Amirtham Tamil Movie
Award winning writer Vedham Pudhidhu Kannan well known for authoring stories with offbeat themes, and dialogues packed with pathos has wielded the megaphone for the first time, and has been successful in that too. Unlike many mainstream masala movies, “Amirtham” is unconventional in many of its aspects. Be it the cast or the storyline or the direction everything is different and Kannan has showed his deftness in all these elements of filmmaking. He must be lauded for making a sincere attempt with an absorbing story.
Here goes the story...
Ramasamy Iyengar, a simple man and a staunch devotee of God is the chief priest of Kanganathar temple in Mukkudal, a village in Thiruvannamalai. He lives with his wife Rukku (Anuradha Krishnamoorthy), and Anuradha (Navya Nair) his daughter. Amirtham” (Ganesh) the son of Pasupathy Pillai (Rajiv), a Nadaswaram exponent in the same temple returns to the village after completing his engineering. He is an atheist and believes in Dravidian principles. People in the village have high regard for Ramasamy Iyengar for his righteousness.
In a chance encounter with “Amirtham”, Anuradha falls in love with him. But she keeps this a closely guarded secret fearing that her orthodox parents might not accept the affair. Anuradha's mother slyly learns of her daughter's love with “Amirtham”, and lends her support for their successful love life. However, when Anuradha tells her love to “Amirtham”, he turns down her overtures fearing that his father may not accept this. Lovelorn Anuradha finds her life blighted with the tragic end to her dreams.
In the meantime, oil explorers strike petrol under the temple belt, and ask the people to vacate the village, so as to set up an oil basin. The people oppose the move by the government tooth and nail, and in the process police arrest Ramasamy Iyengar
“Amirtham” steps into his father's shoes and takes up the cause and fights for justice. In a pitched battle between the villagers and the police, “Amirtham” is killed. At the end the Supreme Court stays the demolition of the temple.
Ganesh the debutant actor is right on target in acting and dialogue delivery. Navya Nair who has stayed away from acting commercial masala movies for some time has done extremely well in this offbeat theme. She is very spontaneous and natural. Her portrayal as a Brahmin girl is very realistic and commendable.
Girish Karnard's screen persona fits like a glove. Popular Carnatic singer Anuradha Krishnamoorthy, though her first movie has given an impressive performance. Yesteryear actress Rekha as Ganesh's mother has come out with a brilliant performance. Rajiv lends adequate support.
Bhavadarrini's music is commendable. The songs are melodious and have great relevance to the sequences. Srirangan Sannadhi Sevipaddhi… sung by Ilayaraja is the best song of all. K.V.Mani's cinematography deserves special mention. He has captured the picturesque Mulkottai, Kasi, Rishikesh and Haridwar, which were untouched before by any Tamil film unit.
This is a movie worth watching by all sections of people.
