Thalaimuraigal (Generations) - A warm anecdotage!

I badly wanted to watch this movie when it released a year back, but couldn’t as it was not released in Bangalore. So when I heard that it's being aired on TV, I was excited to catch up. This was director Balu Mahendra’s last movie and not only that, I’ve heard some positive superlatives attributed towards it from various quarters.

The movie had all typical Balu Mahendra elements, like ladies sans makeup, wry old men with their wisecracks tucked up their sleeves, a eerily silent atmosphere that is often interrupted with unintentional noises or some emotionally orchestrated music. This movie narrates the relationship between a grandfather and his grandson, who hails from an urban backdrop. Primarily it’s about their exchanges, their sharing of tastes and other differences that arise due to age and culture.

Though the perils of urbanisation and Tamil taking a backseat as our mother tongue as a consequence seems to be the epicenter, the movie doesn’t seem to vehemently force an ideology upon the viewers. In fact it promotes acceptance and tolerance. The grandpa who teaches his grandson Tamil is equally accommodative in learning English when his grandson teaches him back. Learning life lessons practically from the eyes of a 10 year old was another beautiful stroke with respect to natural storytelling. That was done in typical Balu Mahendra’s fashion as we know it - a scene where the 10 year old asks his aunt and mom about breastfeeding and questioning a girl baby’s ability to wet so fast were conceived and conveyed so thought provokingly without crossing the delicate boundaries.

However, some cinematic liberties have been exploited to the hilt in order to make us believe that reformation has to be brought from within. For e.g. the scene where the daughter-in-law convinces her husband to stay back and serve the village - that was quite hard to believe, especially a girl developing such affection for the place and for her father-in-law in such a short span was a far fetched notion.

Even with these ignorable inconsistencies and a narrative that crawled at a snail’s pace, this movie would be remembered for it’s earnest attempt at showcasing unconditional and unflinching love with warmth and purity amidst the socio-political turmoil that we have worked ourselves into, thanks to globalization. Last but not the least, a heartfelt thanks to director Sasikumar (who also appears in a silent cameo) who has leant a helping hand as a producer to Balu Mahendra in his last directorial venture.