We all would have come across "those" people in our lives. "Those" who find it difficult to walk across the road. "Those" who find it difficult to pick up something that has fallen on the floor. "Those" people, who cannot do things we do. "Those" people face a lot of such problems every day.
Mind it, the problems are not because of their bodies. They know how to use their bodies efficiently, and have come to acceptance with the fact that they are differently abled. It is because of us, the privileged section of the society, constantly judging them for something they are not responsible for.
Ram's Peranbu is a realistic take on the lives of these humans in the society, who want nothing but acceptance. And what a way has he found to tell us the story of Paapa, a girl who is spastic. She is flawed, like every other human in the world, but we all tag her with the term 'disabled.'
The term disability is literally used to call a person cannot do something. But she does things that other mere mortals cannot do, and that is making a fellow human understand the other person's needs, become non-judgmental and more humane.
Paapa is the representation of the disabled community, while Amudhavan represents the 'normal' human, played by Megastar Mammootty with utmost subtlety, shedding the megastar tag preceding his name. The film does more to the actors than what they do to it.
Peranbu ends up as Ram's best and most detailed work till date. He has taken up a premise that very few films have taken, and has delved deep into it. I wonder if Tamil Cinema has ever had a story that speaks about the sexuality, and sexual life of a differently abled person, thereby making it really unique. On the other hand, Ram also shows the other side of the same coin, highlighting the difficulties that a caretaker undergoes in raising a differently abled child.
On the technical front, Theni Easwar's frames breathe into life and make us a part of the scene, which is required for a film like this. Yuvan's score complements the scenes really well and adds emotional value to the film. Kumar Gangappan's art direction deserves a special mention, especially because of his eye to detail.
Another beautiful characteristic of this film is that each and every character has flaws, which is why everything looks realistic. We can confidently say, Ram lives in our world because that's how he has characterized people. You don't have someone doing over-the-top things, and you don't have someone who is 'The Villain'. He paints a picture of the society on the whole, and leaves the rest to us, to identify where we stand.
One can call this film nothing short of magic, for it will make you think who is disabled, and who is normal. Is it the disabled girl, who takes us into her world, making us empathizing with her, and crafting us into better humans? Or is it the 'normal' us, who think she is disabled, and look at her with disgust or sympathy?
Through a film as strong as Peranbu, Ram tells us that the differently abled community don't need our sympathy to survive. He wants us to realize that they are as normal as anyone. They have their own needs that can be achieved through love and affection between humans. Even if Peranbu does not satisfy you, it will change you as a human, will remind how gifted our lives are, which makes this a film that has to be received with Peranbu.
[Review based on a special premiere show on January 29. Catch the film in theatres, from February 1]