Director A.L Vijay had a horrendous time with his last release 'Thalaivaa', is back in action but with a small budget film, produced under his own home banner, Think Big Studios and A.L Alagappan. 'Saivam' is intrinsically weaved around the message of vegetarianism and its conveyed through a lovely theme of familial bonding. Can A.L Vijay strike gold this time after continuous debacles with big budgeted, top heroes' films ?
What works for 'Saivam' is the ensemble of fresh faces in the casting, which was a terrific move from A.L Vijay. The casting is so perfect, and though a couple of them come from the small screen, they do not bring their theatricalities to the big screen, and have adapted well to A.L Vijay's insightful characterizations. Veteran Nassar leads the way as the patriarch of the Karaikudi-based family, and it has been a while we have seen this fantastic actor donning a elegant yet majestic role. Aiding him is the heartbeat of the film, the ever charming and lovely Baby Sara Arjun of 'Deiva Thirumagal' fame. She has a beautiful screen presence with her angelic face and shows more maturity in her performance. Besides them, a plethora of artistes such as Kausal, Ravi, Rajalakshmi, Kalyani Natarajan, Suresh, Lakshmanan Ganesh, Vidhya, Shakti, Suchitra, Luthfudeen Baashaa (impressive debut from the younger son of Nassar), Rahul, Twaraa Desai, Ray Paul, George Mariyan, Malathi, Vittal, Savithri, Shanmugarajan, Rahil Singhi and etc, added more authenticity to the story and its setting.
Pallavi Singh handles the costume designing and she has done a commendable job, especially with her background checking of the Chettinadu folks and their wardrobe. Also, she gets it right with characters depicted coming from city. Action choreography is done by Manohar Verma and his work befits the need the script and the situations present in the screenplay. Art direction is by V.Selvakumar, a regular in A.L Vijay films, and he has managed to bring to life, the Chettinadu people and their Karaikudi lifestyle, precisely in the film. The minute detailing work such as the various props (baskets and etc) pertaining to people of that community alone, deserves special mention. Editing is by Anthony and his there are no gimmicks with his cut. Every shot is crisp and neat but at the same time, perfectly complemented A.L Vijay's story presentation. The film would not have been as good as it is, if not for the works of Nirav Shah. His cinematography is just top-class, and the most commendable shots of his, are the interior shots, especially for the night sequences. Also, his framing and camera movements captured and elegance and old-world charm of the Karaikudi town so well, it just transports us to that cute town, in an effortless manner !
G.V Prakash Kumar's music is very refreshing and this film is one of his best in recent times. "Moments of Life" is the theme track and plays during the opening credits. "Ore Oru Ooril" depicts the relationship between grandpa Nassar and his granddaughter Sara, within their own lifestyle, with many montages. The pick of the lot, "Azhagu" sung by Uthara Unnikrishnan, is charming song and is shot on the entire family. It has fantastic lighting work by Nirav Shah, which gives us a resplendent feel and look to the song, which was shot in a Chettinadu home. "Kokkara Kozhi" is a situational song, which comes at a very pivotal moment, right before the climax. G.V Prakash Kumar's background score complemented the script very, very well and his separate score for the respective characters' different episodes, should be commended.
What works for the film is the genuineness and sincerity in A.L Vijay's writing, together with the good understanding and portrayal of the Chettinadu people and their lifestyle. Everything is narrated in an subtle manner and there's nothing pretentious in the presentation. The film is full of feel-good sequences, and though most of them are gems, there are one or two, which goes a little melodramatic. Emotions are beautifully handled in the film, and A.L Vijay's scene composition brings out the effect, even more beautifully. Dialogues are very crisp yet powerful in their own way. A.L Vijay deserves a pat for portraying the dramas and issues faced by the large family and how each one of them differs from the other in thoughts and views. Strong characterizations added more finesse to the script, which keeps us engaged, though the plot is very simple. A.L Vijay's advocacy of vegetarianism is evident in the climax, but the reasoning falls flat and the changeover of the characters in the end, looks forced and artificial. The movie might not click well with some audience, due to the absence of the 'commercial elements' but there are plenty of good humor, very smartly woven into the script by A.L Vijay. Nevertheless, 'Saivam' is still a very beautifully crafted light-entertainer, with heartwarming performances from the cast.
'Saivam' - A.L Vijay's best written & crafted film, thus far !
