As far as my experience has gone, it’s been a rather dry run with Tamil cinema this year. Even the few good ones have come with substantial flaws. Then here comes this debutante director’s film that is the one superlative experience I’ve been sorely missing from Tamil films in 2018.

Mari Selvaraj’s statements on caste and creed come with a certain conviction that has been missing from Pa Ranjith’s own Kabali and Kaala, where generating empathy for the protagonists was, to an extent, taken for granted. Pari here comes across as someone who has more baggage along with that of his identity. We get deeper layers in here. Pari doesn’t want to be Roman in Rome. Why should he be? And this internal conflict is brought out way too convincingly by an earnest Kathir. Characters and even the communities that they represent aren’t shaded black and white, for there is a Yogi Babu for every Lingesh.

The “romance” track, if I may call it that, will go down as one of the best to be ever written in Tamil cinema. This is because Mari Selvaraj seems to know how to hold back, too very well. You might be thinking this track is going towards a path we’re so very familiar with. But it is way above all that. They might just be dealing with platonic relationships. The way his equation with Jothi is developed, is the right balance between organic and cinematic. Organic enough in the way they meet and talk (even with what they talk about), and cinematic with regards to how their bond is blossoming alongside the violence and politics in college. Getting back to their relationship, well, Jothi might be veering towards conventional love, but Pari hasn’t gotten to that context yet. He is as clueless about this as much as Jo is about her family’s ideologies. When he does get around to realising what’s going on with him, the entire world is backing him to go towards that one direction of love. Now I get why Pari downs that peg when Shanmugarajan writes his state of mind off as “appo idhu love-u dhan“. I also can see why he lashes out at a liberal teacher of his for thinking in a singular direction. Also, is this what he should be worrying about when there are existential questions like “Naan Yaar” in the way? The fact that the context of love never came about from his side, is conveyed so very beautifully. This is how pronounced his arc is, even without getting too literal.

Talking about holding back, I did wonder why Karuppi isn’t being mentioned for the longest period of time, after having started the film with focus on her. Santosh Narayanan (who is nothing short of brilliant here) creates sympathy for a character we barely know with the “Karuppi” track. Sridhar’s deft handheld shots coupled with the helicam result in a very memorable opening act. Then there’s absolute silence regarding this character. But when we finally get the mention, it packs a solid emotional punch, because Pari equates Jo on the same page as Karuppi – plainly for the value they added to his life. Not only did this wash away all the moments I spent thinking of a character’s pinching absence, but it also urged me to look at it in a broader way. I would consider such writing as pure respect for the audience’s intelligence. Nothing feels contrived, except for Anandhi’s one-note delivery maybe, but together, their wavelength is just within the borderline of genuine cuteness.

Above all the depth in writing, I am also sold on Selvaraj’s staging. He often opts for the long take that follows a character around a space, and this aesthetic works out big time for the scenes that involve the cold-blooded assassin. That this character is going to cross paths with the hero is predictable, but the craft on display in scenes involving him keeps you invested.

The film also deals with a lot of metaphorical imagery. Jothi exiting the class, and Karuppi entering back in is one of those images that is going to stick with me for a long while. This shot segues into “Naan Yaar“, that has a whole bunch of heavy visuals one after the other. Pari is seen wearing salangai (ghungroo) throughout this imaginary montage, and the reason for this is revealed only later into the film. A lot of these elements in this song sequence gain significance at later points in the film, and that’s some strong engagement there, for how it makes you look back on your own viewing. The melancholia and hope this film has left me with is what cinema is all about. It can put you in an existential stream of thoughts and look towards the future at the same time. Again, a superlative experience is what this is.