Putham Pudhu Kaalai - Five great directors, five great stories, one great movie

 

Putham Pudhu Kalai

(a brand new dawn)

Tamil, 2020

Mohan's Measure * * * * *

After over 1000 film reviews, I lost my blogger site to hacking. I have had to restart, and this superb movie is a blessing to restart with. Putham Pudhu Kaalai is actually five stories, by five different directors, having only one connection, Covid-19. The movie examines and how this virus has impacted our relationships, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes, for the better. The sensitivity and honesty of these stories is something to behold, as love is celebrated in its many forms, making room even for the love of money as something to be examined in a nonjudgmental, sometimes comedic way. The actors in each story have been carefully chosen to fit the story; there is little room for bravado or one actor running away with the plot. The directors are those that would not have heard of it in their other films, and do not allow it in these short films.

I really appreciated the style of each movie. The fashion and the settings fit the personality and the dynamic of each story. The intimacy of the conversation brought in the need for smaller rooms, while the need for a woman to open up herself up to the world again was set in a larger home.

No one story impressed me more than the other, but I personally found the second one, about the healing between a man and his daughter through the intervention of his granddaughter, the closest to my heart.

Healing is what this world desperately needs, now. Putham Pudha Kaalai tells us it is possible.

1. Illamai Idho Idho (This is Youth)

Directed by Sudha Kongara Stars Jayaram, Urvasi, Kalidas Jayaram, Kalayani Priyadarshan

2. Avarum Naanum – Avalum Naanum (He and I - She and I)

Directed by Gautham Menon Stars M S Bhaskar, Ritu Varma

3. Coffee, Anyone?

Directed by Suhasini Maniratnam

Stars Suhasini Maniratnam, Anu Hassan, Shruti Hassan, Kathadi Ramamurthy, Komalam Charuhasan

4. Reunion

Directed by Rajiv Menon

Stars Andrea Jeremiah, Leela Samson, C Gurucharan

5. Miracle

    Directed by Karthik Subbaraj

Stars Bobby Simha, Muthukumar, Sharath Ravi, Ezhil Arasan Babaraj