Films dealing with children and kid have an instant attraction. Who would not love to watch children performing on the big screen? Close on the heels of ‘Pasanga 2’ another children based film ‘Azhagu Kutti Chellam’ has released. This film has children and also new born kids in the lead roles. Antony, the producer and director of popular talk show ‘Neeya Nana’ steps into the big screen as the producer of this film. Let’s see what the film has in store.

The film is all about people from different backgrounds in need of a kids and what they do with two new born kids.

A group of eighth standard students in a charity based Christian school win the opportunity to stage a drama about Jesus Christ’s birth on the Christmas day celebrations of the school. They are in search of a new-born kid to stage the drama. Among these children Murugu is brought up by an orphanage run by Thambi Ramiah. Parents of Jayan who pens the script for the drama, are heading for divorce. Another child in this group belongs to the family of Sri Lankan Tamils and his uncle and aunt who visit their home for holiday have lost their kid to the ethnic war in Lanka. Karunas is an auto driver who already has three girl daughters is desperate to have a son. His wife gives birth to the fourth daughter and deserts the child fearing her husband’s wrath. On the other hand Girisha is a teenage Chess champion waiting for her boyfriend who has left to international chess championship tours after impregnating her. She gives birth to a son. Apart from these there is Vinodhini, a teacher in the school who is yearning for a kid.

The film is all about how these people from different backgrounds get connected by the two newborn toddlers and how their lives changes after that.

The film does not have a lead actor or actors as such and it is a story of a plethora of characters a few of them are interrelated to each other in different ways. Such a storyline itself is new or very rare in Tamil cinema and the debutante director Charles should be appreciated for dealing a story with these many characters and presenting them ample detailing of the background of each character so that the audience can get connected to them

But this meant that the entire or predominant part of first half be dedicated to the characters establishment. The main plot starts only in the second half after the two kids are born. And this half is more engaging and the emotional content works out fairly well in this part of the film.

Characterization seems to be the strong hold of the director and he has proved it with almost all the characters in the film.

The character of Karunas has been written with the real aspirations of a lower middle class family head and not portraying him as a monster just because he desires to have a boy kid is a mark of level headed approach of the writer.

Another commendable portrayal is that of the impregnated teenage girl with a strong determination to not abort the kid.

The story of estranged couple and their relationship with their child has been handled with maturity.

The best part is that the film does not pass judgment on anyone and all the characters have been presented with fairness.  The situations are mostly close to reality.

Beyond these plusses, the film has a considerable share of clichés, melodrama, predictability and convenient turns.  At one point it makes us wonder whether the film has too many characters to just make it lengthy at a running time of 152 minutes.

When it comes to performances, Karunas has given one of his career best performances.  Thambi Ramiah as the kind hearted orphanage head pulls it off like a cakewalk.  Suresh as the principal of the school fits well into his role. Girisha as the impregnated single woman brilliantly expresses with the eyes and has given a seasoned performance for a newcomer. Murugu as the orphan kid stands out among the child actors while the guy who has acted as Jayan is convincing. John Vijay as the junior artists agent is manages to raise a few guffaws. Naren and the woman who has acted as his wife have rightly given what is required for their character.

All other actors, including the children just pass by without making an impact.

Ved Shankar’s rerecording gives a great leverage to the film. None of the songs are bad while the title song is really good and hummable. Many scenes look as if they are shot with substandard quality lens and this may be due to budget constraints. But Cinematographer Vijay Armstrong’s brilliance is evident in the way he has captured the final Rapid Chess scene that conveys the reasoning for the decision of a particular character without any dialogue.

Verdict  Azhagu Kutti Chellam is a simple, honest and realistic film that will touch your heart