Former President and renowned scientist Dr APJ Abdul Kalam always spoke about how the ‘untapped’ potential of the youth of India should be properly harnessed to make India a developed country. He constantly urged the youth to dream and observed that the developed India will be a network of prosperous villages and not cities. In one of his speeches at the IAS Officers Academy, Dr Kalam spoke about a young man from a Thoothukudi village and his scientific innovation, which is what the Tamil film Lineman is about. (Also read: Amaran review: Sivakarthikeyan and Sai Pallavi shine in Rajkumar Periasamy’s well-crafted tribute to the armed forces)

The action

Based on a true story, Lineman, directed by debutant M Udhayakumar, tells the story of Senthil (debutant Jegan Balaji), a young man living in Kambikattu village in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu. The entire village works in the salt pan eight months of the year to make a living and for the remaining four months you borrow money from the owner of the salt pan, Thalamuthan, to survive. Senthil’s father, Subbiah (Charle), is in a slightly better position as he is an electrical lineman in the government electrical department and manages to make Senthil a mechanical engineer. However, the path for Senthil and this village is not easy – the village has no proper roads, no transport and is at the mercy of Thalamuthan. (Also read: I Am Kathalan Review: Naslen Gafoor’s love story with technocrime is just pastime)

Now, Thalamuthan, which supplies salt to the chemical factories in the surrounding area, is known to steal electricity for its salt pans resulting in many deaths due to constant work on the electrical wires by the linemen. Senthil’s mother also died due to electrocution due to these illegal lines and Subbiah’s constant quest is to deal with the illegal theft of electricity. At the same time, Senthil develops a device called the auto-sun switch where the street lights turn on when the sun sets and turn off when the sun rises, reducing the dangers to the linemen. The entire movie revolves around how Senthil struggles to get his project approved by the collector and constantly requests the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister to evaluate his project and implement it to save lives. But Thalamuthan and his coterie try everything from threats to murder to prevent this. What happens in the end? (Also read: Pani review: Joju George’s violent gangster film may be old wine in a new bottle but is a good directorial debut)

What works and what doesn’t

Lineman revolves around Senthil and Subbiah and the hardships of men and women in the village. It ranges from a powerful and abusive landowner, patriarchy, domestic violence, corrupt government officials, corrupt corporations and so on. While on one hand Senthil is trying to get his project sanctioned and writing hundreds of letters to government officials, he is not fully aware of the issues of those working in salt pan. Those who work in salt pans try to protest their working conditions but this is not explored in depth either. And this is the core problem with the film. The director does not delve deep enough into these aspects and connect them seamlessly.

Although the death of Senthil’s mother may be the reason for him developing the automatic solar switch, the emotional connection is never established. Thus, Senthil comes across as more selfish in trying to achieve his dream rather than working together with the people of Kambikattu to alleviate their problems as he is also not an activist.

Lineman is a well-intentioned rural social drama but it unfortunately remains shallow and doesn’t engage you enough.

Lineman is now streaming on the Aha OTT platform.