Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu Movie Review

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As a teenager, aside from the fun with our friends, one of the most talked and thought about things would have been sex. It is this aspect of life as a youngster that Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu tries to explore. The film is about an underage girl born in an orthodox family getting curious about sex and setting up things for her first-time coitus with her underage boyfriend. Actress Akshara Haasan has played the lead role. Film maker Raja Ramamurthy has helmed the drama. So, how has the flick come out? Is it solid enough to catapult actress Akshara Haasan into a bankable lead heroine in Tamil cinema and be a memorable venture for film maker Raja Ramamurthy? To know that let us get into the movie review. 

Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu follows the life of Pavithra (Akshara Haasan), a teenager who finds her upbringing in an orthodox family to be asphyxiating. She lives with her stringent mother (Malgudi Subha) who writes the code on what her daughter should and should not do. From the type of dress Pavithra should wear to what she must become in life, it all is designed to her mother’s wish. Her father (Suresh Chandra Menon) on the other hand, is a man who deprives her of her freedom to watch a cricket match just because his favorite batsman lost his wicket. Her aunt (Janaki Sabesh) keeps nagging her to use the products that she suggests. Her mother wants to turn her into a singer in order to make her grandmother (Usha Uthup) proud. So, she forces her to take Carnatic lessons. But Pavithra is not sure of whether she wants to be a singer and is clueless as to what she wants to do with her life. 

When she is with her family, she is a patsy and gets pushed over by her family members. She gets her modicum of leeway when she is with her friends Rathi (Anjana Jayaprakash), and Jessica (Shalini Vijayakumar). We see her delightfully having fish meat (though she hails from a brahmin community), express her opinions without fearing of how she would be judged for it, and talks about pre-marital sex with them. If fact, that is the thing for which she is setting the stage for. Like most kids she gets curious about physical intimacy and decides to have coitus with her cricketer boyfriend. When she cracks the idea to her friends, Rathi is thrilled and encourages her to have a shot at it. But Jessica does not go with her idea and warns her to drop it. Opportunity presents, will Pavithra chose to break the sacred rule, and have sex with her boyfriend, if she does, how will she face the consequences of the act, is what makes the rest of the flick. 

It is not often we get women centric films in Tamil cinema. Even rarity is the case of a women centric drama that puts the desires of women to discussion. It is simply a taboo topic of taboo. Hence, director Raja Ramamurthy’s intent to deliver a film on a challenging subject needs to be commended. But as to whether he has done it in an engaging manner is a factor to debate on. The notion that the protagonist is challenging the years of conditioning on what constitutes a good girl is kept as the essence of the film. But it is hardly as revolutionary as it wants to be. Yes, there are portions where girls talk of physical intimacy, scenes that attempts to explain the hormonal needs that push the body for it, the acknowledgement that sex is simply a natural need of human body, how the cultural conditioning clash with the choice of woman, how quickly a society talks of a woman’s behavior and turns judgmental towards her. All well and good. 

The issue with Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu is that these stereotype breaking scenes are like tidbits. They come from time to time. And are not expanded up on. Even understanding the limitations, the film for its most part navigates in its safe zone. Trying not to offend conservative thinking in any way. Even unintentionally. This commandment is not followed when the characters are made to pass double entendre. There is more freedom exploited there. Then, there are the loopholes that add to the hiccup. The unreasonable sequences in the pretext of being bold. For instance, Pavithra decides to get a condom. Her wanting to be safe is reasonable but choosing to purchase it from a local drug store, and from a druggist that she is acquainted with, is not. 

Actress Akshara Haasan is inconsistent in her performance. The actress smoothly glides through portions that are less complex and struggles in the parts that are emotive. Actress Malgudi Subha does justice to her role. Actress Usha Uthup is fun to watch as usual. She makes her presence felt. Actress Anjana Jayaprakash is adequate. Actresses Shalini Vijayakumar, Janaki Sabesh, and Kalairani are functional. Actor Suresh Chandra Menon is effective. Comedian George Maryan does not live up to his purpose. The rest of the cast has delivered what was asked of them. 

On the technical front, musician Susha’s tracks are okayish. Even the background score does not create much impact. Cinematographer Shreya Dev Dubey has done a decent job covering the entertainer. Editor Keerthana Murali lets her scissor work do all the talking. 

On the whole, actress Akshara Haasan’s Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu has gold in hand but lacks a goldsmith to turn it into an ornament. 

Achcham Madam Naanam Payirppu is available for streaming on Amazon Prime OTT platform.