Tourist Family - Raju Hirani take note!

Tourist Family

Tamil - Comedy/Drama
126 mins
JioHotstar

Tourist Family follows Dharmadas (Sasikumar), Vasanthi (Simran), and their two boys—who flee the Sri Lankan economic crisis and enter Tamil Nadu via Rameswaram, seeking a fresh start and a better life.

What unfolds is a light-weight, Raju Hirani-esque warm-hearted tale of assimilation, community-building and shared humanity, set in the Keshava Colony where they come to reside.

The performances are uniformly good. Sasikumar is always such a calm presence on screen—even in his “tough” roles, he brings the gentleness of a teddy bear. His performance as the selfless, ever optimistic father is spot on. Simran (her voice once again dubbed by the inimitable voice actor Savitha Radhakrishnan) looks the part and brings a gentle kindness to the role. 

Mithun(aka Bibin from Aavesham), has a nice character arc as the elder brother Nithu, is measured and underplays his part well. But it is Kamalesh as the charmingly devious Mulli who is an absolute gem—easily one of the most cheerful and surprising performances by a child actor in recent memory. The humor that comes through in his scenes is delightful.

The able supporting cast—Yogi Babu (as Simran’s brother), M.S. Bhaskar, Elango Kumaravel, Ramesh Thilak, and Bhagavathi “Bucks” Perumal—do full justice to their roles.

My comparison of this debut effort by writer-director Abishan Jeevinth to Raju Hirani stems from how he wraps serious themes — refugee and immigration crises, identity fraud (fake Aadhaar, etc.), roughneck policeman and other topical issues — with lightness, warmth, and humor, aiming for entertainment over messaging.

I can easily imagine someone like Pa. Ranjith or Mani Ratnam approaching this subject with more gravitas. But credit to the rookie Abishan—he arguably one-ups the by getting the soppiness quotient just right. That balance enhances the film’s emotional credibility and keeps it from turning into caricature. Also, he has a very rewarding cameo in the film.

Sean Roldan’s score and the couple of songs are hummable and elevate the movie.

IMDb lists the runtime at 150 minutes, but the version that I watched clocks in at a tight 126 minutes. In these times, when attention spans are shrinking and many filmmakers stretch scenes in the name of “good cinema,” this cut feels perfect. It is the kind of film I will gladly rewatch—like the comfort of dal-chawal or curd rice.

Tourist Family is such a rare comfort in today’s cinematic landscape—especially when even Raju Hirani could not quite deliver in his last work – topical, necessary, entertaining and worth revisiting.