Kudumbasthan, starring Manikandan in the lead role, is a family drama that details the struggles of a breadwinner with a comical touch
Last Updated: 10.30 AM, Jan 24, 2025
For Saanve Megghana who has worked in a handful of Telugu films, made her debut in Tamil with Kudumbasthan, a brilliantly written family drama that explores the life of a middle class burdened with financial struggles and social expectations. “This film is very close to me, because I am from a middle-class family and there are so many things to tell,” says Saanve.
Actor Saanve who says comedy is her favourite genre, mentions how comedy is the hardest genre to write. “There are many comical sub-genres, but with Kudumbasthan, nothing is a deliberate comedy. What happens in this film is treated somewhat like dark comedy. The hero is going through difficulties, goes through job loss. That means his family itself stops working, so that is a very dark space to be in. It automatically makes us laugh not because we are evil but we know he is going to get out of it,” she adds.
Saanve admits being a fan of late actor Sridevi, who is known for her comic style with just facial expressions. “I relate to her a lot, because I love dancing and do the comedy that she does. She does it gracefully and her style is very natural. Women are equally funny as men, and nowadays we also see stand-up comics who are women.”
Elaborating on her character, Saanve says even as she may play the wife character, there is a lot of additions to her character. “Vennila, my character, has gone through an inter-caste marriage to be with the hero. So eventually, she is unable to fit into his family, and she is also studying to become an IAS officer,” Saanve says.
A young actor, Saanve who reflects on the changing roles for women in landscape of cinema now, says, “As long as I am giving audience meaningful films, make them laugh, and having a great time, I am happy. I want to give good characters. There can be some stereotyping in the process, and I am not scared of it, because that is when people relate with you and your role. But at the same time, I want to explore more characters.
Actor Prasanna Balachandran, who plays a vital role in Kudumbasthan besides working as a writer in the film, comes from the team of Nakkalites, an entertainment company that creates digital content. Having worked on the screenplay and dialogues of the film with director Rajeshwar Kalisamy, Prasanna says, “I have worked as writer in cinema for just a year, but I feel cinema should be taken from life, by seeing life. Life is dynamic that everything changes, now very quickly. Cinema has to capture that, and my team in Kudumbasthan gave due respect when I wanted to capture that. It was more of a value addition, than each of them pulling the story as per their wishes.”
He adds that more meaningful films are required in today’s tines and it is important to see what cinema takes from the society rather than other way round. “Society should not evolve in a wrong way, and people who make cinema are socially responsible for that. We cannot hold audience responsible for the way our cinema is shaping. We cannot give whatever they ask, put on the onus on them.”
For Prasanna, who reflects the reality of families of today’s times, which is very much like the protagonist of Kudumbasthan, the writer compares how life has changed. “I can fulfill all the wishes of my families and still not be content. Today shopping malls have become neo temples and purchases have become worship. Your social value is determined by the purchases you can make, and the brands you have determine you. No matter you fulfill the needs of your family, you are still seen a man with less resources if you cannot fulfill the wants. This may not have been the case a generation back and that is what Kudumbasthan has shown.”
But how Kudumbasthan has managed to portray this? “If you have a person to walk on the rope (Manikandan), it is easy. Once he was okay with the script, we discussed a lot to blend with the character. There were back and forth, since Manikandan is also a writer, we were able to execute the work.”