Review: Chinnanjiru Kiliye
Director Sabarinathan Muthupandian’s Chinnanjiru Kiliye is a reasonably well-made drama that focuses on father’s love for his daughter.
Producer : Senthilnathan S
Banner: Senbha Creations
Directed By – Sabarinathan Muthupandian
DOP – Pandiyan Kuppan
Music – Mastan-Khader
Editor – Kumaresh KD
Dialogue – Sabarinathan Muthupandian and Padmanaban G
Cast: Senthilnathan, Baby Pathivaththini, Sandra Nair, Archana Singh, Balaji Shanmugasundaram, Kulappuli leela, Sevviyal Kalaignar Chelladurai and Vikramadhithyan
Rating: 2.5 stars
Director Sabarinathan Muthupandian’s Chinnanjiru Kiliye is a reasonably well-made social drama that focuses on the love a father has for his daughter.
He manages to deliver a neat, clean entertainer that just about works.
What makes Chinnanjiru Kiliye pass is the fact that apart from narrating a touching, emotional story about a dad and his daughter, the film also seeks to educate the masses about a largely unknown scandal happening in the medical world.
Synopsis: Manikkam (Senthilnathan) is a soft-spoken, simple naturopathy practitioner, who leads a content life with his young daughter Chittukuruvi (Baby Pathivaththini) and aged parents in a peaceful place that is far from the cacaphony of cities.
Apart from treating patients with his vast and sound understanding of traditional medicines, Manikkam also runs an eatery that serves traditional Tamil food.
Life is peaceful until one day, his child suffers an injury while playing in the river. A broken bottle hurled in the river injures her feet and causes it to bleed. The girl’s uncle, along with another guest staying at Manikkam’s place, rushes her to a medical camp without her father’s knowledge.
Manikkam, who abhors allopathic medicine and treatment, chides them for taking his child to a medical camp without his knowledge. However, the issue is soon forgotten as the child recovers.
Little does Manikkam know that this is just the beginning of his troubles.
A few days later, the child is kidnapped at the village festival by a bunch of goons. A frantic Manikkam finds the thugs with his child and gives chase. However, they prove too much for him and make good their escape. A few hours later, he finds his daughter thrown in a heap of bushes, battered, bruised and in great pain.
The kid is taken to the hospital and thankfully, he realises that she hasn’t been violated. However, his joy is shortlived as he finds out that she’s suffered a wound that simply refuses to heal.
He begins to inquire and soon stumbles upon a shocking scandal…
To director Sabarinathan Muthupandian’s credit, he’s managed to make a film that grabs your attention and continues to retain it without having a single recognisable star in his cast. That tells you quite a bit about the manner in which the story has been narrated. It might probably be for this reason that the film has also won 24 awards in International film festivals around the world.
However, the problem with the film is that while the first half is rooted in reality, the next half isn’t. What Manikkam does on getting to know of the scandal and how his daughter has been a victim looks quite inadequate. That apart, the film also looks to take potshots at one form of medicine while promoting another.
On the brighter side, the film can boast of some really good performances. The first of these comes from Senthilnathan, who plays the role of Manikkam, confidently. As the distraught father, the man looks the part. The initial scenes involving him and Baby Pathivaththini are adorable.
Baby Pathivaththini also comes up with a commendable performance. On the technical side, Pandiyan Kuppan’s cinematography is a feast to the eyes. Mastan Khader’s melodious music is also another plus to the film.
