Namma Veettu Pillai Movie Review: Sivakarthikeyan returns strongly with a satisfying family drama

Namma Veettu Pillai

Namma Veettu Pillai Cast : Sivakarthikeyan, Aishwarya Rajesh, Anu Emmanuel

Namma Veettu Pillai Director : Pandiraj

Namma Veettu Pillai Stars: 3/5

Sivakarthikeyan, who has been struggling with form after the debacle of his last two releases Mr. Local and Seemaraja, bounces back strongly with a tried-and-tested but highly satisfying family drama which, thankfully, isn’t as melodramatic as most films in the genre. Even though cut from the same cloth as director Pandiraj’s last release Kadaikutty Singam, Sun Pictures produced Namma Veettu Pillai works because it gets the family drama meter right and backs it strongly with a powerful ensemble cast and their performances.

Set against the backdrop of a small village, Namma Veettu Pillai is centered on Sivakarthikeyan, who plays Arupom, a doting brother and son with a family as big as a cricket team. His life revolves around his sister Thulasi (played by Aishwarya Rajesh) and mother. He looks up to his uncles and extended family members because he lost his father at a young age. He goes out of his way to please them but as much as he tries to do well by everybody, his uncles always find fault in everything he does for them. Arupom isn’t bogged down by the insults of his family members as the only thing that matters to him is to get his sister married into a good family. The events that follow Thulasi’s marriage form the crux of the story.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call Namma Veettu Pillai a sequel to Kadaikutty Singam, but still the former is charming in its own way and that’s what makes it a far better film than the latter. One of the reasons why the film works is because it handles the melodrama – which went overboard in Kadaikutty Singam - quite well. In fact, more sensibly than most rural-based stories in recent years in Tamil cinema. Pandiraj, as the writer-director, has taken those aspects which didn’t work in his last film and worked upon them to ensure they worked in this film. The effort is quite evident in writing as well as execution.

Sivakarthikeyan is in his most comfortable self in Namma Veettu Pillai, playing his role of the son of the soil to a tee. As a story, Namma Veettu Pillai doesn’t offer much but it makes up for the strong plot with some wonderful moments that will resonate strongly, especially if you live in a large family. Be it the scenes between Sivakarthikeyan and his sister or the moments featuring veteran filmmaker Bharathiraja as grandfather; the film handles it with sensibility and never goes overboard. Aishwarya Rajesh, who rarely disappoints, shines once again in a role which fits her like a glove.