Aishwarya Rajesh is a revelation. She displays hopelessness, powerlessness, vulnerability, grit and determination with ease and impressive conviction. Vijay Sethupathi, as usual, brings charm to his turn as a well-read and emotionally well-balanced youth leader.
Ka Pae Ranasingam movie cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Aishwarya Rajesh Ka Pae Ranasingam movie director: P Virumandi Ka Pae Ranasingam movie rating: 3.5 stars
It is a strange coincidence that debutant director P Virumandi’s movie Ka Pae Ranasingam shares an eerie resemblance to an event that happened in Uttar Pradesh a couple of days ago. The event in question is the cremation of a 19-year-old alleged gang-rape victim in Hathras, which was carried out under the grab of darkness by cops in a shockingly hurried fashion.
Well, after watching the film, we would realise that people being denied dignity in death is not a rare occurrence. A lawyer tells Aishwarya Rajesh’s Ariyanachi, “22000 natives of Ramanathapuram, who went abroad for work, have died in the last ten years. Ask the Collector’s office, how many bodies have been brought back?.”
In fact, the lawyer lays down this dispiriting statistics on Ariyanachi, when she is already on the verge of exhaustion after running from pillar to post to claim her husband’s body for several months. But, somehow she manages to keep fighting in the hope that someday she would knock the right door of India’s sprawling bureaucracy and finally her prayers will be answered by a government official, who actually cares for the public.
It is Aishwarya Rajesh’s show all the way. And Vijay Sethupathi graces the screen in a supporting role as Virumandi takes us through the rabbit hole of seemingly endless horrors of bureaucracy, looking for the last iota of empathy.
This political drama doesn’t focus on the drama that plays out in the corridors of power. But, it unravels the everyday struggle of common people, whose cry for help never reaches those in power. If you so desire to get your government’s attention then be ready to make a grand public spectacle that has the potential to dominate the air time of news channels. Of course, the real issues of the country will be overshadowed by the coverage of the sudden death of a celebrity. The film draws a parallel between how the death of actor Sridevi captured the imagination of the public over countless other tragedies. And Virumandi gets almost everything right with his political, social, environmental and economical observations that mirror the reality of today.
Virumandi creates an engrossing ambience that gives you a sense of having lived through the struggles of Ramanathapuram natives. And it is heart-wrenching to imagine such an incident took place in actuality.
Aishwarya Rajesh is a revelation. She displays hopelessness, powerlessness, vulnerability, grit and determination with ease and impressive conviction. Vijay Sethupathi, as usual, brings charm to his turn as a well-read and emotionally well-balanced youth leader.
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