R ARIVANANTHAM
Marutha, a film showcasing an age-old practice of Seimurai, popular in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu even now in big screens from Jan 21.
Usually, the crowd-funding system to help families by the community members/villagers called ‘moi panam’ at a family function, but here, the gift is given to the host family in advance by organizing ‘Kari Virundhu’ so that they can hold a family event at a later date.
The beginning of the film showcased this, as means crowd funding, and how it has evolved into a matter of pride for the families concerned.
The story revolves around Kaali (Viji Chandrasekar (actor Saritha’s sister), way over-the-top, in a sometimes-good-and-sometimes-bad way), a brash, money-minded, who is a usury of sorts when it comes to ensuring that the people who she had done the Seimurai return the favour, and her sister-in-law Meenakshi (Radikaa Sarathkumar, dignified), who has become the subject of her taunts for her inability to do so.
Egged on by a fractious relative (Vela Ramamoorthy), Kaali’s husband Maayan (Saravanan, whose character vanishes now and then during crucial scenes) had given a huge amount as seimurai for his sister Meenakshi’s family event, and unable to return the same, her husband (Marimuthu, an extended cameo) had ended his life.
Twenty years later, with a son, who is a spendthrift, can Meenakshi gain back her dignity when Kaali organises a seimurai to arrange the wedding of her daughter Amuthavalli (Lovelyn Chandrasekar) is the story.
Marutha is scripted and directed by GRS and produced by Sabapathi. “Ilaiyaraja” composed the music. GRS, Lovelyin Chandrasekhar, Radhika Sarathkumar, Viji Chandrasekhar, Paruthiveeran Saravanan “G Marimuthu,”Vela Ramamoorthy, and Ganja Karuppu are cast in the prominent roles.
