Thirumathi Oru Vegumathi (1987)

Visu, the writer-director known for his talkative family dramas, made this film about a middle-class household in Chennai where several brothers, their wives and the elders try to live under one roof. A new marriage brings fresh hopes and fresh friction, and petty misunderstandings, money troubles and wounded pride slowly pull the family apart, until someone has to remind them what holds them together. The title means "A wife is a gift". Like Visu's celebrated Samsaram Adhu Minsaram, the film mixes sharp dialogue, gentle humour and moral lessons about family life, with Visu himself in a central role.