PONMAALAI POZHUDHU MOVIE REVIEW

'Ponmaalai Pozhudhu' has been in the making for quite sometime. Featuring the debuting Aadhav Kannadhasan, the grandson of the legendary lyricist/writer Kannadhasan, A.C Durai makes his debut as well as a director in this flick. Love seems to be the primary theme here, though the powerful performer, Kishore's participation gives some hope for us, for a different angle as well. How did this flick fare ?

Aadhav Kannadhasan fits the role of the protagonist of this film. He is confident in front of screen and has a good sense of dialogue delivery methods. He seems to be in comfort zone, even with heavy-duty emotional scenes, with tight close-ups, but nevertheless the young lad has plenty of things to look upon and to contemplate improving. Gayathri, looks very realistic and natural as the young and chirpy lass. A perfect lead pair for this particular subject ! Kishore, in his limited role was a scene stealer, with very nuanced and composed performance. His expression and usage of his eyes and body language to bring out the feel and mood of his character, was just a cut above the rest in the cast. Anupama Kumar, had a cool act as Kishore's wife in the film. She just breezes into her role and its about time for Tamizh cinema, to fully utilize her talents. Aruldass, scores in his realistic portrayal as the rude and suspecting father of the heroine while Sri Ranjani was apt for her less-impressively written role. 

Sarala Vijayakumar has worked well in the costume designing, as the characters looked their part, pertaining to their backgrounds and social demography. Silva's stunt choreography was in tune with the need of the script and what the characters can demand. Sanjey Karan's production design was simple and functional. The props for the middle-class homes setting was well done, though the up-market posh bungalow could have been dealt better. Ramsudharsan's editing was sufficed the need of the script, as the length of the film was crisp, though the transition from one sequence to another was jerky. Rajavel Olhiveeran's cinematography was average.

C.Sathya's musical score was neat and sounds pleasant. "Vaarkodhume" was the opening number, which was shot on the hero and his bunch of friends partying in an up-market bungalow. The club setting worked out well for the song, though the detailing could have been better. Rajavel's roving camera movements over the glamorous dancers, were apparent. "Masala Chicks" has few cut-shots and was picturized on the lead pair and dancers, with few backdrops such as the school compound, shopping complexes and the outdoors. "Nee Indri" is a situational song and had montages of the lead pair, picturized going through a separation. "Adikkadi" is the pick of the lot among the songs. Shot on the lead pair, who looked good, the song was picturized in Calcutta, with some of its landmarks utilized. "Iravugalil" also had montages interspersed with song picturization using famous landmarks as backdrop-sets. The background score of the film, was disappointing, as it is too loud and uninspiring.

A.C Durai, handles the universal theme of love for this flick, and his focus of attention is the juvenile gang. The 'puppy love' theme is something which has been handled by some legendary directors, to upcoming newbies, so there's nothing novel about it. What matters is the treatment and execution, which A.C Durai falters. The direction and writing falls completely flat. The minute saving grace would be Kishore's episodes and sequences, where some good lines and points are made. But other than that, the making is very insipid and sort of amateurish, though that might be complementary for the theme. A.C Durai wanders between the love-episodes and the father-son duo relationship and the film suffers, due to this needless wandering between themes. The faulty making does not commensurate with the good intentions of highlighting a sound social message, relevant to parents and teenagers, as well.

'Ponmaalai Pozhudhu' - Insipid and amateurish.


Ratings: 1.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL