After a long time, I rented a tamil film from the Indian grocery. I had never heard of the film or for that matter, the actors, music directors and others who had contributed to the film. I just felt like I wanted to see a Tamil film, so I just picked the first one I found! For a moment I was tempted to drop this and pick up a tried and tested Rajnikanth movie. But at the last minute I decided to give the Autograph a shot and I am glad I did.
The movie was significantly different from most Indian movies I have seen in a long time. The director, Cheran (incidentally, the lead actor and producer of the film as well) clearly has a knack for story telling. It is a simple, yet engaging jouney into the hero’s past beginning with his childhood. His school teachers, his friends, his family, his first crush, his move to Kerala and his love for a local girl which does not materialize, his platonic relationship with another girl after moving out of Kerala, and finally his wedding (an arranged one from the looks of it) along with a handful of songs and one fight sequence to kindle the Tamil pride, make up an engaging movie. Leaving behind a dead mother for two days was a little had to digest, barring which the script, story line and dialogues are very impressive.
All the actors have done a nice job in their respective roles. The locations in Kerala (Alapuzha) are excellent and the photography does justice to the abundance of natural beauty in the area. The DVD had sub tiles, so anyone who does not understand Tamil should also find it a very enjoyable experience.
I did some searches on the web and came across a positive review of another earlier film by Cheran.
It turms out that he bagged the best director filmfare award for this film.
Pakora Korner 