Director Halitha Shameem is known for her emotional dramas like Poovarasan Peepee, Sillu Karupatti or Aelay. Now she is back with Minmini, which was shot over a period of eight years and stays true to the evolution of her young on-screen characters. (Also Read: Khatija Rahman reveals her father AR Rahman’s advice as she makes her debut as a composer with Minmini)
The plot
Minmini starts in a boarding school in Ooty (cool climate) and we are introduced to two boys from the same class – one is Pari (Gaurav Kaalai) who is very popular and an excellent footballer and the other is the newbie Sabari (Praveen Kishore) who loves chess and is an excellent artist. Both of them make a name for themselves and as the weeks go by, a rivalry develops between them. When a teacher asks the students what they want to do in life, Sabari and Pari’s answers are so different that it becomes clear how different they are. One day, an unfortunate school bus accident occurs in which some students survive and the tone changes completely. In the second half, we see Praveena (Esther Anil) finally joining her school and accidentally meeting Sabari while on a bike ride in the Himalayas.
The director has divided the film into two parts – one set in school and the other in the Himalayas in the lap of nature – and it revolves entirely around Pari, Sabari and Praveena. How Sabari and Praveena find each other again and what their journey of self-discovery is is what Shameem shows us. However, the main theme is survivor’s guilt and what people go through when they are alive and have lost someone, which is what she tries to convey in this drama. So does it work?
Another attempt
Minmini is a different attempt in Tamil cinema and one has to commend Halitha Shameem for trying to introduce a new subject to the audience. The fact that she made this film over eight years to stay true to her three actors and their evolution on screen is also commendable. However, the film gets very philosophical and that is a bit annoying. Beautiful mountain landscapes and conversations about life and pursuing one’s passion etc. between a young couple are quite cliched and lack depth.
Take this for example: Sabari and Praveen stare into the night sky and talk about the afterlife. In the Himalayas, they are just doing things we see on all the tourist websites – mountain biking, drinking butter tea, attending local festivals, etc. Many young people today are travelling alone to “find meaning in life”, and Shameem’s characters have a lot of dialogue that seems to be from a self-help book. There are other logical flaws in the film, and this also makes the subject matter less believable.
For example, how can a girl who has had an organ transplant walk happily in the world? Also, someone who has been depressed for years cannot function normally in society and it is surprising that Sabari is able to do so. In fact, some scenes should have been written and filmed better. For example, the bus accident scene could have been filmed better. And in the scene where Praveena tells her mother that she wants to do something for Pari, the mother’s reaction is overly dramatic like in a Tamil TV serial.
The performances
Esther Anil makes a good impression as Praveena, but Praveen Kishore looks awkward in a few scenes. The performances of the three main characters are also uneven, which of course could be due to their age and inexperience. On the technical side, Manoj Paramahamsa’s cinematography is beautiful, and one must mention the background music by Khatija Rahman, AR Rahman’s daughter, who is making her debut as a music director. Khatija Rahman’s music adds a lot of value to the film, and her use of instruments and orchestra shows her father’s influence on her music. However, at times the background music is too loud and distracts from the action.
Minmini paints a very beautiful picture but doesn’t hit the right note like some of her other films. Halitha Shameem has tried to take us on a journey along with her characters and somewhere along the way, that journey loses its meaning.
