Movie Review of Vedham Puthithu :
Actors/Actresses : Satyaraj, Saritha, Amala, Raja, Nizhalgal Ravi, Charuhaasan, Janakaraj
Direction : Bharathiraaja
This is a movie that comes close to being called a classic. From the voiceover of Bharathiraaja at the start of the movie about the reasoning behind the movie to the final exclamation of Satyaraj's character 'Balungra manithan Vaidegi enra ponnaiyum shankaran enra payyanaiyum valarkka virumbaran.....(Paraphrased - A humanbeing called Balu wants to bring up a daughter named vaidehi and a son named shankaran), this movie is hard hitting in its portrayal of casteism in indian culture.
Synoposis : Satyaraj plays atheist Balu Thevar, the headman of a village that is the microcosm of india with its superstitions, religions, castes. He is illiterate but comes up with pithy one liners on the pernicious effect of god/religion/caste on fellow villagers. His son, played by raja, comes back to the village after finishing his college education and follows the tamil movie hero script of going after the village priest's daughter played by amala who responds in kind. The village priest seeing the turn of events, decides to marry his daughter off as second wife to a brahmin guy than see her the sole wife of the village headman's son. Amala' s character escapes when going for the marriage and fakes her own death hoping to stop the marriage. The marriage party returns thinking she is dead. The village priest vents his frustration on the headman's son as the cause of his daughter's death and during the altercation, both slip over a precipice and die. The son of the village priest now becomes an orphan and is ostracised by the brahmin community of the village. The headman takes pity on the son and takes him in. The village priest's daughter comes back and is accused by the village of being a bad omen. She takes refuge in the headman's house and is reunited with her brother. The villagers in their fury kill the headman. The movie ends with a message of hope about removing casteism in the next generation.
Thoughts :
Satyaraj was excellent in the role showing the pride of an atheist who is up against the entire god-fearing village. He looks suitably chastened when the priest's son asks him the question about his name.(Balu-ngrathu unga paeru, thevar-ngrathu neenga padichu vaangiya pattamaa ? - Balu is your name, is thevar an educational degree ?). The line is placed very well in the flow of the movie and shows that someone claiming to be an atheist might not be a whole lot more rational than a theist. Of course, he has the choicest lines in the movie whether it is needling every religious person with the needlessness of god or explaining to his son, why he doesnt prefer him to chant mantras or his arguments with the priest. He has given a restrained performance and combined with those famous nakkal dialogues, makes him the character in the movie to watch.
Saritha has a smaller role than some of her famous roles and she breezes through it. She plays an ideal foil to Satyaraj as his very religious wife who goes behind his back to ensure the well being of her son through offerings to gods.
Amala and Raja satisfy the romance portion of the movie. I think this was the first movie where raja plays the loser role to perfection(thinking about it, his entire career is one long list of loser roles. Either his love interest dies or leaves him or he dies before their love gets anywhere). Amala performs her role well considering that she mainly is known for eye candy roles. Her tamil diction is kind of grating but nowhere close to what one hears nowadays.
Janakaraj is the villain in the movie. Bharatiraaja could have done a much better job of developing this character considering his importance to the screenplay. Hence, he comes across as a cardboard character when compared with Satyaraj's character.
Charuhaasan continues his role as always, the brahmin priest who holds onto his rules and rituals inspite of a changing world and losing his life in the middle of the movie.
The movie is consistent in its attack on casteism,god, religion. What is normal for a tamil movie(an invocation to God at the start of the movie) is glaring in this movie. The village headmand character is harsh on god, organized religion and caste. Some of the lines are extremely powerful. Paraphrased examples,
'Thappu pannittu saami kitta mannippu ketkareenga. Oru manithan kitta innoru manithan mannippu ketka saami ethukku ?' (you(people who worship god) ask for forgiveness for your sins to fellow man to a god. I would ask for forgiveness from another man. Where is god needed in this ?)
When arguing with brahmins about including the orphaned son of the village priest in avani avittam, the brahmins point out how the vedas specify who are brahmins and who are not. The headman's rejoinder is absolutely delightful as he points out the hollowness of those arguments. Fascinating.
When he pacifies a meeting where each caste attacked the other in a shouting match, his question towards the brahmins is very much valid. If brahmins insist(as most of them do) on being the enlightened lot of castes in general, why is it that they are so narrow minded as to follow caste system in the first place ?
The almost fanatical insistence of the village headman on approaching every issue from a humanistic point of view versus a religious point of view shows up in his dialogues.
The staple of bharatiraaja's movies are there, the treatment of romance. Whether it is amala licking off the pongal off her fingers or the whole sequence involving the handkerchief, the director shows something sensitive in his treatment of the romance.
I thought this would be a movie I wouldnt like given it has been almost 20 years since the movie came out.
