Cast : Parthiban, Nandita Das,
Devayani, Shivaji Shinde, Vivek, Paandu, Arvind Bachan and others
Music : Ilayaraja
Photography and Direction : Thankar
Bachan
Storyline : When Shanmugham(Parthiban)
and Dhanalakshmi(Nandita Das) are school classmates in a village,
Shanmugham is secretly in love with Dhanalakshmi. But life takes
them in different directions. Years later, Shanmugam meets Dhanalakshmi
as a widow who then works as a labourer. He takes her home as
a servant. All the memories of the school life come back to Shanmugam
and he has a difficult time hiding his feelings to Dhanalaksmi
and at the same time, hiding all this from his wife Valarmathi
(Devayani). The story takes a turn when Valarmathi finds that
he was in love with Dhanalakshmi in school days and the rest of
the film deals with the subsequent reactions and feelings of Shanmugham,
Dhanalakshmi, Valarmathi and those of the children.
Directorial Touch : The director
has succeeded in his efforts to present a decent film with a story
which would kindle everyone's memories. The screen play is impressive
with incidents that is so common in life. The director should
be commended for bringing out the excellent performance from the
village kids. (especially the boy acting as young Shanmugam and
the girl acting as young Dhanalakshmi have done so well).
Wow!: For Parthiban, it is a
very different role from his usual mischievous ones.He has done
it very responsibly. Nandita Das and Devayani have excelled in
their performance.
Comedy(?) : The comedy of Vivek
and Paandu is not so impressive and gets lost in the seriousness
of the film.
Maestro's touch: Ilayaraja's
backgound score is very original and enhances the expressions
and the emotions of the artistes and the events.
Visual delight : The Cinematography
(by the Director himself) is breathtaking at times.
Very well done! : A
trip to the bottom of your heart is guaranteed! Thanks
to the entire crew, we leave the theatre with a heavy heart filled
with memories and satisfaction.
Azhagi is very beautiful.
- Pooh
