Kalloori

I watched the film Kalloori a few months ago and I really liked it, but since I was in the middle of a hectic work schedule I was not able to absorb it in full. Now I am on holiday for 3 weeks and I watched the film again. I thought it was a real masterpiece! Congratulations to the director Balaji Sakthivel for his outstanding direction.

At a superficial level, one could say that the film is about a group of school/college friends that encounter a new friend Shobana who is completely different from them. They admire her and are also slightly in awe of her. She becomes one of the group and there is a blossoming love between her and one of the members of the group (Muthu), but  before anything can develop, a tragedy occurs to separate them forever.

At a deeper level, the messages in the film are really thought-proving. The most obvious one is about the plight of the down-trodden in our society and their struggle for something as basic as education, which many city-dwellers take for granted. The situation when Shobana visits Muthu's house and realises what his world is like, then compares it to her own world where her ancestors are either  a "High Court judge" or "IG of Police" is beautifully portrayed. It is also a very pertinent issue and has been dealt with most expertly - it is not patronising or political or melodramatic as it has been in other films. The pure reality of Shobana's questions and subsequent advice to Muthu makes everyone think and become aware of the reduced opportunities that people like Muthu and his friends have. When she tells Muthu that for the sake of his father and sister (who gave up her own education so that Muthu can study), he must succeed in life, I was moved to such an extent that I wanted to be there helping them all.

This is a really thought-provoking film, and I think everyone should see it and learn something from it. I would really like to pass on my congratulations to everyone involved in the making of the film. The music and lyrics are also outstanding.