OTT Review: Kadaisi Vivasayi

Streaming On : SonyLiv
Director : M. Manikandan
Music : Santhosh Narayanan, Richard Harvey
Banner : Tribal Arts Production

When Ace director Mysskin called “Kadaisi Vivasayi” as the best movie that came in the last 100 years of Tamil cinema, many thought he was just exaggerating in excitement but once they watched they understood the genuineness of his statement and the gravitas of the movie and why it’s one of the important films ever made in Indian cinema.

Kadaisi Vivasayi is an instant classic material, with the grounded simplicity and moving emotions, it deals with the story of an age-old Farmer named Mayandi(Nallandi), who still holds a piece of farming land while the rest of the village sold out theirs. When Villagers decide to Perform a ritual, there begins a need for a bunch of paddy from their village soil as an offering to god, and Mallandi is told to begin the farming for the same reason and he accepts it, what follows next is the series of problems that Mayandi faces from the system and whether he can harvest the crops or not.

The best part of the movie is Director Mankinadan able to capture the soil feel of the village with sheer authenticity, there is superb realism in the portrayal of various characterizations, and drama in the movie. Almost every character in the movie is believable and shares some empathy with you, the main lead Character Maayandi bound to make you relate to your roots, it’s so pure and warm, that you’ll walk away with a content smile having witnessed a character that makes your existence feel good, you’ll be experiencing that kinda strong emotions while witnessing this Old soul’s journey progress in the movie.

Manikandan’s writing of characters and their establishment, the central conflict of the movie, and consequences after that are simply remarkable, you’ll be so immersed into the movie’s world that he won’t take you out till the completion of the movie, he has a very beautiful visual sense, a sense that finds beauty in simplicity, all the portions that involve the field and farming gives you a great relief with capturing nature like bliss.

Performance wise Nallandi walks away with all the honors, despite this being his first movie, not even in one scene does he overreacts/overacts, he is so full of real-life that appearing to be pretentious, every line he utters, the subtle emotions his face display, every demeanor of him makes you grow more fond of him as the drama continues, he is that believable and exceptional.

Vijay Sethupathi has a very eccentric character in the movie and he plays it to the teeth, there is one scene where he gives food to a Sadhu, that entire scene is so cathartic, that your eyes will be filled with tears with a smile on your face, it makes you go through emotions that you yearn to experience constantly, it’s that impactful, Vijay Sethupathi act in that scene is so magnificent that you’ll be spellbound, imagine how overwhelmingly you’ll react when you saw God in real life, yeah a God, that’s exactly how Makkal Selvan performs in that scene, rest of the artists did job what exactly was needed, almost all are new faces but they’re just fine in beautifully carrying out the honest vision of Manikandan.

Technically also Kadsisi Vivasayi is top-notch with 2hr24 mins, editor Ajith Kumar B has done a good job in giving a coherent feel to the movie with not even one single deviating scene, every scene wins your heart, there is no hurry in fast cutting, it’s a very gently edited movie.

Cinematography is done by Director himself, and he is very excellent in this craft too, the movie is so visually enriching with realism, there is one wide-angle shot where Mayandi from his field sits on a police bike and leaves, it’s a static shot, the bike moves out of the frame, but the camera is just capturing the plain field of Mayandi, it’s like the field is abandoned now, it is now alone, that shot displays that nature/Field also has a life that needs to be taken care, that shot lasts for nearly 4seconds and it tugs at your heartstrings, visual storytelling can’t be better than this.

Music by Santosh Narayan is soothing, more than songs, it’s the silences and also their gradual inclination towards inciting a BG score which came out really well in the movie, the BGM underplays in many instances and that itself makes the movie more real and beautiful.

Positives :

1) Authenticity in storytelling
2) Great performances
3) Splendid Cinematography
4) Simple yet stunningly impactful drama

Negatives:

Nothing much except one or two extremely cinematic dialogues here and there that evokes a bit of a melodramatic feel

Bottom Line :

Kadaisi Vivasayi is a gem that discusses the importance of Farming without preaching as most mainstream movies do, it doesn’t give any “on-the-nose messages” , instead it’s very subtle in nature in making its points.
Movies like these are a very rare find, we must celebrate when they’re conceived.
Kadaisi Vivasayi is a Masterclass, in fact, adjectives fall short in describing its greatness, it’s that Unparalleled.