It is no surprise that every other landowner-farmer in the village has sold their holdings for a quick buck one of them even buys an elephant and uses it for remunerative purposes. The dose of realism imbued to the characters and the settings is what sets the stage for the message being delivered by the director: that farming as an activity requires the protagonist to put forth the hard yards to keep it going against heavy odds. What differentiates these characters and actors from typical Tamil films with a rural backdrop, is that these are not simply bystanders or spectators who occupy screen space, but look and behave like real people. Other supporting roles are also essayed by locals of a village near Usilampatti, where the film is set in. The central character, Maayandi (Nallandi), is played by a person who cannot be anyone else but an inveterate farmer himself.
Except for Vijay Sethupathi and Yogi Babu, both of whom appear in cameos, there are no other prominent faces. This is clearly done for the purpose of authenticity. Merku Thodarchi Malai, the key roles in this film are not played by actors, or at least by those who are familiar to audiences. Kadaisi … apart is the treatment given to the subject, and that is where Manikandan’s craft comes into play.
The trope is familiar very few in today’s rural India see merit in farming as a viable vocation and rare is the villager today who aspires to keep engaged in the rough and tumble that comes with agriculture. Kadaisi … is a take on the state of affairs in Indian farming today. Kadaisi Vivasayi (The Last Farmer), Manikandan’s fourth film and perhaps the most poignant of the lot.Īlso Read | Get ‘First Day First Show’, our weekly newsletter from the world of cinema, in your inbox. Kuttrame Thandanai but just the two other movies were enough to whet the appetite of viewers who had to wait months for the release of Kaaka Muttai was a masterpiece: a children-centred film that uses a Satyajit Ray-like humanist realism to make a searing point on consumerism and class differences.Īandavan Kattalai was a light-hearted take on aspirations, but also depicted its story and characters as close to reality without giving up on humour and cinematic sense. There is something different about director M Manikandan that sets him apart from his peers, if his body of work -Īandavan Kattalai - were to be considered.
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