Paradesi is by far Bala's best film. With no compromise on commercial aspects the movie literally relives the lives of the famine stricken people of southern India under the rule of the British.
One can watch this movie simply to enjoy the language and the Tamil slang the people of that age used.
At the end of the movie one would have gone through all emotions; happiness, sadness, laughter, pain, fear, pity. Though the story is adapted from 'Eriyum Panikadu' a Tamil translation of the 1969 novel Red Tea by Paul Harris Daniel this film has got a flavor of its own. The narrative style of the Director makes you feel as though you are one of the characters in the movie. The movie actually sucks the audience into it for its entire length leaving the audience much to think about in the end.
Any person who enjoyed the movie would want to read the novel, any person who has already read the novel will enjoy the movie even more.
Coming to the technical aspects, the film has already won the National award for Best costume designs. The Camera work is noteworthy,specially in the initial scenes. The background score is descent and the songs go well with the flow of the movie. The lead characters have excelled individually however the rest of casting could have been a little better.
All in all Paradesi is a movie to watch, a movie to live,a movie to learn from..