Kasthoorimaan is an engrossing movie by Lohithadas starring Meera Jasmine and Prasanna. The movie is a remake of the Malayalam movie of the same name, again directed by Lohitdas, and is about the paragon Meera Jasmine and her sacrifices. Prasanna is the hero in the Tamil version; Kunchala Bopan was the hero in Malayalam. Meera Jasmine is the heroine in both versions. This is a heroine-oriented film, and Meera Jasmine was awarded the Regional award for her role in this film. Both of them act in a very natural manner, and this is far from the normal routine masala film.

The sequence of events is different and unpredictable making the movie offbeat, worth watching, and with sharp dialogues by Jaya Mohan.

The movie starts with Arun (Prasanna) reporting for his first posting as Collector after joining the IAS. True to the adage that a new broom sweeps clean, he deals with files fast, fearlessly and without favour. His father Pazhaniappan (Sarath Babu), once a rich film producer, wants him to marry the daughter of a rich money-lender, to whom he owes huge amounts. The proposed marriage will nullify the loan, and they will be rich again. At that stage, Arun is visited by the rich man who had lent huge amounts to Arun’s father, and now wants Arun to marry his daughter. When Arun’s reply does not satisfy him, the rich man goes to Arun’s father with an ultimatum. Then the flashback begins…

In flashback, the story unfolds: Arun (Prasanna) hails from a rich family which fell on bad times because his father lost all the family fortunes in horse-racing and film-making. Arun, a student of M.A. (Philosophy) and wants to join the IAS. Umashankari (Meera Jasmine), a student of B.A. (Economics) in the same college is notorious for being a prankster. Each thinks the other to be rich, ill-mannered, and spoilt by riches. It is generally believed that she is very rich, since she wears very mod dresses, comes to college on a scooter, wears a walkman, carries adequate money, and brings sumptuous lunches. At a picnic, she teases Arun, who is a serious student, and he gets upset. She continues to tease him, challenges him to sing extempore at a college function, (naturally, he performs very well, impresses everybody, and Uma also sings with him on stage), exposes his poverty, and makes fun of him. Enraged, he slaps her, and leaves. Predictably, she regrets, repents, and makes all efforts to make up with him, even paying his exam fees on the last day. This also upsets him, and he pays her back. When his father attempts suicide and is hospitalized, there is no money to pay his bill, but Uma again steps in, introduces herself, pays the bill, and gets him discharged. This earns the gratitude of Arun, so they make up and become friends.

Arun then comes to know that Uma is actually a very poor girl, living with her mother, elder sister, and brother-in-law (elder sister’s husband) in a hutment. She works as an attendant in three houses, looking after sick bedridden persons, living on the salaries she gets, wearing discarded clothes, eating the various foodstuffs given to her. This increases his regard for her. She encourages him to work hard and apply for the IAS, for which she provides the money by discontinuing her studies, and taking up to additional jobs.

Her brother-in-law is a constable with the Crime Branch of Police, a bully, drunkard and womanizer, always trying to seduce Uma. When he comes to know about Uma’s romance with Arun, he gets further enraged, and makes all efforts to stop them.

When Arun is selected to the IAS, everybody suddenly starts fawning on his family, eager to bask in his reflected glory. The rich man, who had lent large sums to Arun’s father, comes to demand his pound of flesh in the form of getting his daughter married to Arun. Not having much choice, Arun’s father agrees to the same, but Arun does not agree to this transaction. He plans to take Uma with him for his training at Delhi.

But Uma’s brother-in-law comes to know of this, and he determines to stop them. He tries to rape Kasturi and brutally beats his wife, who tries to protect her sister. Uma then hacks and kills her brother-in-law with a chopper, is arrested, and sent to jail for nine years RI.

Arun asks his father to give his entire property to the rich man to settle his debts, and decides to wait for Uma’s release from jail. He wants to secure her early release by filing an appeal in court, but she does not agree, since her conscience wants her to undergo the punishment for murder. So Arun, still unmarried, waits for her release, growing older…

Meera plays a childish, pampered, bubbly girl in the first part and a totally different, mature, serious role towards the end. In both avatars, she excels, and deserves a standing ovation. She proves that her beauty is not just skin deep; she can act, emote, and weep very convincingly. When she weeps, you wipe your eyes. Prasanna, the hero, is her lover, shares her grief, and has given a restrained performance. His role is simple, to provide a foil to Meera's role. Even with this limitation, Prasanna reveals that he is a skillful actor. Ilayaraja’s melodious tunes fit the story to a T.Jayamohan has written the dialogues. The songs are good, well picturised, and shot in rural locales. While others show fields of tulips in Holland, Lohitdas shows us typical fields in South India with marigolds and other flowers, actual old women from villages dancing with the heroine, bamboo designs, including female scarecrows of bamboo-work.

Lohitdas has given a sensitive movie which is certainly different from usual masala movies, told with patience and perseverance. This is a clean movie, different from normal masala movies, worth watching.