AELAY HD Released

 

Parthi (a very effective Manikandan), one of the protagonists of Halitha Shameem's Aelay, is the kind of son who cannot shed a tear even while looking at the corpse of his father. Rather than grief at the loss of his father, it is hunger that bothers him more, and we see him tucking into a parotta with relish. But then, how can you blame the young man, who has managed to find a job in the city despite being brought up a drunken father who often leaves him embarrassed with his antics. The father, Muthukutty (Samuthirakani), who brings the right kind of over-the-top to an over-the-top character), is an ice vendor, who is more of a man-child. Can Parthi realise the goodness that was in Muthukutty?

Aelay is like a journey that leaves you with a smile even if the ride was sort of bumpy for some parts. Halitha seems to be going for a particular kind of mood in the first half... a kind of quirky drama that moves at a pace that is unhurried, reflecting the time and place where the story is set in. We see Muthukutty entirely from Parthi's point of view in these portions, and we get why he feels the way he feels towards his father. While these portions are enjoyable enough for the most part, however, as with her Poovarasam Peepee, they only makes the film feel longer, especially when you realise that second half is even an more event-filled one. Too many sub-plots are introduced at too late a stage in the movie, leading to a climax that feels stretched.

With better control over its tone, which wildly swings between offbeat and melodrama, and its length, which is more an issue with the somewhat indulgent writing (which feels overwrought) than with the editing, Aelay could have been this year's K.D. (a) Karuppu Durai. Like that film, this one is also about an old man, his offsprings who don't love him, and death. The similarities end there though, as both the movies take off on different tangents with these elements.

Halitha does recover lost ground in the second half, providing us with many delicious twists and turns. There is genuine warmth in the storytelling and the film manages to do justice to both Parthi and Muthukutty. We also care for the romance between Parthi and Naachiya (Madhumathi Padmanabhan), the daughter of a well-off landlord in the village. The way Halitha turns the place into a character in itself also deserves mention.