Having worked as an assistant director for Balu Mahendra and Karthik Subbaraj, Someetharan – who has previously created documentaries – has now directed his first narrative feature film. ‘Neelira’ is a tale that takes place over an evening and a night during a wedding in Jaffna in 1988. With a runtime of ninety minutes, the film is a taut and tense thriller.
The film opens with the grandfather of the bride visiting an abandoned cinema which has been converted into an office for the Indian Peace Keeping Force, where an officer (played by producer Karthik Subbaraj’s father, Gajaraj) grants the family permission to move forward with the wedding. This initial scene provides the predominant metaphor for the film: the wedding is the film itself – being produced and released in a suffocating environment, where every move is being monitored.
The film’s conflict occurs when a troop of IPKF soldiers enter the premises where the wedding is being held and temporarily station there. The film’s plot is lean, with very few distractions and tangents. The film’s uneasy atmosphere persists from the start to the very end, building its suspense throughout. There is an emotional subplot which could have been better integrated within its structure and unfortunately sticks out awkwardly, but the film’s conclusion adds a much needed extra layer to the film’s proceedings.
The cast play their roles well – many of the actors are Karthik Subbaraj regulars. The family matriarch, played by Kapila Venu, is the standout performance in the film, her emotions and frustrations effortlessly etched on her face. Other Subbaraj regulars Naveen Chandra, Sananth and Vidhu also turn in a decent performance.
The effort in the technical aspects of the film are especially noteworthy. The art direction team deserve extra credit for the work placed in recreating the sets and iconography of Jaffna; the central house setting of the film feels lived-in and authentic and I cannot recall if I have ever seen payatham paniyaram in a Tamil film before. The film is composed by K, and the song ‘Kaliyaana Baaila’ – like the name suggests – is a catchy Baila tune that adds some pep to the earlier proceedings in the film.
Overall, ‘Neelira’ is an important step for Kollywood, both in terms of content and style. It is an accomplished debut feature. Hopefully the people who turned up in droves to watch the two parts of ‘Dhurandhar’ – a politically heinous film – turn up at the cinema for this much worthier film too.
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Official trailer for film below.