To Let Movie Review

Cast: Santhosh Sreeram, Suseela, Dharun, Aadhira Pandilakshmi

Cinematography: Cheziyan 

Editing: Sreekar Prasad

Written & Directed by: Cheziyan

Produced by: Prema Cheziyan

Release Date: 21-02-2018 ; Run Time: 01:33:00

With beautifully written characters, rooted situations and an unadulterated narrative, Chezhiyan’s To Let is definitely a winner. Made with international sensibilities, the director does away with any kinds of compromises and only concentrates on telling his story in the space of 100 minutes. The never moves away from its intent, and focuses mainly on the similar but different feelings of the three members of the family.

Chezhiyan wonderfully envelopes real-life hurdles into the lives of the three members of the family whose story he wishes to tell. His social commentary is not on-the-face, but is nuanced through the incidents in the film, the milieu that it is set in and the dialogues of the characters. With the main plot dealing with the struggle to find a house within a suitable time limit, the little joys and the sorrows faced by the family are nicely registered in a calm and composed manner that gives little or no room for cinematic liberties. While there are a lot of scenes that display their problems in finding a suitable new home within their low-lying budgets, there are a handful of scenes that organically put a smile on your face. It’s really nice to see how the mindsets of the characters in the film elevate with the passing incidents, showing the work on the writing table that has gone into the efforts for the film.

Santhosh Shreeram, Sheela Rajkumar and Dharun – all the three main actors take over their roles convincingly, emerging with impressive performances. While Santhosh shows good variation with the limited expressions that he has in hand, Sheela is a terrific actress who would be a name to watch out for in the future. The little additions that she brings to her character help the film travel smoothly, and credit has to go to her. The little kid is the live wire here, keeping the mood light at moments where it could have got really dramatic.

Chezhiyan’s decision to go forward without a music composer is the director’s best choice, as he successfully immerses you in his realistic portrayal with just ambient sounds. The cinematography is adequate, and so is the technical work all round.

However, To Let could have done better if the film had a well-defined finish, instead of what it has now. After depicting struggle in such a good way, the current ending feels incomplete, making the viewer ask for more. This is the only turn off in what is otherwise a beautiful film that deserves your attention, more so if you are a film buff who craves for international cinema in the Tamil scene. To Let is a set of debate-worthy and heartfelt moments put together with subtle storytelling as a must-have.

Verdict: Realistic, sincere cinema at display!

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