Release Date: September 7, 2012
Producer: P.N. Venugopal
Banner: P N V Associates
Other Actors: Jagadesh, Nandhu
Genre: Family Drama
Director: Madupal
Lead Actor: Asif Ali, Bhavana, Lal, Mallika, Shwetha Menon
Composer: Bijibal
Story: The film follows the life of a couple tangled in traditions and how they eventually end up in a courtroom seeking separation.
Movie Review: Madhupal’s Ozhimuri will be noted for two reasons; for faithfully reproducing an age swathed in certain traditions and for some soulful and sometimes stunning characters who straddle age, customs and traditions that shape their lives. The movie begins in a courtroom where an aged woman accompanied by her young son demands Ozhimuri, a document of separation, from her husband.
Both the defendant and the accused are old and the counsels find the case amusing. In the courtroom, they slowly trace the reasons that forced the woman to seek Ozhimuri. What ensues is a deeply intense and emotional journey to a time and a place where people lived, suffered and endured the travails of their customs.
The setting involves the southern villages that share the border with Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The characters represent the matriarchal society where women ruled over men. There is Kali Pillai, brilliantly depicted by Shweta Menon, who scorns men. She single-handedly terrorizes the tenants and swears at her son in the filthiest of language.
Lal evokes fear, pity and rage as the imposing Thanu Pillai. Thanu is terror at its worst. Even his sighs, long and deep, are scary and his gait intimidating. He can break into an uncontrollable fit of ire, but appears humane at times.
As Thanu Pillai’s wife, Meenakshi (Mallika) embodies measure and control. Jayamohan moulds a solid narrative, meticulously detailing the dialects and emotions of the characters.