Sivakumarin Sabadham Movie Review: Four films down the line, it is clear that the films of Hiphop Tamizha are fast becoming a genre by themselves – one might call them the post-YouTube movies. These are films that are all about moments. Scenes never last more than a couple of minutes and you are not supposed to expect a smooth transition from one scene to the next. If there is a moment involving a character breaking down, the next scene will not necessarily carry that emotion forward. Instead, we will get something lighter. The emphasis is clearly on not letting the audience linger on a moment for long. Plus, these bite-sized moments can work as viral content on social media. So, the focus is more on narrative momentum rather than characterisation and story arcs. Just keep things moving seems to be the mantra behind the writing, which involves taking up a specific backdrop (indie music in Meesaya Murukku, hockey in Natpe Thunai, weaving here), coming up with scenes that are minor variations of what we have seen in other films (a neglected child doing crazy things to get its parent’s attention, henpecked husband finally ‘putting his wife in her place’), including half-a-dozen songs and ensuring that things don’t get too heavy. You can see it in the filmmaking and performances, too. The performances are casual but inconsistent, and the filmmaking snappy but not forceful. Eventually, our reaction to these films is momentary enjoyment or plain indifference. It is hard to truly love or absolutely hate them.
This is the case with Sivakumarin Sabadham, too. Sivakumar (Hiphop Adhi) is raised by his grandfather Varadarajan, a respected weaver in Kanchipuram, whose own son Murugan (Prankster Rahul), is just a couple of years older than Sivakumar. When Siva gets into trouble with the cops, his father Ganesan sends him off to Chennai with Murugan, who is married to rich textile showroom owner Chandrasekaran. Varadarajan and Chandrasekaran have a history between them and when Siva and the latter’s niece Shruti (Madhuri) fall in love, Murugan, too, is thrown out of their home. Can Siva patch things up between the families and also restore Varadarajan’s reputation?
Your feelings towards Sivakumarin Sabadham will depend on how much you are able to go with Hiphop Tamizha’s decision to use a premise with potential for intense drama to narrate a light-hearted film about family and relationships. While there are times when it is refreshing to see situations never getting too serious, this also makes us to not take anything that happens in the film seriously. From a character challenging the antagonist to another character trying to commit suicide, everything is treated lightly. The film keeps giving us dramatic scenes that are then punctured by the time they end. If this approach is something that you are okay with, the film will remain an engaging watch for you. Else, you will be frustrated at the film’s refusal to make us feel emotionally involved.
