Thankar Bachan, who began his expedition in the film world in 1990 as a cinematographer also has few literary works like Vellai Maadu, Onbadhu Roobai Nottu, Kudi Mundiri and Isaikkaada Isaithattu to his credit. This movie, a big screen adaptation of his critically acclaimed novel of same name, has all elements of his creative genius and is sure to make an impact as a masterpiece among true movie lovers. Besides this, for Sathyaraj, this film is bound to catapult him to a higher stratosphere in Indian cinema.

A man who is totally bereft of worldly malice and spite is Madhava Padayachi (Sathyaraj). He is innocence personified and Velaayi (Archana) is his life partner who is a boon bequeathed to him. The happenings in their life by and large form the story – that still happens to haunt some nook and corner of many villages in our country. The film opens

Madhava Padayachi and his wife Velaayi consider hard work as the ultimate panacea and are child-like in their hearts. Padayachi’s benevolence comes to the fore when he decides to bail his close friend Hajabai and his wife Khameela (Nazar and Rohini) out of a difficult situation by pledging Velaayi’s jewels. Hajabai gets affluent in the process when he graduates from small betel leaf business to a much better venture. Meanwhile instigated wrongly by relatives, Padayachi’s sons and daughters-in-law demand that their property be handed over to them, resulting in Padayachi and Velaayi’s exit from the village.

At this juncture, his friend Hajabai comes to his rescue and helps him earn his livelihood by setting up a goat barn. When life seems to pass smoothly, shock comes in the form of Velaayi’s death who succumbs to snakebite. Meanwhile, Hajabai affected by cancer, leaves for Bengalooru dividing his property among his brothers-in-law, leaving the goat barn to Padayachi. Unable to tolerate this, Hajabai’s brothers-in-law snatch away this little bit of wealth also from Padayachi. Totally driven to the streets, he

Sathyaraj steals the show by living the life of Madhava Padayachi. The top of the crop would be the sequence in the middle of the night where he carries his snake bitten wife on his shoulders totally clueless about where and how to go. Sathyaraj simply proves that he is a seasoned actor after all. Giving him the toughest competition is National Award winner Archana. She sparkles and proves her mettle beyond words. Nazar and Rohini as Padayachi’s friends have done remarkably well. The scene where Rohini fears that her brothers may drive Sathyaraj out conveys the message just with her trembling eyes and quivering lips. Kollywood has one more perfect villain in dance master Shivashankar, who is likely to be seen in many movies henceforth.