love (independence and belonging) and the tragic but inevitable way they conflict with each other. There are several great cinematic moments and inventions. The one in which Paruthiveeran, after tattooing his name next to his lover's on his chest, reaches for a peacock feather and caresses it, is memorable. The film tempers with some generic conventions - no makeup, no professional dancing and lip syncing. Some outside shots are taken from inside buildings, giving us a kind of 'peeping' feel. In one memorable shot, Muthagalu's father sits in a corner of his yard sadly watching as an entire day goes by.There are two 'spaces' in the film. The first - the open land, shot widely, almost 180 degrees of earth kissing sky. It is rural land, vast, limitless but also hopeless, unchanging. And the other space - an inside, between the walls of the house. The place were laws are kept and honor is upheld. It is a violent space, where freedom has to obey dignity, and so, our heroes have to act violently in order to stay free of it. Once they begin to love each other mutually, they pass from the first space to the second - from chance meetings outside, to planned ones inside. Like the earth and the sky, our couple's confinement signals their doom, they can only live outside, meet by chance, do whatever they wish to do, but only love each other in sudden bursts never by commitment. Once they let their love bond them, they start obeying its law, which crushes them. This is the inside, our second space, where change is possible, but our heroes can't survive it, their past freedom becomes their undoing (Paruthiveeran's friends, used to his visiting whores, attack Muthagalu, who is alone and unprotected because she has alienated her family).There is a tendency, among some western viewers, to regard any non-American or European cinema as some kind of an exotic artifact, showing us "how people live over there". If we wish to appreciate a movie for what it is, this arrogant attitude should change. This is not a film about "the caste problem" (there is no "caste problem", caste is a valid social construct with its own set of conflicts and paradoxes like any other). While some cultural knowledge may help, you don't have to speak Tamil to enjoy this film. It is a great work of art, coming from a remarkable cinematic tradition. An instant classic that has brought tears to my eyes.Tamil cinema deserves to be much more well known worldwide. Its main point of strength, for me, is in the way it uniquely utilizes folk elements (as opposed to "pop" elements), contesting hegemonic perceptions without being subversive. It is a mature cinema, yielding many excellent movies, with its own distinct film grammar and editing techniques. Paruthiveeran is a good entry point.

After long time, a great movie for Tamil cinema from AmeerAmeer, his third movie. He made a great impact in Tamil cinema with 'Raam'. Now another magic with the name Paruthi Veeran. The film made with excellent sense of film making. Well written story and screenplay with perfect support from cinematography. Yvan as usual, did it again with Ameer, with wonderful nativity songs and background score that travels well with the story. the song with Ilayaraja (Ariyatha vayasu...) still occupies my mind.Karthi (brother of Surya, son of Sivakumar) did a fabulous job. No one will believe this is his first movie. amazing effort in his debut.Priyamani, after long time a lady lead has a great chance to perform and she did a fabulous job.This movie will change the career for both Karthi and Priyamani. This is a kind of movie that changes the way of Tamil cinema

One can trust Ameer for strong characters in his films. Karthi and Priyamani could have been slightly more better at emoting but considering the fact that they are new, it's no big deal.One can delight at the routine and sets of a beautiful traditional Tamil village visuals. The screenplay has its highs and lows; blink during a rapid sequence of events and you'll miss a lot of the proceedings. Otherwise, the script is a simple love story. The climax is definitely one of the highlights, if not THE highlight. The ending is guaranteed to leave you in tears. Madurai lingo may be a little hard to grasp for those who aren't that well-versed in Tamil.Nice background score by Yuvan. Songs consist mostly of folk. It is the romantic ballad Iyyaiyo that will remain at the back of your mind.