Margazhi Thingal review: A romantic drama that showcases the horrors of caste

Manoj K Bharathiraja, the son of Tamil cinema’s legendary director Bharathiraja, turns director with Margazhi Thingal.

The film starts as a rural romantic entertainer, but soon, it turns into a caste-based social entertainer and eventually ends as a grim revenge drama.

Manoj K Bharathiraja does a reasonably good job for a first-time filmmaker. He picks a straight, simple plot and laces it with enough surprises to deliver an engaging entertainer.

Synopsis

The story of Margazhi Thingal is set between 1997 and 2004. It revolves around two tenth-standard students — Kavitha (Rakshana) and Vinoth (Shyam Shelvan).

Kavitha lives in a small town with her grandfather Ramaiah (Bharathiraja). She is a pampered child, with her grandfather showering affection on her.

Kavitha loathes Vinoth as he stands first in her class in all the exams. The girl, who had been scoring the first rank before Vinoth arrived at her school, is determined to outperform him in the public exams.

She even undertakes a vow to outperform him.

As expected, Vinoth falls in love with Kavitha and deliberately chooses to underperform in the public exams to let Kavitha outscore him. She wins, but on getting to know about Vinoth’s sacrifice, she too falls in love with him.

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Years pass by, and they complete schooling. When it is time to go to college, Vinoth chooses to study a course at a college in Chennai. However, Ramaiah is against Kavitha going to Chennai and asks her to pick a course in a college near her native place.

So, she decides to confide in her grandfather Ramaiah the love she has for Vinoth. Ramaiya agrees to talk to Vinoth’s parents and finalise her wedding with him.

However, he lays down a condition. He tells Kavitha that the wedding will happen only after they both complete their collegiate education. Until then, they must not meet or talk to each other.

Delighted that she will eventually be able to get married to Vinoth by the time she completes her college degree, Kavitha agrees to the condition laid down by her Ramaiah.

However, when she completes her course three years later and returns home, Vinoth and his family are nowhere to be seen.

What happens next is what Margazhi Thingal is all about.

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Performances

Manoj K Bharathiraja’s narrative skills need to be complemented. The story moves at a brisk pace. Though some parts of the film are predictable, he surprises you quite a few times.

The film primarily has newcomers.

Except for Bharathiraja (who plays Ramaiah) and Appu Kutty (who plays Raasu), everybody else is new.

Of the six significant characters, four are played by newcomers. Out of these, the antagonist is played by ace director Suseenthiran, who incidentally is also the producer of this film.

Suseenthiran delivers an impressive performance as Dharman, proving beyond any doubt that he is as good an actor as a director.

Shyam Shelvan and Rakshana play the lead roles. To their credit, they both do a neat job. They are so convincing that you forget that they are newcomers.

The fourth significant character — Hema — is played by Naksha Saran, who looks the part and does a decent job.

Bharathiraja, despite his old age, comes up with another impressive performance.

Ilaiyaraaja’s music is just about okay, while Vanchinathan Murugesan’s visuals are captivating.

Final take

In all, Margazhi Thingal is a rural romantic drama that keeps you entertained and also showcases the sad state of affairs about caste killings that prevail in society to this day and age.

(Views expressed here are personal.)