Bakrid Tamil Movie
'Bakrid' had a poster of a cute family posing with a camel and the heartwarming melody 'Aalankurivigala' sung by the latest sensation, Sid Sriram as its visiting card. Of course, to back its release, there was Red Giant Movies that made sure that the movie hit the release date.
The movie is about a family's unconditional love for a camel calf that they adopt by chance. The emotional turmoil that erupts when the calf struggles to put up with the habitat and food down south and to restore it to where it belongs is the rest of the story. It's been ages since a robust animal-based film released since the days of Ramanarayanan and Devar films. The story's essence reminisced 'Annai Oru Aalayam' released in 1979 with Rajinikanth and Sri Priya playing the lead.
However, contrary to the 1979 movie, Bakrid was more rooted and leaned on real-world emotions. The Muslim connect in the storyline was very natural as well. Though I found it a bit difficult to buy into the lead character opting to adopt the young camel calf, as the movie progressed, the emotional connect gets established. The scene wherein we get a fake 'sait ji' "communicating" with the camel in Hindi was quite funny.
Also, the family's concern for the animal and the rural charm and the people's genuine love for their near and dear ones were brought forth naturally. Also, the innocent love of the kid (played by the cute Shruthika) in the family, her yearning for 'Lays' chips and how it gets dealt with 'diligence' was handled maturely. As a result, the movie made a statement on today's politics on capitalism and agriculture without creating a furor.
Performances from Vikranth and Vasundhara were decent. The guy who plays 'Sundaram,' though had a heavy Malayali accent managed to tickle a few nerves. The men who portrayed the roles of the Lorry driver and cleaner were good selections as well. The foreign tourist whom Vikranth meets on the way also tries to make a mark.
The movie in its second half lost its track like its lead actor, Vikranth. The travel and the journey the lead actor takes to Rajasthan by foot was an overkill. The usage of Hindi dialogues during the North India portions made the proceedings look more natural but hampered the pace. The length of the movie could have been curtailed. There was an unwanted digression because of a vacuum in the story.
The movie has indeed infused new blood to the old theme of animal-based films. Such genres are certainly a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale ethos where we are drowned in pungent 'masala.' 'Bakrid' makes an impression with its noble theme, decent narration, and performances by key actors. Watchable!
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