MATHIL MEL POONAI MOVIE REVIEW

Vijay Vasanth, is trying hard to have his big ticket to stardom with a solo hero role. In this intriguingly titled film, he gets a chance under newbie, Barani Jayapal and has Vibha Natarajan, who did a small role in 'Naan', as his pair. Touted to be a film based on real life events, how did this movie fare?

Vijay Vasanth, has some acting chops as a character artist, but as a lead hero, he is nowhere near the material of being a lead actor. He is too static with his expressions and emotion-displays. The sudden changeover of a demure, quiet boy into an action hero, is unfathomable. A word of advice, to him. Have more practice, before jumping onto the bandwagon ! Vibha Natarajan, has a pretty heavy physical role in this film. One should appreciate her for putting in strenuous efforts for all the physical activities, demanded by the script. Performance wise, she definitely has miles to go. Thambi Ramaiah, dons a small role in the film, and though he is in his elements, he fails to evoke laughter and the comedy track looks too cliched. The kids did a good job. Apart from them, the film has a good number of character artistes, such as Kaarthik, Gnanasambandhan, Neelima Rani, Prabha, Meera Krishnan, Balaji, Swaminathan and etc were sufficient enough for the script. But some of them really need acting classes, if they want to be recognized as actors in the future !

The technical department's work was adequate. A.R Ram's costume designing was not bad, keeping in mind, the various backgrounds the characters come from. 'Miracle' Michael's stunt choreography was decent. The second half fight sequence between the antagonists and an ascetic, was well choreographed. Michael shows some talents and better scripts, can bring even better work from him. M.G Sekar's art direction was neat, especially for the interiors of the old classrooms and school setting, and the contemporary middle-class homes. Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B's editing acuteness is visible in the songs and stunt sequences, but its shocking to see National Award-winning editors to commit small, silly mistakes ! Hope more attention could have been given to the editing works ! L.K Vijay captures the fresh greenery of the undisturbed forests. The roving cinematography tries to add some pace to slow and mundane screenplay.

Ganesh Ragavendra's musical score was average. "Oru Poo Pookira" was shot on the lead pair, proposing to each other and has plenty of montages, with beaches, streets and shops as backdrops. The pick of the lot among the songs, was the "Vandhaarai Vaazha" track sung by Silambarasan. The Chennai-trumpeting song was also shot in montages, showcasing the young boys experiencing a day in Chennai. The song was obviously shot in landmark areas such as Spencer's Plaza, Mahabalipuram and the Marina beach as well. "Rathathil Nuraiya" is a situational song, picturized on the young boys on a chase and their journey to juvenile jail. "Manase Thirudiya" was picturized on the lead pair and showcase them getting married and their journey to the hometown, post-marriage. "Irulai Katti" is also a situational song appearing during the climax, shot on the lead pair, being chased by the antagonists, in the thick, green forest. The background score has nothing to shout about.

Barani Jayapal, has utilized a non-linear method for his screenplay. Though that's a clever way of narrating a script, the fault lines in the fundamental element of a film, which is, a solid script ! The purported comedy sequences using the kids, fell flat and fails to to even raise a chuckle from us ! But what's astonishing is the amount of violence thrust into the script and that too portraying kids as archetypal Tamizh cinema antagonists, with cruel and criminal mindsets ! The morale-lesson Barani tries to convey is understandable, but there is no justification nor conviction in portraying those kids, dabbling in such blood-soaked violence. What's worse is the insipid romance portions between Vijay and Vibha, which is lacking in any emotions nor feelings ! The director has failed to extract good performances from his artistes, as well.

'Mathil Mel Poonai' - a miserable film with no sense of continuity nor engagement !


Ratings: 1/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL