Pazhani

Cast: Bharath, Kajal Agarwal, Kushboo, P Vasu, Biju Menon, M.S. Bhaskar, Rajkapoor, Chittibabu, Aishwarya, Ravi Mariya
Language: Tamil
Banner: Cinema Paradise
Director: Perarasu
Producer: Radha Sakthi Chidambaram
Camera: Vijay Milton
Story: Perarasu
Screenplay: Perarasu
Dialogue: Ravi Mariya
Lyrics: Perarasu
Music: Srikanth Deva
Year: 2008

Director Perarasu is not a kind of director, who gives any work for your brains or caters to your fine sensibilities. He always attempts to make an entertainer with scant respect for logic or novelty. He has done this earlier and ‘Pazhani’ is the newest addition to this list.

Perarasu makes his intentions clear by putting the tag line that goes like this: “commercial panchamirtham” (commercial treat). He hasn’t deceived the fans of masala flicks. Right from the first frame ‘Pazhani’ tries to entertain the audiences with 100% masala stuff. One wonders if Tamil audiences are still fond of such flicks. Directors like Perarasu should ponder over the fact that the average viewer has been rejecting this kind of stuff and encouraging meaningful attempts.

The film opens and ends with jail sequences. In both scenes the hero (Bharath) is seen behind the bars. The happenings from his release and his re-entry to the jail make the whole film. The hero, who comes out of the prison, puts his sister’s life on track through his heroics and goes back to the prison as a martyr.

The protagonist was put behind the bars when he was ten years old. He killed his father who made his mother’s life a hell by exploiting her to cajole his ‘keep’.  He went to jail and his father turned an aimless vagabond. The boy’s elder sister grew up (with whose help?) and got married to a businessman (Biju Menon).

The innocent girl (Khushboo) is living in a fool’s paradise, believing the man, who is actually an anti social element.

But she need not worry about anything. The hero, who is now 25, has come out of the jail. He gets a job in his sister’s house without revealing his identity. He unearths the shady deals of his sister’s husband and reforms him and puts his sister’s life on track. Meanwhile he finds his ladylove (Kajal Agarwal).

By the time the film ends we are tired of seeing so many fights (Bharath is fighting with somebody once in every five minutes) and frustrated with the love track and irritating sentiments.

It is a futile exercise to analyze the plusses and minuses of Perarasu’s movie, as he makes no pretensions of logic or reasoning in his script. He is so convinced about his formula that even a couple of defeats haven’t made him think about the way he approaches a film. All that we could say is that this has gone beyond a point and that it could backfire.

While we could understand and appreciate Bharath’s quest to become an action hero, which could propel his career and put him into the top list, we would like to remind him a fact that sheer action without any substantial story could jeopardize his goal. The young man is actually evolving as a fine actor with skills to handle action roles. He could create a niche for himself with this combination and hence he must rethink deeply about his attempts to become just a masala hero.

Kajal Agarwal looks fine and fresh. She dances with energy. Her debutant venture fails to make any impact, as she gets no scope to show case her talents as an actor.

It is like a piece of cake for the veteran Khushboo to depict a majestic house wife, who becomes a victim of her own husband. The actor provides a powerful performance in a routine role. Biju Menon as a shady businessman is quite credible. His expressions are flawless. Aishwarya as the second girl in Biju’s life (why Perarasu is so obsessed with ‘keeps’, by the way?) is competent.

Perarasu’s dialogues are sharp at times but they tend to ape T. Rajender’s style in many places. The punch dialogues are quite comical. He has compensated for the lack of comedy with the love track and the lengthy ‘punch’ dialogues during every encounter between the hero and the villain(s).

Jokes apart, Perarasu must do away with offensive comments on the colour of a skin.

Srikanth Deva has tried his best to suit the overall mood of the film. His tunes are peppy. His BGM ably suits the masala provided by Perarasu.

There is nothing to rave about cinematography and other technical aspects in a film that concentrates on mad heroism and clichéd sentiments.

Overall, the movie would entertain you if you love Perarasu brand of entertainment. Otherwise, you might end up cursing your stars.

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