A MELODRAMA THAT NEEDED FEWER DETOURS

FAMILY. Over the years, thanks to Tamil cinema's penchant for melodrama, this one word has resulted in or resolved many a conflict.

- AVINASH RAMACHANDRAN

If police stories are a sure-shot way for Tamil actors with starry aspirations to be considered seriously, then a family drama is the path taken by the same set of actors to become household names.

Interestingly, Soori, who is already a household name, isn't content with just being the friendly neighbour or the acquaintance with a heart of gold. It is time to become the patriarch, and that is exactly what happens in his latest film, Maaman, directed by Prasanth Pandiyaraj.

In what seems like a wonderful touch, we hardly get to know the names of the central characters of Maaman. We only hear of them as someone's brother, uncle, aunt, mother, grandmother, sister, friend, etc... That is why when a character suddenly says, "It is time to go to Poonga's wedding," it makes you wonder who he is.

Similarly, when you realise Soori, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Swasika, and the precocious Prageeth Sivan are named Inba, Rekha, Girija, and Nilan, respectively, it feels alien.

Aren't they maama, doctor, akka, and laddoo? Full points to the writing of the film that enables such proximity with these characters. This connection must be established because there is very little novel going on otherwise.

There are also quite a few things in the film that remind you of a few tropes that were prevalent in the blockbusters of the 90s and early 2000s, and honestly, they are best left back in that era. Nevertheless, Maaman is a rather simple story that starts strongly, and finds an emotionally rich midpoint, only to meander into a retelling of OK Kanmani that doesn't augur well for anyone.

Girija (Swasika) and Ravi (Baba Bhaskar) are a not-so-happy couple because they have been childless for almost a decade. Facing immense backlash from society and their own family, they finally have a child. But the film is not about these two. It is about the child and his maternal uncle, Inba (Soori).