A young couple moves into a new house, but soon, the husband gets into a war of words with the existing tenant over parking space that spirals to a full-blown, dirty battle of egos. In the initial moments of Parking, we see a young couple moving into a new house as tenants, making friends with the existing tenant, settling down in the new place and just looking forward to an exciting phase in their lives. The husband, Eshwar (Harish Kalyan), has an IT job, and the wife, Aadhika (Indhuja) is expecting a baby. They have a love-filled relationship, and Eshwar would do anything to keep his wife happy. Their neighbour, Ilamparuthi (MS Bhaskar), a government official who is just a year away from retirement, is your typical old-timer. He'd rather repair a faulty appliance at his home than buying a new one, go on a two-wheeler under the hot sun than buy a car, and save as much money as possible to marry off his daughter. As they go about their daily routine, director Ramkumar Balakrishnan presents that as just life unfolding right in front of our eyes. It is just the kind of beginning that makes a viewer sit up and look forward to what comes next. The rock-solid performances of the cast adds not only realism but also an the edge to this tale. Playing a character who we might come across when we step out of our homes, MS Bhaskar is just outstanding, displaying a range of dark emotions - indignation, envy, misplaced righteousness, anger, and cold-bloodedness. There are moments when a glance sends a chill down our spine. On the other end, Harish Kalyan manages to match up to this, capturing the hot-headedness of Eshwar, his hurt and his shame. Indhuja and Rama, who play the wives, and Prathana Nathan, as MS Bhaskar's daughter, who is put in an extreme moral quandary by her father, are equally effective. The relentless of this battle of egos does become a bit exhausting towards the end, and despite its relatively short duration, we do get the feeling that the film could have been shorter by 10 minutes. But this is a minor complaint against a film that is terrific from start to finish.Read more

Eshwar (Harish Kalyan) and Athika (Indhuja Ravichandran) are a happily married couple and are expecting their first child. They move into a new house where the ground floor is occupied by government officer Ilamparuthi (MS Bhaskar), his wife RaSelvi (Rama Rajendra) and Abarna (Prarthana Nathan). When Eshwar buys a car and parks it in the house, Ilamparuthi complains of parking issues with his bike. This eventually snowballs into an egoistic battle between Eshwar and Ilamparuthi, with the two men trying to outdo each other in taking revenge. They also go to the extent of maiming and killing each other. Will Eshwar and Ilamparuthi sort out their problems? What are the repercussions of their egos? Debutant director Ramkumar Balakrishnan promised to deliver a realistic portrayal of two middle-class families living in rented homes and not adjusting. And he did just that even with a simple story like this. To an extent, 'Parking' feels like a Tamil version of 'Ayyappanum Koshiyum', which is also a film of two egoistic men trying to take revenge. The issue between Eshwar and Ilamparuthi begins with the latter accidentally scratching the paint of the new car. Soon, both of them have nasty fights over parking, which are so common in residential areas. And the collateral damage in this battle are the women in their lives. While Ilamparuthi's misogynistic side comes to the fore, he exposes it to his wife and daughter. At one point, he makes his daughter a pawn in this battle by using her to file a false complaint against Eshwar. Coming to Eshwar, he is neck deep in his ego that he forgets to care for his pregnant wife. Though the women in their lives try to pacify them, the patriarchal men do not listen to them. 'Parking' is a great representation of such men, who we encounter in our lives on an everyday basis. 'Parking' is all about two exceptional performances from legendary MS Bhaskar and Harish Kalyan. Beyond them, the film hardly moves forward. MS Bhaskar is a revelation as Ilamparuthi and when his egoistic side peeks, you can't help but hate the man. And that's the success of the character. Harish Kalyan, too, delivered a neat performance as Eshwar. As Athika, Indhuja doesn't have much to offer. She appears bland with no expression even during crisis. Apart from them, it is Rama Rajendra, who scores in one scene when she lashes out at Ilamparuthi after years of being suppressed. While the first half has our attention, the second half, especially toward toward thex becomes predictable. However, the film ends on a high note with a much-needed message for the misogynistic men. Music director Sam CS's background score is apt for 'Parking'. So does cinematographer Jiju Sunny and editing by Philomin Raj. 'Parking' puts forth pertinent questions about men and their egos. It's yet another win for Tamil cinema to aptly capture realism.Read more