Ilai, a studious girl living in a village nestled in the foothills of a mountain, is in Class 10. Her father’s only wish is to get her educated. However, the villagers do not believe in a woman getting education. Even I her own family, Ilai’s mom constantly chides her for wasting time with studies, while her uncle lustfully eyes her and desires to marry her. And by joining forces with the zamindar, whose daughter is jealous of Ilai, he plots to stop the girl from attending her final exam. Can Ilai overcome all the hurdles that crop up on that fateful day and make it in time?
For most of its running time, Ilai plays out like a race-against-time thriller. Swathy Narayanan, who is made to do a lot of physical work to make us understand how challenging the goal is for Ilai, make us empathise with the plight of the girl. Similarly, Bineesh Raj holds some shots for the entire duration the girl takes for running from point A to point B to appreciate the distance between the school and her remote hillside hut, though, after a point, her constant running just becomes tiring for us, the viewers!
( 2.5 / 5 )