Angadi Theru -- Market Place

The title of this movie means market place or more specifically a road that only consists of shops. Angadi (Shop) + Theru (Road). Since the movie is filmed in Ranganathan Street,
Chennai, the title fits very well. I was actually surprised that Angadi was a tamizh word. I thought the Tamizh word for shop was Kadai (Not Kadaai Paneer, Kadaai Vegetables etc.). I knew that Angadi was a Kannada word which meant shop. Hmmm.. Interesting - the way Tamizh and Kannada are linked.

Image Courtesy: movie.suleka.com

The Story: The movie is 'bout a fictitious shop "Senthil Murugan" that is in Chennai on Ranganathan Street. The shop recruits their salesboys and girls from remote villages in Tamil Nadu. The primary criteria for recruitment is that the younster should belong to a large family and must be the primary bread-earner. The hero, whose father dies in an accident at an unmanned railway crossing is ob. chosen because he is the sole bread-winner. His friend, who fails his XII, wants to escape his father and lies to get the job. The movie show cases the life of these salesboys and girls.

My View: It is a realistic movie, with a lot of sub-plots and a number of characters. Each character does justice to their part and the director has ensured that they do not overact and unnecessarily add drama or comic relief. If you wanted to experience the life of a salesboy or girl, I feel that this would be the best possible depiction of it. A slice of life is how I would describe this movie. In some weird way or maybe it was intentional, everything about the shop "Senthil Murugan" reminds you of Saravana Stores, including the character who plays Annachi and Sneha who does a cameo. The movie was released last year in March. Don't get put-off by the looks of the hero and the heroine and avoid the movie. The script is the hero in this movie. Hats off to the director for taking up the not-so rosy side of life and for staying away from the cliched endings.

Wah Wah:

• Hard-hitting, realistic movie with an undercurrent of hope


• No unnecessary characters or comedians - the friend provided the much-needed comic relief.


• Good selection of actors to play key roles - sneha in a cameo playing herself.


• The song "Aval appadi onrum azhagillai" was nice and apt.

Bah:

• Slow pace after the intermission and slightly depressing