Miga Miga Avasaram Movie Review: Decent ideas, bad execution

The maintenance of work/life balance is a common struggle in life. But have you ever heard of balancing your job along with answering nature's call? Yeah, you read that right. 

Miga Miga Avasaram is about a female cop, Saamandhi, stationed on the road in the burning heat to play guard to a visiting VIP. While she awaits the arrival of this VIP, she deals with a lot, including people passing by the road that is supposed to stay clear. On the personal front, she has to deal with her child and direct her to and from school over the phone. Not least of all, she has to deal with a hard-to-ignore urge to urinate.

Cast: Sri Priya, Muthuraman
Director: Suresh Kamatchi

As we wade through the initial phase of the film, Saamandhi (played by Sri Priya) starts making unusual body postures. I, for one, genuinely thought that she was cramping up and that the film was heading in the direction of a discussion of the physical well-being of this character. But as I left the theatre, I wished that had been the case. 

Instead, the film takes an interesting turn in addressing sanitary issues that women in particular face. A female cop, stranded on the side of a road, with vehicles passing by in high-frequency and with no access to public restrooms or sanitary facilities whatsoever. How does she answer nature's call? These are decent ideas that depict the day-to-day struggles of someone working in the police force. But how much of an impact the film makes in handling these issues is questionable.

While her struggle feels real, one does wonder why she cannot take a break or delegate her duties to someone temporarily while she goes and takes care of her business. That's where the film starts to lose its way.

Despite having a few interesting ideas, Miga Miga Avasaram falls flat due to some lazy writing which fails to justify her inability to take some time off. The very average performances do not help make things any more believable.

As Saamandhi battles her superior to earn a bathroom break, there are multiple sub-plots that distract from the point that the film is trying to make. Water trucks go past her leaking as she watches helplessly. Small children urinate freely on the road. A vehicle breaks down and she has a tough time getting the vehicle off the road. All this makes it hard for Saamadhi to hold it in. But in the process, it also ends up making it hard for the audience to stay interested.

Much like this review, perhaps a shorter version of the film would have worked better. Miga Miga Avasaram is an overly long film for a way too simplistic story. In the end, I have to confess, I left the theatre quite 'pissed off' with the experience.