Talking the Talk: MEIYAZHAGAN and the Therapeutic Effect of Conversation
C. Prem Kumar’s Meiyazhagan reminds viewers of the beauty of pausing for a while, reflecting, and reconnecting. It shows that deep down, we are all broken souls, yearning for a companion to listen, to open our hearts without the fear of judgements.
In his 2024 Tamil film Meiyazhagan, director and writer C. Prem Kumar finds poignance in the slowest moments of life, like the scene where two long-lost relatives sit by the pond side at late night, drinking beer from the mud pot in the warm light of the kerosene lamp, dipping their feet in the cold water. They are away from the chaos of the world, where time slows down, sharing a heart-to-heart conversation. Little else is needed.
Since its release, Meiyazhagan captured the minds of viewers with its slow-paced narration, evoking nostalgia, simplicity, and the therapeutic effect of conversations. It is a conversational film, as much of its core is performed through dialogues shared between the two lead characters. Their seemingly simple talks carry profound meanings, leaving a lasting impression on our minds, and reaffirming the belief in the goodness of the world.
The small genre of ‘conversational films’ are those that feature the casual natural conversations between two or more main characters. The topics can shift from a serious to a light-hearted, often following a slow-paced plot. These films serve a realistic flavour, leaving viewers to savour the beauty of simple pleasures of life. The long on-screen conversations cannot be a spontaneous construction, but result from a deliberate exchange shaped by multiple creative minds.
Sean Minogue writes in her article “In Praise of Long Conversations in Film”
Long conversations are a gamble. I think that’s what makes them so great to watch. There’s a high risk of failure. If these scenes work out, they’re the most memorable part of a film. If not, you’ve committed what director Frank Capra called the cardinal sin of filmmaking: dullness.
For Prem Kumar, storytelling is about conversations. Like Meiyazhagan, the conversational style in his 2018 project 96 portray Prem Kumar as an artist who excels in the art of understanding and reflecting human emotions. Both these films show the need for companionship, and how communication proves to be the best form of therapy for the deeply dysfunctional lead characters. Prem Kumar once said that, “If 96 made you cry in sadness, Meiyazhagan will bring happy tears.”
Produced by 2D Entertainment, Meiyazhagan opens in the year 1996, with a sequence of emotional scenes showing the grief of teenaged Arulmozhi Varman, affectionately known as Arul (Saran Shakthi), who is compelled to leave his affectionate hometown Thanjavur after his father lost their ancestral home in a property dispute. Like his uncle said before they left, the house and the village comprised of Arul’s entire world. The film then moves fast forward to 2018, showing a grown-up Arul (Arvind Swami) residing in Chennai with his family that includes his parents, wife, and daughter. The boy who was once active, cheerful in his village—a hero among the other children—has now turned out to be a reserved man.
Arul returns to his hometown reluctantly after 22 years for his cousin Bhuvana’s wedding. The one-day journey unfolds with an exploration of his roots and relationships, a long walk back to the past. His encounter with a charming but nameless relative (Karthi) adds an unexpected layer to his trip, igniting both curiosity and warmth. Arul is confused and attempts to identify this unnamed relative (later revealed as Meiyazhagan) whom he cannot recollect, but who in turn knows everything about him. The film in a way, becomes a quest to reveal the true Arulmozhi, rather than revealing the identity of Meiyazhagan.
As Arul misses his bus to return to Chennai, he is forced to spend a night at Meiyazhagan’s home. Little by little, Arul comes out of his blanket of solitude and embraces his happy, vulnerable self, which had been buried somewhere deep within him. Meiyazhagan is the exact opposite of Arul: an extrovert who rarely follows social boundaries. He is uncorrupted by the inevitable changes of time and society, and lives in harmony with nature. He has the childlike innocence in him, but is also aware of the social and political situations around him.
When Arul asks Meiyazhagan, “How are you like this?” Meiyazhagan responds, “Even my wife asks me the same thing.” Arul says, “Just stay this way. Don’t change.”
A long conversation follows between two adult men, who aren’t afraid to express their emotions and their vulnerabilities. They drink together, sing, cry, talk about random things and take a walk down memory lane. When Meiyazhagan reveals that he is naming his to be born child after Arulmozhi, the comfort and companionship he enjoyed give way to guilt and grief, as Arul is still unable to recollect the name of this relative who showers him with love and gratitude.
