Tourist Family Movie Review: A soulful tale of survival and solidarity

New Indian Express

02-05-2025

In Tourist Family, Das (Sasikumar), Vasanthi (Simran), and their sons Nidhu (Mithun Jai Sankar) and Mulli (Kamalesh) flee the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and migrate to Rameswaram by sea. Quietly resettling in a Chennai colony, they try to live under the radar until unforeseen circumstances expose their identity. What follows is a poignant exploration of their uncertain fate as refugees.
More than just a film, Tourist Family unfolds as a character study. Set largely within a colony bustling with residents of varied temperaments and traits, the film offers a vivid cross-section of humanity, bound together by one underlying thread: a quiet benevolence nestled within flesh and blood. Among them, Mulli, the youngest in the family, emerges as one of the most well-written characters in recent memory. His notoriety, sharp observation skills, compulsive lying, and innate kindness are all effortlessly etched out, remarkably, in a single scene even before the title card appears. Every character brings out a distinct personality in Tourist Family. Nidhu's rightful ire, Vasanthi's naive liveliness, Richard's (MS Bhaskar) strict-to-a-fault nature, and Gunashekar's (Elango Kumaravel) default distrustfulness are some of the contrasting characteristics that beautifully play out to form the diverse dynamics and situations that the film has to offer.
Undoubtedly, Sasikumar's Dharmadas stands out as the force that holds all this heterogeneity together; a man so close to flawless, it borders on mythical. He's the kind of person who, at a memorial for a recently deceased woman, is called a 'God' by another mourner. He's so virtuous that even something as innocuous as throwing garbage into a dustbin almost spells his downfall. How can a 'too-good-to-be-true' man, who consistently puts everyone else's needs before his own, actually exist? This is where Abishan Jeevinth's brilliance shines, not just in writing such a character but in casting the right actor for it. Dharmadas is tailor-made for Sasikumar, whose screen persona has been carefully built around integrity and humility. But Abishan doesn't stop at riding that image. He subtly introduces cracks: a moment of drunken recklessness, a confrontation born out of Nidhu's justifiable resentment, reminding us that even the purest hearts carry burdens. This balance in writing, both in character and in logic, is what allows the audience to suspend disbelief—and yes, the film does ask a great deal of it. Take, for instance, an early scene where Mulli lies about his name. His uncle, played by Yogi Babu, reacts with surprise, prompting Simran's Vasanthi to casually remark, 'Sondha thangachi pasanga per kooda therla,' tying up what could've been a loose thread. It's this kind of consistent detailing that carries the film through.