The bloodstains have hardly dried off the Lankan coast, the pathetic remains of the recently concluded civil war that is widely considered to be an ethnic cleansing still looms large in the greater parts of the country that was once the home for millions of Tamils who inhabited the land from the ancient times! Santosh Sivan has once again donned the director’s hat and decides to take us through the sad journey through the life of one of the refugees who was lucky enough to survive the brunt of war.
The story is about a young girl Rajini (Sugandha Nair) who is a Srilankan refugee, who happens to land up in one of the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and she is being interrogated about her past. She reveals the horrid tales of the civil war, her past life at ‘Tsunami’ Akka’s (Saritha) orphanage, her marriage to Nandan (Karan) and her ultimate parting with her dear ones facing the wrath of war in an emotional drama that was poignantly captured through the exquisite lenses of Santosh Sivan!
A daring narrative from the ace cinematographer who did not have much qualms in establishing the lesser known fact of the war where the LTTE utilized children to fight the war has to be appreciated! No doubt he faces stiff opposition for depicting the fact, but it seldom shows any quarter of the LTTE in bad light as these sort of things are bound to happen during a war and above all a creator can always have a prerogative over his creations.
The characters were memorable, especially hats off to Karan, a boy who was stretched beyond his limits (he is affected by Down Syndrome in real life), Saritha as Tsunami Akka and Karunas as Stanley sir. The movie’s major drawback was the leisurely pace in which it was narrated even though it was just a little over two hours in length. The characters were allowed to emote candidly and were captured, but sometimes it gives a feeling that the editor was taking a short nap before cutting a scene. In some scenes, Santosh dips into his world of lights and shadows where logic takes a backseat and narrates the tale from his perspective which is hard to understand. There were far too many visual riddles to decode, nevertheless each frame promised to deliver an epic in its own sense.
Technically the film was top notch and largely satisfies a group of informed audience.
Verdict: Recommended for documentary enthusiasts
Rating: 2.5 / 5
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