In an emotional scene, Arul leaves the village in silence, a running away from his self. Back in Chennai, he continues his routine, running on ends to arrange the 25 lakhs needed to buy a house. But no matter how hard he tries, his mind wanders back to his village, to the carefree night he spent with his unidentified relative. His mind swells with guilt and remorse for having pretended to know him all along the night, for betraying him by giving the wrong phone number, for silently running away from him and his wife with no proper goodbyes.
Losing that house was symbolic of losing a part of himself, a comfortable past he can no longer return to. His bond with Meiyazhagan becomes even more profound when he acknowledges that words aren’t always necessary for understanding.
Understanding her father’s plight, it is Arul’s daughter, Jhanvi, who dials Meiyazhagan’s number (that he forced Arul to write). When Meiyazhagan answers, Arul can hardly resist pouring his heart over to him. In a long trail of events reminiscing their childhood memories, Arul understands his bond with Meiyazhagan and thereby reconciles with his old self—to the innocent, kind, young man he once was, who had become a role model for Meiyazhagan.
As life circles back, Arulmozhi finds himself through Meiyazhagan. “I figured out who I am only because of you,” he says.
The film portrays a cathartic journey underwent by Arul, mirroring the inner struggles shared by many of us and the yearning for genuine human connections. Thus, Meiyazhagan celebrates the art of conversation, like Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox or Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy, where dialogues reflect authenticity and serve as instruments of introspection.
In an interview given to Galatta Plus, Prem Kumar said that a good film should change someone’s life. “You should be like propelled towards either positivity or something good, you know, like you grow after that. You feel like you have transformed.”
Meiyazhagan is an example of one such film. Arul leaves a cycle behind for Meiyazhagan, a small act that proves capable of drastic change. “That cycle,” Arul says, “in a way changed everything, Athaan! What my father earned, my education, my brother going to college, in fact, even for my wedding, I arrived in that cycle! If your cycle hadn’t been there, my life would have been very different.”
By cycling back to memory, Arul returns to an older time and older self, realizing that he was just a broken teenager trapped in an adult body.
In Prem Kumar’s cinematic universe, everyone has a heart of gold, including the bus conductor and the lady who sells flowers at the temple. The film also touches upon the theme of close-knit extended families as a community within itself. Upon entering the busy wedding house as a stranger, the first person who encounters Arul is Latha. In a short conversation, she says that she should have married him, conveying her unhappy married life. After that brief encounter, viewers notice a subtle but visible change in Arul’s emotions. Her gentle passing touch on his shoulders becomes a sign of reaffirming the goodness between them.
With each interaction with other family member, Arul’s smile slowly grows. Emotions reach its peak when he meets Bhuvana, the bride, on stage, adorning her with the jewellery he had treasured for her. Prem Kumar’s composition of this scene, the performance of the artists, the skilful pacing, and Govind Vasantha’s background score altogether make it a heart-warming shot. We find ourselves smiling at Meiyazhagan and his ‘athaan’ drinking beer from a mud pot, singing old Tamil songs, dancing in the middle of the road at late night, under a warm, yellow light. They smile at the dog cheerfully accompanying them.
The talks where Arul reminisces about his childhood, the unresolved pain of losing his ancestral house, his inability to forget the betrayal of his relatives reflects the comfort he had with Meiyazhagan. Losing that house was symbolic of losing a part of himself, a comfortable past he can no longer return to. His bond with Meiyazhagan becomes even more profound when he acknowledges that words aren’t always necessary for understanding.
Every interaction Arul has with the villagers becomes moments of self-discovery and silent understanding, healing the wounds he never realized he had. The film thrives on its simplicity, drawing beauty from the mundane, evoking emotions that feel deeply personal. It does not rely on grand gestures but rather on the quiet intimacy of shared experiences. The silences speak as much as the words, carrying unspoken emotions and memories.
Meiyazhagan reminds viewers of the beauty of pausing for a while, reflecting, and reconnecting. It shows that deep down, we are all broken souls, yearning for a companion to listen, to open our hearts without the fear of judgements.
The film eventually leaves viewers with a sweet taste, just as when the title character speaks of the feeling of “Nellikaa saaptu thanni kudichaa madhri” (drinking water after eating a gooseberry.)
“Athaan, are you happy?” Meiyazhagan asks.
“Very happy.” Arul replies. “You happy?”
“Double happy.”
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Deepthi Mary Alex is an aspiring educator with a Master's degree in English Literature. A huge fan of both books and films, she is passionate about discovering new narratives. She has contributed stories and poems to anthologies. You can find her on Instagram: @_deepthi.___.
