Kanchivaram (Tamil) - movie review

Priyadarshan, the badshah of illogical comedies trying art house cinema? I was shocked too, but Priyadarshan has made many pathbreaking, award worthy creations which is just overshadowed by the comedy blockbusters he churned up the past few years. But will his magic still work? It does! and how?

The only word which does succeed to come out of your mouth after seeing this masterpiece is 'WOW'. and I should thank Priyadarshan as i saw this movie on my birthday, what a birthday present he has blessed me with! "The best one ever!"

It is a period movie set in the pre independence era in a small town of Kanchivaram in Tamil nadu, the protagonist Prakash raj works as a silk weaver, may be the best in the town. He pledges that he would provide a silk saree for his daughter when she is getting married, which becomes the talk of the town as a weaver simply cant afford such a humoungous price. He does save up some money but his brother-in-law ruins his plans, so to attain the inevitable he starts stealing a single strand of silk from the workplace, every single day and secretly weaves a saree for his daughter for 19 long years. He is involved in communism and heads a strike against his owner who gives paltry amount to the weavers, which comes as a deter as his daughter's marriage nears and he has to finish the silk saree on time. What will Vengadam do now? find out yourself.

The screenplay is so artfully done, the movie goes back and forth the time line with consummate ease. The editing is superlative. The street- play in the second half looked forced and the movie could have been better without it. The cinematography by Thiru is of international standards, the color tone gives the right background palate for Priyadarshan-the artist to work on. And the production design by Sabu cyril just takes this art work to epic proportions.

M.G.Sreekumar the musician sways us with his titling music, especially the lori which is sung when Prakash raj and Shreya reddy's daughter is born which is reprised to melancholy effect during the tragic finale.

The acting is of high order, leading the spectacular array of performance is the lead man of the story Prakash raj, whose portayal of Vengadam can only be termed as spectacular if not sensational. But such a great actor to whom all the emotions in the book comes so naturally is still having some trouble with getting his laugh right, his laugh as always looks so forced and unnatural. Shreya reddy as Vengadam's innocent wife has given a blinder of a performance. She did impress in her villainous role in Thimiru but she bowls every one in the audience over by a performance which could even fetch her a national award. All the other actors does their job convincingly.

Overall this movie is a work of art, a beautiful sonnet, a beautiful painting. Priyadarshan in his latest interview told his anguish on the selection on Taare Zameen par over Kanchivaram, After seeing the movie, we do believe that this tale of Weavers would have been a better bet than the tale of the Dyslexia patient.

Kanchivaram – Kollywood's answer to Mona lisa

Stars- 4/5