Sweet Kaaram Coffee review: Why should boys have all the fun!

Sweet Kaaram Coffee review: Why should boys have all the fun!

What: Sweet Kaaram Coffee - It’s a tried and tested theme but the three women infuse life into the slice-of-life drama.

Sweet Kaaram Coffee review

In Sweet Kaaram Coffee , during a family dinner, the man of the house taunts her mother and wife when they propose a family trekking – “Imagine two of them draped in saree, with slippers on and waddling through the trek!”. The statement reflects the ugly deep-rooted patriarchy that’s still prevalent in urban families and how women are still mere puppets on strings.

It results in something quite radical-the three women of the same house – Kaveri the mother (Madhoo), Nivi (Santhy) and Granny (Lakshmi), embark on a road-trip to Goa causing much furor in the house. They want to break the barrier and break free from the shackled life and more importantly want to prove that they can also move as they desire. What starts as an impulsive road trip to take a break from not only their daily lives but also the archaic expectations laden on them, along the way transforms into a passage to rediscover themselves and reignite their zest for life.

Helming different episodes, directors Bejoy Nambiar, Krishna Marimuthu, and Swathi Raghuraaman seamlessly collaborate to bring to life the riveting story, through their extraordinary skills and talent. The episodes chronicle their multiple misadventures and also many quirky and memorable experiences. The trio get to share their feelings with each other, their revelations bring them closer, and the banters and differences help them empathize with each other.

It gave me a notion of what filmmaker Zoya Akhtar would be imagining with her “Jee Le Zara” and show creator Reshma Ghatala deserves kudos for enriching this tale with a myriad of nuances that you would relate to easily. Sweet Kaaram Coffee is written by Swathi and Vinithra Menon who provide an articulate female gaze to the dilemmas and scenarios the three protagonists are thrown into. In the process, the males are portrayed as sheer parochial and misogynic in nature.

What uplifts the narrative is the awe-inspiring and exquisite cinematography by Viraj Singh and Krishnan Vasanth, and an integral and carefully constructed music soothing its mood by Govind Vasantha. In fact, the music for each of the three characters is represented through individual instruments, for instance a violin for Kaveri (Madhoo), flute for Sundari (Lakshmi), and guitar for Niveditha (Santhy). The production design by Sharmistha Roy is impressive.

Madhoo plays the locus who binds the story – she imbues Kaveri with a lot of sensitivity and vulnerability. She is a responsible homemaker, who loves her family more than anything, and takes care of everyone, but somewhere along the way she loses herself. So, when her mother-in-law (Lakshmi) and daughter convince her to accompany them on an impromptu road trip, it reignites a spark in her to embark on this journey for herself.

Lakshmi on the other hand lends a free-willed touch to the aging granny, Sundari. She is an absolute riot and the crude conversations that she triggers with Kaveri will land you in chuckles.

Santhy adorns the cricketer gal, Nivi with a lot of sensitivity. It’s a widely intuitive performance keeping in mind the swings of today’s youngsters. Nivi is nursing a break-up with her insensitive and chauvinistic boyfriend, yet she is spirited and enthusiastic.