Idli Kadai movie review: Dhanush starrer is a touching story about family, strength, and forgiveness

Idli Kadai

In Tamil movie Idli Kadai, Dhanush exhibits his strength again. He is noted for being able to portray innocence and melancholy through stillness. The actor was in charge of writing, directing, and making the movie. It's a beautiful narrative about family, heritage, and the problems that come with being faithful to your roots.

Story:

Murugan (Dhanush) is the son of Sivanesan (Rajkiran) and his wife (Geetha Kailasam). They run a small but well-known idli shop in their village. Murugan, who grew up with huge hopes, finds a job as a caterer at the hotel owned by Vishnu Vardhan (Sathyaraj), who is very rich.

Meera (Shalini Pandey), Vardhan's daughter, falls in love with him as he becomes more famous. But all of a sudden, Murugan needs to rush back home after he gets to know of his father Sivanesan's death just before his wedding.

Murugan decides to revive his father's basic idli kadai instead of giving in to pressure to marry Meera. But his choice leads to a confrontation with Ashwin (Arun Vijay), Meera's angry brother, that tests Murugan's strength.

Nithya Menen (Kayal) plays Dhanush’s wife who supports his dream and has his back no matter what his decision is. She plays someone who is naïve, vulnerable and has not much of a knowledge about the world and people. Besides playing his wife, Nithya doesn’t really have much to do in the film. Though she plays a pivotal role in shaping up of Dhanush’s career, and the Idly shop, there is nothing much for her unlike her previous films.

Performance and analysis:

The first half of the movie does an excellent job of conveying Murugan's calm charm, ambition, and some of his heroic attributes. But the emotional father-son theme of the movie is lost in the conflict between the hero and the bad guy in the second half.

One of the strongest portions is the bond between father and son, especially when Sivanesan's soul shields Murugan. But using too many cliches and exaggerations makes what should have been a more compelling emotional drama less so.

Dhanush is great as Murugan, expressing how he feels imprisoned, struggling, and strong in a quiet way. Arun Vijay plays the bad guy Ashwin with a lot of enthusiasm, while Nithya Menen makes an impression with her kindness, even though she doesn't have a lot of screen time.

Sathyaraj and Parthiban give excellent support, and Sathyaraj's father figure who feels bad about what he did is especially compelling.

Dhanush has done a good job as a director. He has written the story  well.

Verdict:

Idli Kadai is an homage to parents and the things they gave up. Dhanush's message is clear: respect your roots, keep your family's legacy alive, and always remember what your parents taught you.

Cast: Dhanush, Nithya Menen
Director: Dhanush
Producer: Akash BhaskaranStar: 2/5