Kanchivaram (2008) :
Brief Review -
The last good and original work by Priyadarshan? You know, you can see the poster of this film and get the idea of the whole tragedy, almost the entire story is alive there. The feet of a lady who is dead with a silk saree on her body. That's a brilliant metaphor to pursue character study and is smartly woven with human emotions. The film has several such metaphors, but the linear segments of two ladies (his wife and his daughter) in the protagonist's life have to be my favorite. The wife dies in his arms when he shows her the saree he was weaving, and then the same happens to the daughter. He ruined his life, reputation, and honesty for that saree but what came to his fate was zero. Kanchivaram is a story of Vengadam, a silk weaver, who hardly earns anything to dream big. Yet, he promises his newly born daughter that he will give her a silk saree on her wedding. Everyone in the village is shocked. Veda then starts saving money but due to other responsibilities, that's not enough. He then starts weaving the saree at home, but at what cost? Catch the drama in the film. The symbolic structure of the film is well built but a little unconvincing. Also, it's difficult to believe that he takes so many years to weave just one saree. The tragedies that happen with the protagonist feel more natural than dramatically curved, but the writing makes them look perfect because of the right timing. Prakash Raj delivers a performance to remember. Indeed, one of his best acts ever. Shriya Reddy looks so gorgeous in her first frame and then carries the same beauty throughout the film. Shammu has done well and the child artist was also fine. A special mention for the brilliant background score. It's so soothing, meaningful, and touching. It's hard to believe Priyadarshan actually made this film after directing several comedies in that period and interestingly, this was his original work! Overall, a pretty nice film.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
