Banner:    P.A. Arts production
Direction: Thangar bachan
Music:      Ilaiyaraja

Criticising is the easiest job under the sky and only to create something you will have to rack your brains. When critic-turned-director Thangar Bachan unleashed his "Azhagi", it was acclaimed by the critics. Solla marantha kathai is his second venture and naturally it has higher expectations.

The story is based on Naanjil naadan's "Thalaikeel vigidhangal" which is an "emotional heap" (as quoted by Thangar) of an educated, angry young man whose self respect is challenged. Director Cheran makes his debut as the hero of the film and he is definitely a right choice as star value would have spoiled this "Sivadhanu" character. Cheran's face and physique suit well for the character of a rural, innocent, emotional chap. Rathi a pick of Bharathiraja promptly used by Thangar has done an excellent job in her first film itself and she is sure to make a mark in tamil cinema. Pyramid Natarajan plays the role of Cheran's father-in-law and with his acidic tongue he illtreats Cheran who is comparitively very low in economic status. It leads to various problems in the family and Cheran-Rathi pair splits up and how they reunite is the remaining story.

It looks like much of the budget would have been spent for buying barrels of glycerine. In each and every scene anyone or many cry with tears rolling down and most of the time it is the hero crying like a baby. Pushpavanam Kuppusamy makes his debut as a comedian in this film and looks pathetic in the absence of a good comedy script. The viewers are irritated rather than entertained in those so-called comedy scenes. A personality like Pushpavanam Kupppusamy could have been used far better.

Most of the cast we saw in "Azhagi" are repeatedly used here and even a song reminds of "Oliyile " song from "Azhagi". Regarding the music and lyrics as Thangar Bachaan has said "Innum oru aaandukku isai panjam illai". Ilaiyaraja has left many emotional scenes in utter silence which adds to the feel of the scene. When Thangar Bachaan boasts of using all tamil speaking and writing crew in the film, why Ilaiyaraja has used non-tamil singers like Shreya Goshal is a question left unanswered.

"Azhagi" memsmerized the viewers thanks to the realistic performance and free flowing screen play. But the screen play in this movie lacks realism and Cheran's overacting in a few scenes spoils it all the more. Director has tried very hard to bring in nativity by forcing the charecters to speak with local accent. As the artistes have concentrated more on the accent rather than the emotions, the 'feelings' is missing in many places - especially with the Nagercoil accent of Manivannan and Yuvarani.

It is a great relief that we don't find the hero flying in the air, defying the gravitational pull, unnecessary graphic effects, songs picturised in foreign forests and valleys, deafening background music score etc. Though the movie is different, we could not avoid the feeling of disappointment when we come out of the theatre.

We expected more from you Mr. Bachaan, Better luck next time.

Picture: Net resources