Autograph - a movie you should see

A disclaimer first : I hardly see movies, so can't claim to be a movie reviewer of the caliber of Lazy Geek. And I can't comment upon the technical aspects of the movie, how the camera work has captured the essence of the story or whether this was plagiarized from Akiro Kurosowa.

I have seen a few of Cheran's earlier movies, Vettri Kodi Kattu and Desiya Geetham. And when I kept hearing good things about the movie I decided this was one I shouldn't miss. I think he is one of the very few directors in Tamil today who can portray the villages as they are now. The other one is Bala.

The story line is simple - Senthil Kumar an ad executive decides to meet his old friends, loves and people who have made a difference in his life and invite them to his wedding. As he travels to meet them, the old memories are revisited and leaves him feeling pleasant. But the reality is different, and saddens him. His first love, is now a middle aged woman with three children, having lost her charm and is just a listless woman going through her life. His lover from college days, whom her father forcibly married off to her cousin against her wishes, is now a widow. He is shocked on seeing the widow and decides to call of his marriage. At this point, the girl who helped him out of his depression talks sense to him and says that he has to let go of his past and live in his future. All of them congregate on his marriage and with that the film ends.

Reading back I see that I am not able to capture the essence of the movie. Where the movie succeeds is in getting every viewer into a nostalgic mode and say "Hey, in my life too such things happened". There are a lot of cameo performances by the supporting cast - the school teacher, the hero's father, the friend in Kerala who translates the love message sent to the hero in Malayalam. All the sequences are natural and realistic, no cinematic twists and turns in the movie.

Cheran fits the role perfectly and has given a good performance as Senthil. Amongst the girls in his life, it is difficult to say which one is good, all performances were excellent.

All in all this is a movie that makes each viewer relook at his life, and that is why the film is running to packed houses.

Don't miss it