Let’s take this scenario, you dial “108” for emergency response to an ailing patient, the emergency response guys come over and usher the patient to the ambulance, but they are very lethargic and tag along slowly, stretching themselves, talking on the phone, how impatient would you be? Except that in Orange Mittai it’s the opposite! The patient takes his time to comb his hair, slowly adjusts his spectacles and walks around to the ambulance! With such a hilarious start Orange Mittai chugs along with Vijay Sethupathy as the 50 year old chronic patient “ Kailash”, Ramesh Thilak as “Sathya” the ERT guy and Arumugam Bala as “Arumugam”. Vijay Sethupathy ventures into production with Orange Mittai directed by Biju Vishwanathan who has directed movies in English, Hindi, Japanese, Urudu, Irish and many other languages.
Vijay Sethupathy pulls off as a 50 year old man quite convincingly; the extra weight that he put on during the days of Soodhu Kaavum seems to be intact and has literally benefited the man for this role. The character he plays is that of an old man suffering from a chronic disease who has succumbed to 27 heart attacks, yes you heard it right! He is a loner and lives by himself in a big house which has limited transport facilities for commute, and so he dials 108 for reporting Heart attack. The director presents all these within first twenty minutes into the show and presents an interesting setting. Ramesh Thilak and Bala have no clue as to how to deal with a patient who claims to suffer from Heart Attack but actions speak otherwise.
Director Biju’s movies usually contain sentiment and emotional attachment, and Orange Mittai is about two characters, both at North and South Pole come together at the end of the day, a simple journey which was supposed to end in an hour or two makes them bond for life. If this was the director’s intention, the movie would have been simple and straightforward, but the screenplay then roams towards old people who live alone after being deserted by their kids, the sentiments mostly expressed through silence after silence. A momentary lapse of silence in a movie sometimes makes way for more than pages of dialogues put together, however too much silence in place of words looks amiss.
Through the first thirty minutes the director sets pace for an interesting script in the offing, an ailing old man who is best described in youthful jargon as a “Freak” , an ambulance and two 108 workers who have no idea how to deal with this patient who does little to co-operate with them. The setting looks as if a fun journey filled with Vijay Sethupathy’s wacky antics is in the making, well then the gears shifts otherwise with very light hearted dialogues and then towards one of the most estranged relationships in our time, Father-Son sentiment.
Some crisp editing by the director himself has helped the movie to wrap up in less than 2 hours, with a run time of 104 minutes the interval breaks within 40 minutes into the show. Vijay Sethupathy’s character is completely whimsical; a chronic patient who refuses to step inside a hospital for his own reasons gives his attenders a hard time but wins their heart in the end. The man is indeed amazement for when it comes to stepping into the character’s shoes; he simply becomes one and makes us forget who really is. Elsewhere is Ramesh Thilak the talented actor as Sathya who loves his job, struggles to win his love and then misses his father too. Well imposed characterization indeed, Biju takes Orange Mittai with these two characters adding with Arumugam’s constant cribbing and some serene BGM from Justin Prabhakaran and stand out camera work from the director himself.
The movie after presenting itself interestingly in the first half, wanders to Father-Son sentiment and finishes off with “Ah good, could have been better” feeling. The movie misses some solid dialogues that could have taken the movie into the next level; the two characters weigh the screenplay on their shoulders and drive home its intention.
Orange Mittai is a simple feel good movie without much fuss and hype silently will enter into your hearts and leave with a small mark.
Verdict : A light hearted film !
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