In this globalized world dominated by technology, how does an innocent girl from the middle of nowhere in Tamil Nadu find her place under the sun? Entertainment is not always synonymous with a complicated plot. The journey of empowerment of a middle class girl, rooted in local family and cultural traditions, negotiating her fulfillment through swathes of uncertainty (i.e., areas of knowledge, English and city life) is definitely worth the ride. Can one attempt IIT to find the prince of one's heart? It was said that Kate Middleton had a poster of Prince Williams in her boarding school dormitory before she actually met him at St. Andrew's university. What metamorphosis does the home-made Cinderella undergo when her fantasy gets transmuted into aspiration?
Apart from the treatment of gender discrimination in education, what makes this movie memorable is the certainly the music (the lyrics, the composition and the voices of all the four songs are pleasant and sophisticated and blend seamlessly into the story). The reference to Thiru Valluvar's kural extolling effort is redolent of the soil. The "mise en abyme" of the power of images through the incorporation of television reporting is subtle.
The inter IIT quiz at the end is a bit longish and the heroine calling her grandmother Kizhavi is somewhat jarring for Tamil speakers. Otherwise, the cast, the cinematography as well as the editing are perfect. After Oru Thalai Ragam, a successful campus movie and a welcome relief from violence.
