A movie brimming with sentimentality - the usual sister brother affection accentuated by her getting married to the wrong person (Napolean) who respects neither her nor her brother. It pains the brother Vijayakumar even more so because this groom was his choice for his dear sister Radhika. Things between the two men were not always like this - a fight when Napolean is inebriated causes irreparable damage - one his eloped sister commits suicide and two, he blames Vijayakumar in some indirect way. But Radhika's mother in law is consistently nasty towards her right from the beginning - more so after she bears a girl child.
Things go downhill from there and people surrounding Napolean are no help either. He then demands Radhika's share of property and refuses to invite him for his daughter's ear-piercing ceremony. The brother and sister are totally shattered; the former always lets go because his sister's honor is at stake and the latter understands fully well her husband's unreasonable actions but stays docile because a wife has to be subservient to her husband at all times. Time passes on like this and the next generation has grown up. But what I find unable to comprehend is how Radhika, who was ready to cut her hand (literally cut her hand) just because her brother dared her to in their childhood, now with each atrocity of her husband, begs her brother very ardently to forgive him to safeguard her honor as a wife. Could'nt she just walk out from a place where she is not happy? Maybe not after the first fight but eventually seeing that she could never be openly cordial with her brother and his son, with whom she entertains thoughts of marrying off her daughter?
Well, after three hours of watching the drama unfold, it has to end and things take a drastic turn when she takes the decision-making into her own hands.
Rahman's music could be more apt. The use of some western instruments in a village backdrop seemed irrelevant to me. Maybe at that time (1993?) the songs may have been a superhit.
No comments:
Post a Comment