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EDITOR'S PICK
Rating: *** and a half
Vasanthabalan, who has given a memorable film in "Veyil", is back with
his third venture in "Angaadi Theru", a statement on the life of
traders and workers in a marketplace as busy as Chennai`s Ranganathan Street. In
fact, it won`t be out of place to mention that `Ranganathan Street` is the
actual hero of the film!
Jyothi Lingam - Lingu in short - (Mahesh) hails from a remote place off
Tirunelveli and lands up in Chennai to work for a living after the sudden death
of his father. He gets a job as a salesman in a famous shop on Ranganathan
Street and falls in love with Kani (Anjali), who is already employed there.
Their love affair secretly flourishes in the organization, which has strict
rules for its employees and workers and stringent punishment for those who defy
them.
The duo get badly shaken up by the management of the organization and quit their
jobs in unison. They then meet up with a totally unexpected and tragic accident.
The film finally ends up depicting the inseparable lovers facing upto the new
challenge confidently and overcoming it with aplomb.
The pathetic living conditions of the employees and workers in such glittery
show rooms are depicted in the most realistic manner by Vasanthabalan. The past
lives of the lovers and the incident involving the sister of Anjali appear like
short stories inside a novel. The decision of the love struck girl to commit
suicide leaves the audience in a state of shock.
The director has the courage to depict the darker side of the glittery show
rooms. The inhuman ways of treating the workers, the jail-like environment, and
the brutal punishment are shown astonishingly. The life in the busy street is
well portrayed with all its colours and shades. Vasanthabalan hasn`t missed the
positive sides of their lives and he indeed ends the movie on a positive note.
The liveliness of the workers despite the hardships they are subjected to is
portrayed quite realistically.
Vasanthabalan succumbs to the demands of the film industry by showing some filmy
situations that fail to fit into the otherwise realistic portrayal. At first,
the employees/workers are shown to be given food by the employers in a beastly
manner but surprisingly, in the subsequent sequences, everything appears to be
normal as the same workers are shown to be casually having their food. This
makes one wonder whether the initial sequence was `inserted` just for the shock
value.
The narrative drags due to the various sub-stories woven into it. As if it`s an
unwritten rule, all the poor are depicted as good-natured and all the rich are
shown as arrogant and unkind, which deviates from reality.
Debutant hero Mahesh gets into the skin of his character and delivers an awesome
performance. Anjali, in a de-glamourised role, looks beautiful and emotes well
in all the sequences including romance. Pandi, who shot to fame with a
teleserial, keeps the viewers reasonably engaged with his brand of comedy. Sneha
livens up the proceedings in her brief appearance.
Richard`s cinematography is top-notch. Jeyamohan`s dialogues are razor-sharp on
most occasions. A couple of songs are hummable and the background score is good.
Despite its slow pace and a few narrative lapses, "Angaadi Theru" is
watchable fare.