In the recent years, filmmakers have been trying to showcase their films in a different manner. Though not everyone succeeds in doing so, that intention alone has been a constant factor. ‘A different film’, ‘a new attempt’ are tags that you find being associated with every movie these days. But here you have an experienced director who has decided to make an old school feel flick for the family audience to enjoy. No special experimentations, no major commercial compromises yet it entertains, at least to a larger part.

It is a known fact that Arulnithi plays a deaf and dumb in Brindhavanam. Immediately, what comes to our mind is the director’s earlier film Mozhi. Does it have any similarities with that classic? Maybe yes, both have some strong emotions, a pleasant love story, some lively fun moments and of course plenty of sign languages. Apart from these, there are nothing common between the two.

Making a story with a deaf and dumb lead is not an easy deal. Cinema is an audio-visual medium and you cannot overdo the sign language part as it would make the whole setup look priggish. That is where Radha Mohan shows his class. He does not let the audience delve too much into the sympathy part and also adds humour at constant intervals which give you a breather.

Brindhavanam is probably Arulnithi’s career best performance. At not one point, his expression looks superficial. A very challenging role pulled off with such grace. Thanks to Radha Mohan for showing us another dimension of Arulnithi. Though he has acted in a few good films in the past which too had some good scope for acting, his acting in Brindhavanam easily tops his list. This could be a game changer for the actor’s career.

Though Arulnithi’s performance is exemplary, one person who completely steals the limelight is Vivek. He has played himself in the film which in itself is an interesting and applaudable idea. After a very long time, Vivek gets to play an extensive role. Though he has been acting in reasonable projects, it is been a while since we saw that good old funny Vivek. He has literally taken away all the glory from the other cast who have also performed brilliantly. That is the power of comedy. It is not a no-brainer kind of comedy from the veteran. It’s more situational and timely. It is a character mixed with humour and emotion. A role as such is something that Vivek must have been longing for a very long time.

Radha Mohan’s usual MS Bhaskar also gets an intense role. We know how good he could act and once again he proves his worth in Brindhavanam. Tanya Ravichandran is another surprise package. This is her second film and had a good scope to perform than her debut film.

Pon Parthiban is one worthy addition to Radha Mohan’s crew. His dialogues are all top notch just like how they were in Uppu Karuvadu. Here is one writer who other filmmakers too could make use of. Vishal Chandrasekhar's beautiful ‘Yaar’ track sung by SP Balasubramaniam could strike a chord with the audience. It uplifts the emotion quotient when needed.