Director Mysskin is one of the most promising filmmakers to have carved a niche in Kollywood. Despite only nine films under his belt, Mysskin holds a special place in everyone’s hearts, thanks to his realistic cinema. Mysskin’s films are always rooted in realism and dark humour.

Today, September 20, the filmmaker is celebrating his birthday. Therefore, in this week’s Monday Masala, let us take a look at the heroes in Mysskin’s films and how they are anything but larger than life. Perhaps this is why his films create a strong impact in just one watch.

Mysskin makes it a point to not glorify his heroes. In all of his films, his heroes are fragile, flawed and nowhere close to perfect. When a normal person, like us, overcomes extraordinary situations, the effect is multiplied.

Be it commercial cinema or art-house cinema, most heroes are put up on a pedestal. Anything he does, even something as basic as helping a fellow human being, is glorified with slo-mo shots and soothing music. However, in Mysskin’s fans, his heroes are far from perfect.

In Anjathe, Narain plays the role of a police officer. Unlike other cops you’ve seen in other films, Narain doesn’t act like he was born to serve the people. He finds it quite difficult to get accustomed to his role in a police department. Take Yuddham Sei, for example. The film is about a family taking revenge. Mysskin could have cast any leading hero to play the investigative officer in the thriller. But, he chose director Cheran to play the lead role. Cheran delivered an excellent performance as a police officer, who is in search of his missing sister and investigating a high-profile case. The clues in the case are not offered to Cheran’s character on a silver plate. He tries hard to crack the case, unlike most movie cops.

Pisaasu is yet another film where the hero is nothing more than a guy – a violinist – scared of the supernatural activities around him. His face is not even fully shown throughout the film. Pisaasu is not a run-of-the-mill horror film and that sets it apart from the rest.

In Mysskin’s world, nothing is just black or white. Everything is grey. In his film Onaayum Aatukuttiyum, Mysskin plays the role of Wolf, who is branded as a criminal by the police. However, when he narrates his story towards the climax, we come to know of his intentions, which in turn, challenges our conviction.

In his recent release Psycho, Mysskin chooses Udhayanidhi Stalin, a visually impaired man, and Nithya Menen, a paraplegic, as the protagonists. Together, they try to save Aditi Rao Hydari’s Dahini, who is captured by a psychopath. Through the course of the film, even Dahini learns to forgive the psychopath after learning about his troubled childhood.

Mysskin, in several interviews, revealed that he will not write films for heroes. That is why he and his films stand apart from others in Kollywood.