Aarohanam Review

Women filmmakers are a rarity in Tamil cinema. A few of them had went on to make movies that touched emotional issues.

Joining the list is Lakshmi Ramakrishnan. An actress-turned-director, she has attempted a film that speaks about the travails of a woman who witnesses highs and lows in her life.

It is no doubt a different attempt by her considering that it is just a 90-minute feature film that largely reflects the events that happens in a family of a son and a daughter who go in search of their missing mother.

Kudos to Lakshmi for touching upon a untouched 'medical' issue without going too much deep into it. It is no preachy stuff too.

At a time when hero-centric films rule the roost, Lakshmi's guts to touch upon a female-centric film deserves a special mention. With an apt star cast and strong technical crew to assist her, she has managed to make it a good watch.

There may be some lacunae in the second half where a couple of events towards the climax are mismatch for the story, but the hardwork of Laskhmi makes it a good watch.

Viji Chandrasekhar, sister of yesteryear actress Saritha, plays the lead role. A complex role that she pulls it convincingly. She has lived a doting mother who undergoes emotions in her family life and lives a life for her children.

The movie begins with a mishap in which she is literally thrown out of the road by a speeding car. The flashback begins. Viji is a vegetable vendor who has had a miserable marital life leading to estrangement from her husband.

An epitome of emotions, she goes wild one moment and soft and lovable the next minute. Her son and daughter are her world. As he goes missing, they start searching for her all around the city.

It is awesome show by Viji Chandrasekhar. She lets her eyes do all the talking. Expressive and flamboyant, she takes things in her stride to deliver a convincing performance.

The rest of the cast including Uma Padmanabhan, Jayaprakash, Kavithalaya Krishnan and Sampathraj deliver their best.

Shamnmugasundaram captures the night life of Chennai well, while music by K compliments it well. The mellifluous background score adds fillip to the proceedings.

Kishore's editing could have been crisp especially towards the climax.

On the whole, a movie with such a knot needs to be welcomed for it marks a shift from the regular mainstream cinema.