Express News Service
Aelay is Halitha Shameem’s massiest film to date she even sneaks in a whistle-worthy theatre moment by invoking Vijay’s Mersal in the unlikeliest of places. A hero introduction scene prompts townsfolk to go, “Baahubali maadhri vella varaan paaru.” From Baahubali to Mersal, and even a random shoutout to Kadaikutty Singam, it is interesting to observe Halitha embrace, in her own way, the commercial aspects of Tamil cinema.
The film begins with a voiceover that introduces us to Parthi (Manikandan making yet another case of his potential to be a lead hero) and his father Muthukutty (a brilliant Samuthirakani). Theirs is a world where everything doesn’t always happen for a reason, a world without binaries that Halitha takes time to build. Muthukutty is shown to be a bad father, but Halitha ensures we don’t label him as a bad man. Parthi is neither a great son nor is he likely to win ‘boyfriend of the year’ awards.
Aelay review: A breezy feel-good drama
Halitha Shameem s Aelay is a feel-good drama
Friday 26 February 2021
Director Samuthirakani, Manikandan, Madhumathi
Halitha Shameem s Aelay is a feel-good drama that largely depicts the relationship woes between a happy-go-lucky dad Muthukutty (Samuthirakani) and his earnest son Parthi(Manikandan).
Muthukutty lives his life to the fullest that his kith and kin equally hate and love him. However, Parthi refuses to talk to him after a point as his dad s activities constantly embarrass him among his friends and village folks. Cut to the present, Parthi comes to know that his dad has passed away and he immediately rushes back to his village from Chennai.
A still from ‘Aelay’
Director Halitha Shameem’s latest offering lacks pace but the performances and characterisation make up for it
We’ve all been talking about Georgekutty of
Drishyam 2 in the last week or so. But this week, Tamil cinema has given us a Muthukutty to talk abut.
Aelay opens with a family that has just seen the death of Muthukutty (Samuthirakani). Parthi (Manikandan) arrives there sans fanfare, emotion. He looks at the dead body of his father rather impassively, and walks around the household with no signs of being shaken up.
In some time, he s hungry and heads out to eat a plate of