The core message of Aan Paavam Pollathathu is 'Love each other' and through 120-minutes of its runtime points out that loving unconditionally is easier said than done. Also, it says another important thing: don't keep scores against your spouse. Considering the fact that the film is titled, Aan Paavam Pollathathu, the film is indeed more magnanimous in forgiving a man's failings than a woman's. Yet, the film succeeds in making us enjoy all the things it gets right.
Aan Paavam Pollathathu begins in the home of Shiva (Rio Raj) and Sakthi (Malavika Manoj), as the iconic scene from Thiruvilaiyadal featuring Shiva (SIvaji Ganesan) and Sakthi (Savithri) fighting to establish their supremacy, is played on the TV. We are then showed how the present-day Shiva and Sakthi got hitched in a marriage arranged by their parents. From a happy marriage, the narration fast-forwards to the point where they are at the threshold of a divorce. The film does an endoscopy on what went wrong and goes on to tell how unrealistic expectations can ruin a marriage.
Firstly, the neutralising effect of the film's duration lingers throughout. A good scene doesn't overstay, and a relatively bad scene doesn't get intolerable. The economy of time makes sure the film doesn't falter. This accomplishment displays the promise of Kalaiarasan Thangavel's directing chops right in his debut. He has walked the tightrope of analysing modern-day marriage and manages to reach the end safely with minimal slips. He minces no words on the hypocrisy of a couple's parents and the toxic generational expectations they espouse. Take, for instance, Shiva shushing his grandmother for her comment on Sakthi wearing a sleeveless blouse to a family function. He says, "You never wore a blouse in your young age and now you find fault with her wearing a sleeveless one."
Characterisations also pay rich dividends to the movie. Not just the leads, even the supporting cast are shown as flawed, but not evil. Shiva, Sakthi, Narayanan (RJ Vigneshkanth) and Lakshmi (Sheela Rajkumar) are all flawed. They are all products of a twisted society that is lopsided against women. Misogyny percolates into every generation and is tailored to be accommodated along with all the modern advancements, stealthily. In a pre-climactic scene, Shiva, who laments that his mother did not complain about household chores and women like his wife have problems with just turning a switch on and off, is shut down by a brilliant Deepa Shankar who points out that even after a switch has made life easy, it is the women who are expected to operate it. It is smart writing to have enough of such scenes, making for a reconciliation whenever it looks like the narration is straying into women-bashing.
Cast: Rio Raj, Malavika Manoj, RJ Vigneshkanth, Sheela Rajkumar
Director: Kalaiarasan Thangavel
There is more to love about Shiva and Sakthi. Shiva's character is a reflection of this confused generation that can't differentiate between progressiveness and posturing. He tries to understand where Sakthi comes from, and he fights his family for her. He is coming to grips with how much of the progressive talk could be walked in reality. Shiva is not an arrogant snob who cringes at the idea of equality. In fact, whenever Sakthi gives him a hard time and he resorts to replicating his regressive father and father-in-law, he gives his behaviour a second thought. He didn't grow up around men who handled a situation with composure, without putting the women down. To Sakthi's stupid acts of 'revolt', he gives an equally stupid dressing down. We empathise with both. Though there are scenes of Sakthi getting dumbed down for laughs, it stays with that scene and the moment. And when the laughter dies down, the screenplay makes you ponder on Sakthi's general outlook on life and feminism.
On reflection, you empathise with her for taking brash choices rather than hating or ridiculing her for them. Jumping into an ocean not knowing how to swim is foolishness. But you would even risk drowning when the alternative is solitary confinement. Growing up micromanaged by her father and chastised for even having an Instagram account, one can understand why, after marriage, Sakthi views posting reels instead of attending to household chores as a 'victory'. Rio and Malavika have struck gold in the portrayals of their respective roles. These characters are going to stay with us for a long time.
On the downside, there is a visible confusion in the second half about whose story to follow. The Shiva and Sakthi story takes a backseat, making way for the Narayanan and Lakshmi story. Blurring of lines between the main plot and the subplot results in a slump in the screenplay. Shiva and Sakthi fade into passivity during the court proceedings as they are remote-controlled by their lawyers. Stories such as this one should have ideally balanced the drama inside and outside the courtroom. But except for the pre-climax scene where two different characters unpack to Shiva and Sakthi what progressiveness and feminism really mean, nothing except a hilarious gag involving a private detective happens outside the court. But these factors never weigh down on the film that is built on a solid premise fortified by strong characterisations and performances.
Aan Paavam Pollathathu keeps us engaged with a desire for Shiva and Sakthi to unite, as whenever it seems they are drifting away from each other, there is something sweet that follows, making them come back together. Be it 1999 or 2025, a relationship can overcome the storms only with a love that overlooks or even embraces the flaws of the spouse. Like in the film's line, "50:50 in a relationship comes only in understanding that one partner is 70:30 in a particular situation and vice versa." If purushan kanakku is "2+1=4" (Viraluketha Veekkam – 1999), then pondatti kanakku can be "Ambedkar was born in Porbandar". Like how jaggery is added to blunt the spice in sambar, love can straighten out imperfections. Because Kaadhal Inikkudhayya!