Why Tourist Family is the best in its genre of family dramas in recent times

If there is one complaint often made about Tamil cinema, it is the amount of bloodshed and gore onscreen. While there is no denying that such cinema gives the adrenaline rush in no time, pumps you with heroism and outbursts of theatre moments are aplenty, let’s take a moment or two to appreciate those light moments which can go on to make your stomach ache with laughter. And sometimes, theatre moments are also when you begin to see a twinkle in the eyes of every family member who has come to theatres with you, regardless of gender, and age. The recent film Tourist Family is one such comedy family drama, which has managed to capitalise not only with its quips but also with a feather-light approach to worldly topics. (spoilers ahead)

Tourist Family: Why Sasikumar-Simran film is best in its genre of family drama

Essentially, Tourist Family is the story of a family of four. A Sri Lankan Tamil couple, Dharmadas and Vasanthi, their teenage son Nidhushan and their younger one Mulli. To escape the economic crisis in their country, they flee to Tamil Nadu, India, with the hopes of starting a better life. For a film that talks about worldly topics such as immigration and identity, Tourist Family packages the movie in such a way that the film’s message stands tall despite the heaviness it comes with.

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Abishan Jeevinth, who crafted the film in his directorial debut, makes a strong case for the point, with his one stretch of a scene which involves the family sobbing, crying in laughter, shocked, betrayed, surprised, and at peace, all at once. It is when Dharmadas comes home drunk to his house, his neighbour’s daughter comes visiting. A drunk Dharmadas blurts out his family’s secret; Nidhishan reveals his pent-up anger on his father for making him leave his lover; Nidhishan gets to know that his lover is happily dancing on her wedding back home; and Mulli begins to dance to the same song as his brother’s lover seems to be dancing. The beauty lies in how the scene manages to throw back the audience to a moment of empathy only to bring them back with a peal of laughter and lighten the mood. It almost feels like the neighbour girl is us, as we witness the family being true, harmless, with nothing to hide.

Tourist Family has pockets of humour infused, but the momentous highs come from the world is built with the colony neighbours, and a policeman who comes in searching for the family for a particular reason. Supporting actors Yogi Babu, Ramesh Thilak, Ilango Kumaravel, MS Bhaskar and Bagavathi Perumal round off the cast, including Simran, Sasikumar, Mithun and Kamalesh, make Tourist Family a heartwarming outing, where it places humanity over anything else; making the film say the worldly message of how despite differences, we can still be brothers and sisters.

Several of those who watched Tourist Family compared the film to Mozhi, another film which encapsulated the importance of togetherness. Just like how the Radha Mohan film had multiple characters with different backstories in a particular neighbourhood that came together to tell the tale of humanity and love, Tourist Family too had taken a similar idea with a different route. With the main conflict about the film being the protagonist family being hunted down by police, suspecting a connection to a bomb blast, Tourist Family makes a beautiful climax in the form of unity in diversity. It is also a film that talks about how if the family you are born with is one boon, there can also be a family that you will grow with as life progresses.

Tourist Family OTT partner

Tourist Family is produced by Million Dollar Productions and JioHotstar has bagged the post-theatrical streaming rights of the film. The family drama will begin streaming sometime towards the end of May. An exact release date will be announced later.