Despite some “Tamil-film compromises”, Mari Selvaraj’s ‘Vaazhai’ is a work of terrifying cinematic beauty

The buildup to the climax is simply extraordinary. This is one of the best passages of cinema I have seen in recent times.

There’s a remarkable “short story” in Mari Selvaraj’s Vaazhai, and it begins in the second half, when a school teacher named Poongodi (Nikhila Vimal) asks a boy named Sivanaindhan (Ponvel) to come for dance practice on a Saturday, for a programme during the annual day. The way this seemingly innocent incident builds and builds – and builds and builds towards the climax is simply extraordinary. It has the happiness of skipping daily-wage work at a plantain farm. It has the sadness of hunger that goes on, because every time the boy finds food, he is not allowed to sit down and eat. It has irony – because the daily-wage labourers eat heartily, and had Sivanaindhan gone with them, as his mother asked him to, his stomach would have been fed, especially as his mother packed two meals for him. He is caught stealing and is punished. Then there’s death, lots of death. This is one of the best passages of cinema I have seen in recent times.

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galattaplus.com/despite-some-tamil-film-compromises-mari-selvarajs-vaazhai-is-a-work-of-terrifying-cinematic-beauty/

You can watch the trailer / video review here:

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