SARABHAM MOVIE REVIEW

After the successful 'Thegidi', TCS Studios and C.V Kumar's Thirukumaran Entertainment have joined hands once again for another small/medium budget film, 'Sarabham'. Named after a mythical half-lion & half-bird creature, this film is the debut venture for its director, Arun Mohan, who happens to be the son of popular comedy artiste Anu Mohan. With C.V Kumar's support, can 'Sarabham' be another feather in the cap for Thirukumaran Entertainment ?

Lesser known Tamizh and Telugu actor Naveen Chandra comes up with an above average performance and has mouthed the dialogues properly, which enabled Gautham to dub in perfect lip-sync for him. He can work out more on his expressions, which goes flat at times. With more films, he should work it up and improve his acting credibility. Debutante heroine, the Delhi model Salony Luthra was impressive in some sequences, but falters in the emotionally-charged scenes, which was a necessity due to her unconventional character's various dimensions. Her characterization reminds us of Angelina Jolie's brooding and mysterious Hollywood roles, she donned. Raagini Sree's voice suits Salony, to the tee. She can do better and she has to do better if she's to survive as an actress. Naren, comes clean with a very measured performance, but the actor can definitely deliver more. The whole film is based on these three artistes and the supporting cast such as 'Kadhal' Kannan, 'Boys' Rajan, Shankara Narayanan, Thilak, Sam Anton and etc are just there to fill up the script's needs.

Technically the film is sleek, with some good outputs from the able technicians. Vishnu Govind and Sree Sankar's sound designing was a big boost for the film, because of the many background score-less scenes. The climax action sequence, deserves appreciation. Preethi Kanthan's costume designing was apt, especially with Salony Luthra's costumes, which demanded changes in accordance to the changeover of her character. But better designing could have been worked out for Naveen Chandra and Naren. Anbariv's action choreography was minimal, but was effectively and neatly executed, with only the climax scene having a real sense of action. A.Gopi Anand's art direction sufficed the needs of the script and his work with the posh apartment setting of the protagonist's home and the female lead's home, deserves mention. The posh, upmarket feel and look was achieved. Leo John Paul's no-nonsense editing worked well for the script and the duration was kept tight, with the running time going just above 2 hours. Krishnan Vasant's cinematography adds the necessary glossy touch and his work complemented the director's vision, especially with the distinctive camera movements and also for the lighting, which gave the film a fixed mood and look, throughout.

Music is handled by Britto Michael and his scores are just passable since the songs are just situational and goes along the screenplay. "Pudhidhaai Or Iravu" was shot on the lead pair and has montages of them, roaming around Chennai at night. Krishnan Vasant's lighting for the shots was okay, though the clubbing sequence could have been better. "Bodhaiyil Paadhai" was shot on Naveen Chandra and is also full of night shots and montages of the Chennai streets at dead-night. "Neram" sung by Usha Uthup appears during the end credits. Britto Michael's background score worked well for the film, especially with the inclusion of the "Sarabham Theme" track sung by Malaysian artiste Rabbit.Mac, at the right moments (during the 'surprise' moments, to be precise).

Arun Mohan has knitted a tight screenplay revolving around the three important characters alone, which keeps the proceeding from not going out of path. But the screenplay lacks pace and some spunky energy needed for such simple thrillers, especially when you have lesser known artistes, who struggles to hold our attention or have the charismatic appearance. Also, the screenplay gives space to some loopholes in the script and also left some questions being unanswered, especially with the scenes involving the police. What Arun Mohan makes up for the lack of pace, are the shocking twists in the second half. He keeps his cards very close and slowly unravels to us one by one, before jolting us with a big surprise, right after the interval. That surprise element keeps us engaged, but for those audience who likes to simply keep guessing, some might actually predict the correct outcome in the climax. Another novelty of this particular script is the grey nature of all the characters portrayed in the film, which was a little unique. K.Rajaraman's dialogues are above average, but if more attention were given to the dialogues, it would have elevated the impact of some sequences, by a few notches. Nevertheless, this simple thriller is worth checking out, if you have some time to kill.

'Sarabham' - Patience and attention are necessities, if you are ought to enjoy it. 


Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL