Pichaikkaran

Sasi's 2016 Tamil film follows a young businessman whose mother is in a coma. A monk tells him that if he lives as a beggar for forty-eight days she will recover; he leaves his company and goes onto the street. The premise sits between faith and bargaining. The narrative questions whether the man really changes; the violence and exploitation he witnesses on the street widen his initially personal purpose. Vijay Antony leads; known as a music director, he reached a wide audience with this film. The narrative moves into action in its second half and a begging racket turns it into a line of revenge. Who it's for: those who like Tamil action drama. Who it's not for: viewers expecting poverty treated seriously; the film uses the street as a testing ground and returns to genre form at the end.