By Aarthi Thanesh
I think it was just after my Form Six when I first watched the movie Muthal Mariyathai on television.
And what a movie it was.
The movie shaped my early days’ opinion about relationships, happiness, being in love, all those things my kids would say ‘cheesy’, ‘cringy’ and call me a ‘boomer’ when I talk about it all now.
So when I saw that the digitally-remastered movie was playing at Lotus Five Star cinemas, I persuaded my children to come along but they flatly refused. So, I went all alone and I was glad I did as I could let the tears flow easily (my children would have made fun of me if they saw me crying for movie scenes).
The movie opens with the late legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan (who plays Malaisamy) lying on his deathbed in a hut by the river. His wife Ponnatha (played by Vadivukarasi) is seen lamenting that the man did not want to return to their family home and wished that he would relent amid his ill-health. The village elders then advise her and their daugher to go visit him in the hut instead of waiting for him to change his mind.
The movie then goes to flashback, a decade ago. And just as I did many many years ago, I sat transfixed, as the story unfolds, watching newcomer to the village, Kuyil (played by Radha) a dusky beauty, and the unhappily married Malaisamy’s friendship blossom.
Some of the scenes will always be on our minds. For example, when Kuyil innocently and in her usual child-like manner makes fun of Malaisamy’s age and challenges him to lift a heavy rock to prove that he is still as youthful as he claimed and how he, in return, cheekily asks her to marry him if he could lift it.
Another poignant scene is when Kuyil quickly washes her hands and serves Malaisamy a simple dish of fish curry. He is touched and recalls how the taste reminded him of his own mother’s cooking.
The songs and lyrics, especially Poongatru Tirumbuma sung by Malaysia Vasudevan, are classics today that still bring a lump to the throat. I remember getting a flute when travelling to India many years later after watching the movie, as the flute music in the film was really something else.
Sadly I never learned to play and it continues to be at the altar at home.
Coming back to the movie, the characters stand out and the actors and actresses deliver wonderful performances.
Sivaji plays his cheeky and flirty character outside his home and a silent and hen-pecked husband inside the house to the hilt, while Radha is memorable in her role as the childlike Kuyil who captures Malaisamy’s heart. Vadivukarasi is spot on in her role as the gross and foul-mouthed Ponnatha who had been forced into a marriage with Malaisamy due to a promise made to her father.
— WE