Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa is an anthology consisting of 5 short stories directed by Balaji Mohan, Halitha Shameem, Madhumitha, Surya Krishna and Richard Anthony.
It has actors Gouri Kishan, Teejay Arunasalam, Arjun Das, Lijomol Jose, Joju George, Nadiya, Sanath, Dileep Subburayan, Aishwarya Lekshmi and others playing crucial roles. The film has released on Amazon Prime Video.
Mugakavasa Mutham is the first film of the anthology, and is directed by Balaji Mohan. It stars Gouri Kishan and Teejay in the lead roles while Kalloori Vinoth, Anbu Thasan, Sharada and others play supporting roles. The first story of any anthology is usually trusted with the responsibility of setting the tone for the rest of the films, but here the film takes a long time to find its footing. In its 27 minute runtime, we get into the main plot only in the last ten minutes, and the conflict too feels very weak. Teejay and Gouri's performances are pretty good, and they make the film watchable. The other highlight is Sean Roldan, whose music is peppy, and the only song fits the narrative superbly. Overall, this could have been a lot better.
Loners, directed by Halitha Shameem is the second film that has Arjun Das and Lijomol playing the lead roles. Most of this film happens as a conversation between two people in a video call setting. Despite the bland nature of setting, Halitha Shameem's dialogues and Gautham Vasu Venkatesan's melodious music keep things engaging. The writing has solid support from Lijomol Jose and Arjun Das. The latter, despite his heavy base voice, portrays the vulnerability of his character Dheeran extremely well. Lijomol too shows a lot of maturity and the film works well overall.
Mouname Paarvaiyai, directed by Madhumitha shows us that the director is capable of writing beautiful stories filled with a lot of emotional depth. With KD engira Karuppu Durai, she captured the relationship between an old man and a young kid. Here, she captures the relationship between an aged married couple who are not in talking terms during the lockdown. This means there is very little scope for dialogues, and a lot of scope for music. Though a few places could have been left silent in order to amplify the effect, this short ends up as one of the best films of the lot. Joju George & Nadhiya's performances are terrific and cinematographer Preetha Jayaraman's frames are exquisite.
The Mask, directed by Surya Krishna deals with the story of a gay couple, featuring Sananth, Arun Kurian and Dileep Subburayan in the lead roles. This is the most unique story of the five films, as it touches upon the topic of how a son struggles to tell his father about his sexuality and open up about his gay relationship. While such a plot must be applauded, one can feel that this story could have been handled with more sensitivity. Right intent alone doesn't translate into a good film. The film also feels slightly long, and could have been trimmed for better engagement.
Nizhal Tharum Idham, directed by Richard Anthony runs high on philosophy, and is not far-fetched at the same time. The usage of Bava Chelladurai, who is known for captivating audiences with his storytelling skills is a fantastic casting decision by the director. The lead actor Aishwarya Lekshmi too comes up with a restrained performance and shoulders the entire film. The amalgamation of music, cinematography and Richard Anthony's writing works well.
Overall, out of the five, three films engage and entertain better while the other two are okayish and watchable. One common factor among all five films is that they all have extracted the best out of the music directors. With the directors attempting to touch various emotions that we would have felt during the pandemic, their hearts and the intent are at the right place.