‘Modha Rathri’ movie review: Rishikanth and Anishma are fantastic in this hilarious, poignant comedy-drama

A temple priest chides his lord, a folk deity, for not giving it back to the villagers who have somehow always managed to disrespect both the deity and the priest. The latest misstep was sticking posters on the temple walls for a wedding they weren’t formally invited to. “Show them you are here every once in a while,” urges the priest, and for the next 140-odd minutes, this is what happens. Let me clarify: this isn’t a saami padam, which seems to be the season’s theme . This is debutant director Raja Karuppasamy’s Modha Rathri , a comedy-drama that taps into the well of human emotion and is in equal parts hilarious and heartfelt.