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Vijay Adiraj, a veteran of television shows and drama serials, makes his splash on the big screen as a director, with a script which was borne out of an idea, he came across 14 years back ! He goes for the safer route by employing a very young and new cast, aided by veteran character artistes and good technicians. Touted to be a smart thriller, did this 'Puthagam' made us turn its pages, in excitement ?
Starting off with the lead, actor Sathya, the younger brother of Arya, finally makes his screen debut through this film. He passes muster with a decent performance, though there are evident sequences in the film, where he tries to ape his more-popular brother. With more experience, Sathya can climb up the ladder, but definitely he has a lot to catch up, especially in the emoting and dialogue delivery. The pretty Rakul Preet Singh, makes her debut as a leading lady in Tamizh cinema, after her small role, in the decent, gritty thriller, 'Thadaiyara Thaakka'. She looks more comfortable in her role and got her lip sync (dubbing done by Renuka Kathir) right, but her final output needs more conviction. Sanjay Barathi (the son of actor-director, Santhana Barathi) and Vignesh of 'Kadhalil Sodhapuvadhu Eppadi' fame, delivered sincere and honest performances. Jagapathi Babu was nonchalant in his role as the cool private detective, and aided by a less-convincing Rachana Maurya. There's a big gang of seasoned artistes such as Suresh, Aishwarya Rajesh, Manobala, Santhana Barathi, 'Thalaivasal' Vijay, 'Crazy' Mohan, Delhi Ganesh, Uma Padhmanabhan, Fathima Babu, MJ Shriram and etc, enacting important and minor roles in the film. All of them lived up to the expectations and most of them would have just cruised in their roles, with ease.
The film carries decent work on the technical front. Gita Gurappa's audiography was spot on. Dhilip Subbarayan choreographed decent stunt sequences, which suited the characters performing those sequences, be it the nervy Sathya or the composed Jagapathi Babu. G.K's art direction was simple and neat. His detailing for the bachelors' apartment, the middle-class home interior, club settings, television channel office suits, everything was just fine and good enough for the script. Kevin's editing was flawless and he made sure that the progression from one scene to the other, was smooth. One person, who must be credited for making the film look colorful, is the cinematographer, J.Laxman. He has brought out the colorful and fun-loving life of the youngsters and at the same, maintained a dark-look theme for the more serious portions. Also, he has portrayed Rakul in a very pretty manner, through his lenses. His camera-movements, especially for the action sequences are noteworthy.
James Vasanthan's music was passable, but not good enough to hold our attentions, thoroughly. "Kondaadathaan", is a typical youngster's opening song, which had quite a few cut-shots and picturized in theme parks and a few Chennai landmarks. "Mella Pookudhe", is a typical James Vasanthan melody, which was picturized on the lead pair, romancing around a majestic looking building, in Thailand. Rakul was looking pretty in the sarees, which were designed by S.Subbarao. "Italica" is a dull and lame club song, shot with the item girl Rachana, performing in typical, night-club settings, which had decent lighting. "Say That You Love Me" was shot on the sandy and picturesque beaches of Pattaya, Thailand on the main lead artistes of the film. The final song, "Money is Funny" was shot in a music-video style, picturized on all the artistes involved in the film, with a stage and LED-screen as its backdrop, showing currencies of various countries. The song appears during the end-credits and has also some bloopers, inserted in it. The background score was a tad decent enough for the film.
Vijay Adiraj's intention was to make a taut and neat thriller. Though the intention was honest, the execution was far from being flawless. A thriller needs to be engaging and be crisp in the length of the film. But 'Puthagam' drags a lot in the first half, which makes us wonder, where is the film heading to. The suspense and thrills only begin just before interval, making us to endure all the unnecessary comedy and sentimental portions, which looked more suited for a normal television serial. Though Guhan Sreenivasan's dialogues are quirky and smart in some portions, the film had plenty of lengthy dialogue sequences, which extends the duration of the film, even longer. A knock-on effect of being a veteran of the television circle, Vijay ? Though it was cheeky of Vijay to add a small twist in the end, the audiences could have already lost interest in the film, due to its uninteresting narration. The final twist does hint us of a potentially exciting sequel, but the question of will it be worthy or not, depends on the improvisation skills of Vijay.
'Puthagam' - A flawed attempt in making a racy, crispy and taut, commercial thriller.
Ratings: 2/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
