Kadaisi Vivasayi

I enjoyed that at a time when farmer films are dime a dozen, Kadaisi Vivasaayi manages to stand out effortlessly. That's because it seems less interested in making a profit out of their misery, and more interested in communicating genuine affection for their occupation. It doesn't depend on dialogues to do this job. In fact, it doesn't even need a conventional hero or a menacing villain. And yet, this film communicates tragedy and affects us and implores, without ever obviously doing that, that we take a long, hard look at how we live. In a profound scene, you see Mayaandi, who has no problem with his body being soaked in dirt, attempting furiously to remove a hint of an ink stain from his fingers. That single shot... that's worth pages of dialogue. That's the stamp of this filmmaker.