#12 - Meiyazhagan - The Truth

(*Spoiler Alert* - Watch the movie on Netflix & read this later)

Me being a guy who always wanted to live by nature & not against it, was obviously more against the rapid urbanization & ultra modern high production happening at a quick phase, which was always leading to the deterioration of nature. I could feel (not think) somewhere we are going very, very away from nature. But in human beings, all kinds of inhuman discriminations & inequalities are happening solely because of blindly sticking on to some shitty traditions being formed eternities ago. So, I am against these kinds of traditions, but still I support some kinds of traditions like organic farming techniques that don't cause any harm to nature & traditional medicinal treatments that don't cause long term side effects.(but still these medical practices should be updated to modern conditions & scenarios)

With these kinds of thoughts in my mind, I was being contradicted & questioned by one of my new friends who is more of a Logical & Scientific person. While conversing & interacting with him many times, I really had many eye opening thoughts that I haven't thought about all these days. These thoughts & ideas are entering into my core memory too..

During one of these conversations, we got into a deep thought analysis on how much tradition is okay & how much is not ? How much modernity is okay & how much is not ? After so many arguments, disagreements, facts, scenarios, case studies, I came to a conclusion that we should be rational enough to take only the good things from tradition & leave all the shit back & don't need to stick on it, just in the name of tradition. And I kind of started to look down on movies which support tradition blindly. Why because it may be instilled in the minds of innocent people who in turn are stuck where they are and growth stops there itself for them.

And, Yes. These thoughts made me misunderstand that “Meiyazhagan” also falls under this category because few songs & promotional interviews were on these lines. So, I kind of lost interest. After the movie’s theatrical release, people were saying it was too long & very laggy. As it was around 3 hours in runtime. Even a few minutes were trimmed after a few days and then the runtime became 2 hours and 38 minutes. For me length & lag is not at all a problem, the content should be good that is the main thing. 

But still there were polarized views about the movie like a group saying it an utter crap & another group saying it as the best movie of the year & a life lesson. So, one of my friends, she belonged to the latter group and was spamming all the social media with the praises & few mild spoilers about the movie, told me that my writings were somewhere near the lines of “Meiyazgagan’s” director “Prem Kumar”. This is really heartwarming for me on one hand, but I also had a doubt that, am I that capable creator as him. Yes, this kind of thoughts always come while your creation is not widely recognised & validated by others. When once validated by a large amount of crowd, this thought will go I guess. Her words made me want to watch this movie.

I personally believe that books & movies will only find you at the right time of your life. (Yes, this is philosophical stuff, not a scientific one.) So, I downloaded the movie after its OTT release & was waiting for a time to watch. And, it was this phase of my life where I am a bit confused & have low motivation to do stuff & was a bit stressed. And finally the day came, on a Saturday night after work, I started to watch this movie. 

The movie starts & it's 1996 & the movie already started on with heavy emotions. Little “Arul’s”(Arvind Swamy’) family is selling their ancestral home & are vacating Thanjavur, a Delta District and moving to Chennai, that too on a late night. Those shots, performances & background score everything was so perfect in conveying what they were actually feeling about. Like all their memories in their home, now leaving all those memories there and going to a new city is even painful. I can feel the pain being easily transferred to me within the first 15 minutes. I don't know whether this pain transferred via this movie or something else in me wanting a vent out is trying to let all the past baggaged emotions, made me weep with hot tears rolling out & heat liberating out of my face & my nose got blocked & breathing through my mouth. After this cry, I really felt so light, yes seriously.

Each shot was so good, like the boy touching the walls, mom crying on seeing the “Ammi”(Stone grinder) being uprooted, the boy watching the trees in the backyard, then picking a leaf & keeping it in his pocket. Then while they were about to leave, Rajkiran cursed the other family members for doing this to Arvind Swamy's family. But Arvind Swamy's father was like, “Please don't curse them, for your good heart it might occur” & stops him. Also this scene again strongly confirms that “Theemaikkum nanmai sei”( "Do good to people even if they did bad to you”). 

Now it's 2018 and Grown up Arvind Swamy is keeping food on the terrace & my god, some 100 parrots & pigeons flock towards his terrace. This shot was so, so good & this shows the competency of Prem Kumar as a Wildlife Photographer. That patience of the birds waiting from one place to another & finally every bird sits. This shot with slow motion & the BGM was pure bliss. Then he talks with those birds. Yes, he is only being transported to the city, but he is literally living with some part of nature. 

He gets back to his cousin’s marriage after years and his wife is so, so supportive in sending him back to his hometown. I felt so happy after many years, that a supportive wife is being shown in Tamil Cinema. Yes, Devadharshini nailed it. Then comes all the nostalgia part. After that Karthi comes in, & it goes like a genuine reunion after years. While interacting with Karthi, Arvind Swamy is slowly reinventing his authentic self. It was like a personal self healing journey in my opinion. 

Then, the Cycle story is a gem. This again reminds me that whatever you complain in your life is a dream of many. A Small act of kindness can uplift an entire generation. This also reminds me of Tamil Nadu government giving free cycle to school students, and also from the book “Duppatta Podunga Thozhi”(Wear a Shawl my friend) there is an entire chapter dedicated to mobility, which opens up lot of exposure on learning to ride a bicycle.The chapter is titled “Vaaganam palagu thozhi”(Learn to drive my friend).

And, now Karthi tells a similar story like what happened to the home of Arvind Swamy too. While telling this story he didn't complain or curse anyone. He may have adhered this quality from Arvind Swamy’s father & talking about him, he respects everyone even a small child too. 

During the pre climax, Karthi reveals the 1994 Summer holiday & how Arvind Swamy took care of him & treated him so well. This inspired him to be kind to everyone & be what he is today. Also there is a saying like “This is a cunning & cruel world & if you are too kind to everyone, people will use you”. But Karthi is kind and also politically aware. He can empathize with fellow human beings’ feelings & also he treats everyone equally without any partiality. 

Also in the whole movie men are so vulnerable & cry a lot. And it's completely okay I feel, but this society terms you as an ineligible person and says some bullshit like “Real men don't cry”. 

What bro.. (In Seeman’s Voice) 

Crying is an emotion that we all need, we were born with that cry. People were happy only because we cried during our birth, if a baby doesn't cry, then doctors declare that there is some sort of problem in the baby's health. Similarly, we also have to cry no point in holding on to those emotions so tightly. Also being ready to confess their mistakes & being genuine was so good to see. But being vulnerable involves a lot of internal conflicts, confusions but with all that being genuine & vulnerable is much needed I guess than being fake & invulnerable. Literally I feel being vulnerable makes us grow into a more human, but it has some cost too. It's okay, let's pay for it, but it's really so worthy, in my opinion. 

Why I am vouching for this movie so hard is that I am so emotional & a little bit rational, which makes me more vulnerable, I cry a lot, my thoughts won't align with the majority of the population most of the time. And I am living with a constant fear & confusion of whether I am going in the right path or not ? But these kinds of movies are like a sign that people like you are also needed & just go with the same good intent. Things will definitely fall in place. Also, I feel I am being kind to many people, I strongly feel I am & I have impacted many people’s lives. And I still will continue to do it. This is my motivation to live. Thank you team for making this movie & kudos to the entire crew who worked for this movie. 

Peace.☮️

Senthil Rajan.