Valluvanar is an upright political leader in Tamil Nadu much respected for his honesty and uprightness. And he refuses to compromise on this trait even when his only son Kamban finds himself in jail for no fault of his. The opposition party takes advantage of the situation and bails out Kamban, who joins this party much to his father's embarrassment. The media laps it up sensationalizing it further. Then Kamban decides to leave the country until things cool down. Only his mother Vasuki with whom he is close is aware of this plan. Kamban arrives at Sri Lanka where he be-friend's Banerjee, a Bengali and stays with him. One day he finds a Tamil book on the beach which he traces to Shilpa the owner of the book, who is a college student preparing for the civil services examination. The film juggles between reality and fiction, where Theepori, the fictitious father image of Kamban advises him to fall in love. The rest of the story is about the emotional conflict between her career and love.
Direction
Balachander cameos as his own fictional creation. Peak ego, peak art.
Writing
Reality/fiction blender that makes less sense the more you think.
Director
K. Balachander
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
K. Balachander cast himself as Theepori, a fictional idealized father figure, essentially inserting himself as the 'better dad' to his own protagonist.
This was Uday Kiran's Tamil debut after Telugu stardom, and the film's Sri Lanka setting was controversial given ongoing political tensions.
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