Mathimaran Movie Review: Partly jarring, partly preachy tale on downsides to being vertically challenged

During a critical scene in Mathimaran, Nedumaran (debutant Venkat Senguttuvan) explains why it isn’t necessary to achieve something significant to be remembered for a lifetime and it is just enough to be a normal human being. How I wish the makers realized that their film needed superior screenplay and writing, in general, to be remembered by the audience.

Cast: Venkat Senguttuvan, Ivana MS Bhaskar, Aadukalam Narein, Aradya, and Bava Chelladurai

Director: Mantra Veerapandian

Nedumaran, who is vertically challenged from birth and is subjected to body shaming at every juncture, has grown deaf to such insults by the end of the film. You would think that Mathimaran is about Nedumaran crossing every hurdle to achieve what he aspired to do, but no, he just wants a simple, peaceful life with his twin sister Mathi (Ivana). They live in Tirunelveli where their father (MS Bhaskar) is a postman. Nedumaaran grows up idolizing his father and wants to do the same job despite being an achiever in academics. We’ll get back to this later.  

That’s the gist of the story.  Nedumaran affectionately calls her twin sister akka although being born at the same time and she too does the job of being protective. Ivana has grown steadily with her acting from her first film. The insult and the explanations that Nedumaran faces drag along to the end of the film with every other character reiterating that height doesn’t matter for any human, and it is only their heart that speaks. However, towards the climax, it gets too overbearing to constantly hear the same preachy dialogues about a person’s image being attached to their character or the job, over and over again.

Director Mantra Veerapandian needs to be given all the appreciation for casting a vertically challenged person as the protagonist in a tale that speaks about his challenges, and he is terrific at his job. But to place a joke at every juncture feels forced to evoke constant pity from the audience.

Oh, wait, did I mention that there was a serial killer on the run who kills women who live alone in houses? The police officials who investigate the incident, casually call them “sexually deprived.” This insensitive labelling does a disservice to the gravity of the situation and the victims involved. Furthermore, the camera gaze often sensationalizes the crime scenes, callously focusing on the shocking visuals of the victims' mortal remains.

This insensitivity is taken up a notch when Nedumaran witnesses not just one but two tragedies unfolding as suicides. The focus is once again on the victims and their suffering and to describe that it is disturbing is an understatement.

Mathimaran relies too much on the downsides of being vertically challenged and showcasing Nedumaran as a saviour in the tale when the irony is that he doesn’t want to be looked at as a hero. The second half barely holds the ground and relies on wafer-thin thrills and twists that hardly make any impact. Leaving aside the missteps, the film could have had a tighter runtime and writing that solely fixates on showcasing Nedumaran as who he is, rather than his condition.