Official Trailer:

Tourist family reminded me of another movie Ayodhi. There are many similarities between the two. Sasikumar the easy one. Rameshwaram another. Basic movie making gets elevated by strong message of humanity without thrusting the message in your face. Be human, that is all there to make our life lively. Where they differ is Tourist Family lightens the mood with good dose of comedy. Full credit to Abishan Jeevinth’s writing, the switch between comedy and seriousness is smooth and fits the situation. He lightens the grief-meter by injecting a hilarious one-liner when the needle is about to hit tears-rolling-down-the-cheek mark. The second son Mulli (actor Kamalesh) gets most of the crackling comedy lines. Mulli gets going with opening stretch in the police van and brings down the hall with his funny quip at the end of memorial service at church 😀

Even though Sasikumar and Simran are the key protagonists, supporting and side characters are well written with their distinct character arcs, and they make their mark even with limited screen time. Ramesh Tilak, M.S.Bhaskar, Ilango Kumaravel, Sreeja Ravi, Yogi Babu, Mithun Jai Shankar and Kamalesh stand out with their performances. I loved the post-interval stretch that kick starts with argument between Dharmadas (Sasikumar) and Nithusan (Mithun Jai Shankar) and other characters joining in the conversation as it progresses and ends on a comic dance number. Terrace scene with thief / boyfriend, proposal scene with the line you have already crossed the sea for me are creative and new. People are complex and Richard’s (M.S.Bhaskar) character brings that out beautifully. Moments like these makes this movie unforgettable.

Sean Rolden’s song compositions are good, goes with the tonality of the movie but the BGM I felt is more of giving cue to the audience when it isn’t required. This is the movie that would work with less background score and more silence. Tourist Family tells us humanity transcends all barriers and boundaries – be it borders, religion, or language. There aren’t any refugees.