Merku Thodarchi Malai

I am from the Idukki (Kerala) side of Western Ghats, exactly the Vattappara cardamom hills, where the movie revolves around. I was eagerly waiting to watch the movie when I first came to know about this in the IFFK. As it was not released in Kerala I was utterly disappointed and was double minded about watching the low quality Tamilrockers print. However I was able to watch the movie with good quality by waiting for a few days, even though I regret for not having a good theatre experience.

The movie tries its best to prove justice to reality of the hills. It is very much able to bring the plight of the landless Tamil labours who work in the cardamom plantations. The cruel nature of 'Kankanis', and the opportunistic politics of trade unions are very well depicted.

As I had no first hand experience about the lives of labours on the lee side of the mountains and as I was eager to know about it, the movie come in handy. The story is so intense that we could finish the it only with a disturbing mind.