Meendum Oru Mariyathai

Meendum Oru Mariyathai is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Bharathiraja. The film starring him, Nakshatra, Joe Malloori and Mounika is bankrolled by Manoj Kumar under his banner Manoj Creations. The music for the film is composed by N.R. Ragunanthan and score is by Sabesh–Murali while cinematography is handled by Salai Sagadevan. The film premiered at the 2018 South Asian Short Film Festival which was held in Ooty. The film which began production in 2014 faced production delays before releasing on 21 February 2020.

Plot
A young girl named Venba, struggling with personal issues and contemplating suicide, crosses paths with an old man, Om, who was abandoned by his son. As they embark on a transformative 10-day journey to exotic locations, Venba's family fears she has been kidnapped and is in grave danger. Unbeknownst to them, Venba is not only safe but also gaining invaluable life lessons and forging a deep, unexpected bond with her elderly companion, which profoundly changes both their lives.

Cast

 * Bharathiraja as Om
 * Rasi Nakshatra as Venba
 * Mounika as Meenakshi, Om's deceased wife
 * Joe Malloori
 * Fenon J. Rodriguez as Venba's brother-in-law
 * Sinthia Soosai as Venba's sister
 * Jey Jey as Om's son

Production
It was announced in November 2014 that Bharathirajaa would portray the lead role in a film titled Om. Nirmalkumar was said to be directing the film with Yuvan Shankar Raja composing the music. The title was an acronym for "Old Man". However, due to some reasons, Nirmalkumar left the project midway with Bharathirajaa himself handling the direction. After a brief period of inactivity, the film's title was changed from OM to Meendum Oru Mariyathai in October 2019.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by N. R. Raghunanthan with Sharran Surya composing two songs and Yuvan Shankar Raja composing one song. Soundtrack was released under the label Saregama.

Reception
Navein Darshan of The New Indian Express wrote, "Having grown up watching his films, I couldn’t help but admire Bharathiraja’s trademark touches [...] But, these weren’t enough for me to feel connected to a film which shows a depressed, suicidal girl as a gleeful, ever-smiling damsel". Thinkal Menon of The Times of India wrote, "With an intriguing plot, what works for the film is the performance of both the lead artistes. But the below-par production quality and dramatic dialogues spoil the essence of several sequences". Ashutosh Mohan of Film Companion wrote, "For a film about two lost souls going on a journey together, we needed to see more things happen to them on their journey. We needed to see them change, know more about the kind of people they were to help us identify with them during the journey.  But, we don't really get a concrete sense of their connection beyond what they tell each other".