“TOURIST FAMILY” Film Review

Million Dollar Movies, the producers of Good Night and Lover, are fast developing a reputation for backing simple but powerful films with only their third film, titled Tourist Family. Directed by newcomer Abishan Jeevinth, Tourist Family is a film that is deeply moving, incredibly funny, emotion-stirring and very inspirational.

Tourist Family tells the tale of a Sri Lankan family – Dharmadas (M. Sasikumar), his wife, Vasanthi (Simran) and their two sons (Mithun Jai Shankar and Kamalesh) who land illegally in India to escape hardship in their home country. With the help of Vasanthi’s brother (Yogi Babu), they attempt to blend in at a residential colony. A bomb blast investigation produces circumstantial evidence that point to Dharmadas’s involvement. As the police conduct their investigation, Dharmadas and his family overcome hurdles of a different kind within their colony. How the issues are eventually resolved forms the rest of the story.

Like most impactful films, the characterization in Tourist Family finds strength in the amount of detail in each character, making it easy to identify with even the minor characters while adding to the value of the central narrative. It, of course, helps when the well-rounded characters are played credibly and this is the impressive achievement of the film’s young director, as he succeeds in extracting the very best from every member of the cast.

If there is any doubt about the acting depth of Sasikumar, it will be dispelled on seeing this film, His powerful expressions and body language accentuate a very measured and powerful portrayal of Dharmadas.

This is one of Simran’s most memorable portrayals, showing vulnerability and strength equally well in her portrayal of Vasanthi.

Mithun Jai Shankar as Nithushan, their eldest son, is in an energetic and realistically charged role that shows raw emotion without being melodramatic. The star of the film is undoubtedly Kamalesh, portraying the lovable younger son, Mulli.

The rest of the cast each play powerful roles. M.S. Bhaskar, Bhahavathi Perumal and Elango Kumaravel and Sreeja Ravi are in convincing portrayals of their respective characters. Ramesh Thilak is in another memorable portrayal as the conflicted Inspector Bhairavan. The film’s writer and director, Abishan Jeevinth, also plays a small but powerful role as the colony alcoholic.

The winning factor in Tourist Family is the use of delightful humour that is naturally infused throughout the film. The regular and intense humour soften the very emotive scenes that unfold without trivialising anything.

Aravind Viswanathan’s cinematography has a wide variety of shots and there are flashes of sheer brilliance with light usage. However, these experiments are not sustained.

It is a very impressive performance from music composer Sean Roldan who has taken extra care in the songs, with beautiful and moving words of Mohan Rajan. Sean Roldan’s background score is also very good.

You will go through the full range of human emotions while watching Tourist Family, but the film will also give you some giggles, chuckles and unbridled laughter, making it the ideal family entertainer.

Tourist Family scores 9 points out of 10.