STORY:
Pariyerum Perumal (Kathir) hails from a village in the southern Tirunelveli district. He belongs to a ‘lower caste’ and enrolls himself in a law college, as he wishes to become an advocate.
Coming from a place where people from the so-called lower caste are dominated by those from the ‘upper caste’, Perumal is ridiculed at the college for his lack of English skills.
At the same time, this helps him strike a friendship with Jothi Mahalakshmi (Anandhi), who is from the higher caste. On coming to know of her friendship with Perumal, her family gets shocked.
Eventually, Jothi Mahalakshmi’s family poses a lot of problems to Perumal. Is he able to fight the mighty men and achieve his dreams and ambitions? Pariyerum Perumal by Mari Selvaraj has the answer.
ANALYSIS:
When the film Pariyerum Perumal was announced, it gained attention because it was being produced by director Pa Ranjith, known for his movies that speak about caste oppression- Attakathi, Madras, Kabali and Kaala.
But Mari Selvaraj scores bigger than Ranjith, to be honest. Even as Ranjith deviated from storytelling (in Attakathi and Madras) to message (in Kabali and Kaala), Mari Selvaraj has struck a fine balance between the both.
The director is able to convey the intended message in a powerful way. Yet no where he gets preachy. He knows the knack of how to hold a firm grip on the attention of the audience with narration and making the cast to give their best performance.
Talking about the cast, Kathir superbly carries the film on his shoulders with a performance that never feels overdone. And Anandhi, we must say, has superbly emoted in role which has the danger of becoming the typical ‘loosu ponnu’.
There are other gems too- Yogi Babu, Lijeesh and Marimuthu. Santhosh Narayanan’s subtle composition elevates the emotional connect while Sridhar’s excellent cinematography makes us a live witness to all the happenings.
Kollywood is lately witnessing a bunch of promising young filmmakers scoring big in their debut movies itself and Mari Selvaraj is one more to the list.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Pariyerum Perumal: Riding high
Director: Mari Selvaraj
Producer: Pa. Ranjith
Music Director: Santhosh Narayanan
Cast: Kathir , Anandhi
