Mozhi

Radha Mohan's 2007 Tamil film follows a musician's attraction to a woman who cannot hear or speak. The woman, played by Jyothika, is angry, stubborn and refuses to be pitied. That is the film's best decision: building her not as a figure waiting to be rescued but as someone who sets her own limits. Prithviraj Sukumaran and Prakash Raj play the musician friends and carry the film's comic line. The comedy does not mock the deaf character; it comes out of the two friends' own incompetence. The film treats communication as a matter of patience rather than a technical problem. The sign language scenes are unadorned and the silences are long. Even so, in places it leans too hard on its own sentiment, bringing in music to make a scene heavier than it is. Who it's for: those who enjoy Tamil romantic drama and want an example where disability is handled above the average. Who it's not for: viewers who want to stay clear of melodrama entirely; the film raises its register in the final section.