Thankfully, post-interval, the story actually unfolds, and, there are some good moments with Muthazhagu (Priya Mani) – the scene where she’s thrashed by her dad (a moving moment when she scoffs at her paatti asking for more food), and the scene where she tearfully pleads with Veeran work pretty well the stock, grayish-toned flashback with the kiddies romancing, notwithstanding. Honestly, I too laughed at some of the nakkal- naiyyaandi jokes in the beginning, but grew tired of them too soon. He can just go sever the ear of a policeman, or knock down a seemingly significant denizen of the village, for petty reasons well, actually, for the laughs. But, here, Veeran is, well, a veeran, the hero, even if not in the traditional sense. In a realistic portrayal, we expect protagonist to exist within a real system. This is digestible if said in wry humour, but the director wants us to take this at face value, as a fact. Veeran’s ultimate objective is to be serve a term in the Chennai Central Jail. Ameer establishes his protagonist as an aruvaal-happy, aimless urchin that we perceive through films and media – pleased at ourselves in finding it all senseless – through a series of sketches which in essence pander unreservedly to the audience (curiously enough, pander to both the “urban class” and the “rural class” with equal success here!), but passed off as something more serious and ambitious. Veeran (Karthi), the protagonist of this film, is a one-dimensional caricature a stereotype of the sandiyar image, conceived without much sensitivity, the few moments that betray the vulnerability of the character notwithstanding. The film is set in Paruthiyoor, right in the heartland of rural Tamilnadu, commendably capturing the characteristically sultry locations, the people and their mud-walled houses, the native dialect and the way of life, with an assured hand. Rest of you all, who are still reading this post, this is another dull, “not-so-short” notes on a month-and-half old film – a modified version of a quick write-up (albeit with a lot of additional notes and changes, I’m afraid) on the film I originally wrote soon after I saw the film, but didn’t publish for reasons best known to none.Īmeer’s Paruthiveeran (just like his previous venture, Raam) is yet another of those “new age” films, remarkable in its mise-en-scène, but unremarkable in its aspiration and spotlessly hollow in its inspiration. Go watch Chennai 600028, easily the best film of the year, as yet. Note: Please do yourselves a favor, dear readers.
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