Actor Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, in her debut flick as director, has sought to present the travails of a single mother with bipolar disorder. To her credit, she succeeds in doing so quite forcefully.
A lower-middle class woman (Viji Chandrasekhar) gets hit by a car driven by a successful businesswoman who is on her way to a business event along with a friend. The injured woman’s family, comprising her son and daughter, gets worried when she does not return home. They inform about their mother’s absence to their dad, who now lives with his second wife. Together, they search for her, each remembering specific instances involving them and the woman.
Meanwhile, the businesswoman and her friend, to their relief, find out that the victim is not all that badly hurt. Just when they intend to drop her off at her home, she swoons, only to get up later and act weird. Initially, everybody mistakes her actions to be the result of the accident but then, a medical examination shows that she has bipolar disorder.
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The first half of the movie moves at a such a brisk pace that one does not even notice it going by. Lakshmy Ramakrishnan scores hands down in this half — be it the way the woman’s travails are showcased, the camera angles or narration. However, the same cannot be said of the second half, which meanders its way to the end, thanks to unnecessary episodes forcefully fit in.
The director has departed from the norm and has told her story in just a little over an hour-and-a-half; it deserves a round of applause. K’s music is another highlight of the film. His background score, in particular, offers excellent support to the visuals. Viji Chandrashekar excels as the single mother — both caring and violent on different occasions.
The film is not without its share of problems, though. For instance, characters that serve no purpose at all — such as actor Jayaprakash’s role. While the overall effort of the director deserves to be lauded, it is hard not to take note of sequences in which most male characters are portrayed as villains and all women characters, as altruists. The daughter portrayed as dutiful and caring while the son is disobedient and indifferent, is a case in point. Just as this is — the protagonist’s husband is depicted as being a mean, selfish, abusive brute while his second wife is loving and understanding.
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That said, the film excels on several counts and is worth a watch.
***
Genre: Drama
Director: Lakshmy Ramakrishnan
Cast: Viji Chandrasekhar, Sampath, Jayaprakash
Storyline: The tale of a single mother, who despite her bipolar disorder, successfully brings up her children on her own
Bottomline: Worth a watch