Out in the cold

Tulika

Aandaan Adimai brings the team of director Mannivannan and actor Satyaraj back after a gap in a film that took a while in the making.

The base premise is interesting -- a man brought up by foster parents nurses a yen to explore his roots, find his natural parents.

As it turns out, his foster-parents are poor, if very loving, non-Brahmins. He finds out he is a Brahmin by birth and belongs to a family of purohits living in an agraharam (priestly colony attached to a temple).

The dilemmas this discovery create form the rest of the story.

Nizhalgal Ravi and Kamala Kamesh are the foster parents who raise Satyaraj. The young man earns his living in a variety of ways -- cobbler, lorry driver, even street performer who whips himself for the 'amusement' of others.

Mannivannan plays a mahout and Satyaraj's friend. Suvalakshmi is the school teacher who is Satyaraj's love interest.

A random visit to the agraharam sparks his personal epiphany, resulting in a reunion with his parents and two sisters who are glad to have him back. Dutifully, Satyaraj gets one married off and along the way, absconds from his foster home.

In his new life, he finds companionship in Divya Unni, who makes him learn his vedas and all else that will qualify him for a priestly life.

The young man ends up with two sets of parents who dote on him, two women who love him -- and comes the time when he is forced to chose.

Manivannan and his elephant -- which, incidentally, talks in a voice reminiscent of the late comedian Usilai Mani -- provide comic relief. There are profound thoughts on religion and life and some villainy as well in the form of the sneak who digs up details of Satyaraj's foster parents and spills it in a bid to spoil his newfound Brahmanical life.

The film has a lot going for it -- but thanks to weak handling, fails to create the impact the storyline leads you to expect, and in the final analysis, leaves you cold.

CREDITS
Cast: Satyaraj, Divya Unni, Suvalakshmi, Nizhalgal Ravi, Manivannan
Director: Manivannan
Music: Ilaiyaraja
Camera: Shankar
Editing: Venkateswaraj
Choreography: Shivshanker, Baburaj and Sampat
Stunt: Kunratur Babu