BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

For the most part of the second half of Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, no character in the village of Panimalai (the movie’s milieu) speaks, because of the speech ban imposed by the government to prevent Dumb Flu, except Balaji Mohan – as the news anchor who reports the latest happenings in the village, and as the director of this whacky movie, through his mini Pesum Padams.
 

To stress the stress and burden school children go through - Balaji Mohan has used a smiley drawn inflated balloon (symbolically representing the children) that bursts when it cannot be pumped up any more.
 

And, there is this grandfather who stops enjoying the pleasantries of life when his son elopes. After years, when the grandfather meets his grandchild, he tries to walk away in honor. However, the child grabs his dhoti to stop him, and the dhoti falls down, leaving the grandfather standing in his pattapatti trousers (representing his honor). Brilliant visual tale on how certain people lose everything else, including children, just to have their misplaced and misguided honor.
 

Apart from these, the movie also mocks the different blocks of the society that’s in the news in recent times – a fringe group demanding a ban for an actor’s movie, the fight back taken by the actor’s fans for the release of the movie, the media’s blowing out of proportion and the cover-up activities undertaken, a politician’s politics, and - most importantly - the significance of having a conversation.
 

The highlight among these satires is the ‘Su Su Sundaralingam Youtube mash up’, which can be seen here - http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies/vaayai-moodi-pesavum/vaayai-moodi-pesavum-trailer-2.html. The mash up is a comical video of the inappropriate words a politician uses in a news channel’s primetime debate show.
 

Vaayai Moodi Pesavum is structured in such a way that the first half introduces the audience to a slew of characters – the hero who can solve almost all the problems with just one pep talk, the heroine who keeps conversations to the bare minimum, the hero’s friend who thinks something and speaks something else, among others…
 

And, almost all the problems presented in the first half finds solutions in the second half, when the speech ban is ordered. So, does Balaji Mohan mean to say that staying calm and letting problems solve on its own is the way?
 

Answering the question, Balaji said, “No. Communication is the key. But the point I have made is that communication need not always mean talking - Actions too can speak. Every problem encountered finds a solution through some sort of communication - from the little boy’s notes to the white shirt that serves as a peace symbol, all communicate. That’s Vaayai Moodi Pesavum.”
 

Mithun
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