Tamil filmmakers often find themselves in the opposite ends of the spectrum when dealing with characters with disabilities. They have the tendency to jump the gun, resulting in two extreme genres — a sob story where the medical condition is used as an excuse to earn the audience’s sympathy for the character’s supposed miserable life. Or, we get a rapturous comedy where jokes are aimed at a differently-abled person, who’s reduced to nothing but a caricature. Sixer , directed by débutante Chachi, falls in the latter category, except, it’s anything but rapturous.
Remember Kasturi paati from Super Deluxe , Mayakkam Enna and countless other films? She gets to introduce Sixer ’s hero, Aadhi (Vaibhav), by welcoming him with a typical hero-glorifying line. What’s interesting, though, is that she calls him ‘Suriyan’. Her description of him is: “Like the sun, he rises to the occasion and sets in the evening.” The line may seem odd, even laughable, at first. But when you meet Aadhi (the name means ‘sun’), it makes perfect sense. Sixer kicks off with a nervous-looking Aadhi who’s worried about the sun setting.
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- Cast: Vaibhav, Pallak Lalwani, Sathish, Radha Ravi, Ilavarasu and Sriranjani
- Director: Chachi
- Storyline: Aadhi has nyctalopia, a medical condition that causes poor or no vision at night. He pretends to be normal, thus finding himself entangled in a series of strange situations
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The camera whizzes past him as he rushes home. It’s 6 pm and he’s watching
Take the scene where Aadhi involuntarily participates in a protest (by the way, who protests late at night?) against a minister accused of sexual harassment. He has no clue about what its for and listens to Tamil film songs at the venue. The minister’s henchmen chase the protesters away and they lose spirit as they disperse. Aadhi casually hums ‘ Tholvi Nilaiyena Ninaithaal’ to himself and raises his hand, as if to say, “We won’t give up. Not until we die.” This gesture gives the crowd a boost and the protest regains momentum. Come to think of it, it’s hilarious piece of writing.
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