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Review - Pallikoodam |
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| By
Movie Guru |
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Pallikoodam
Cast: Naren, Sneha, Thangar Bachchan, Shreya Reddy, Seeman
Direction: Thangar Bachchan
Music: Bharadwaj
Production: Vishwas Sundar |
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In
the Thankar Bachaan’s genre of movie making, emotions
play hide and seek between the characters with an undertone.
The subtlety of such characterization of feelings has always
remained the success quotient for him. Pallikoodam follows
the same genre Azhagi paved way for, only with a tad different
plot.
The movie is about a school that faces troubles with the
owner of the land and how the characters try and get help
from the old students to prevent the school from being seized.
Thus starts this nostalgic emotional ride. It’s about
four classmates Vetrivel, Muthu, Kumaraswami and Kokila
who had studied at that school and how the school changes
their life forever.
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| Vetrivel,
a son of a potter, is the most intelligent of the lot and loves
Kokila who is the daughter of a rich Jamindar who owns the school
land. And their common friends are Muthu and Kumaraswami. Kumaraswami,
very bad at studies, avoids school; however, his father makes all
efforts to send him back to school and succeeds in doing so.
A young and beautiful Doctor, Jhansi (Shreya) arrives at the village
and befriends the foursome. Jhansi slowly becomes the godfather
figure to all the four. And when Muthu loses his father and becomes
an orphan, Jhansi takes him into his custody. Vetrivel and Kokila’s
love is made public and the villagers blame Jhansi. They throw her
out of the Village and Muthu accompanies her. |
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What follows is the disentanglement of the plot on the plight
of Jhansi, Muthu, Kumaraswami, Vetrivel, and Kokila. Eventually
the rest of the story and the climax also unravel whether
the school escapes the wrath of the landowner.
The movie is based on a novel “Kalavadiya Pozhudhugal”
which is immaculately translated into the big screen by
Thankar Bhachan who is also taking care of the cinematography,
screenplay, and direction besides playing a character in
the film. Cinematography has little to talk about but Thankar
scores with his screenplay, direction and acting.
There are a few eyesores like the opening scene where students
sing the national anthem in the rain. The patriotic angle
is very much appreciable, however, it doesn’t need
any emphasis and proves to be tad unrealistic.
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Also,
the duet between the young Vetrivel and young Kokila is a total
let down. But the movie is successful in bringing out the nostalgic
feeling. Some of the scenes like the meeting of Kumaraswami, who
is a farmer now; meeting Vetrivel - the collector, are directed
very well.
The performance in the movie is of high order and all the actors
compete with one another for the glory. Naren as Vetrivel has
done a wonderful job. Sneha as Kokila steals every heart with
her simplicity, and Thankar Bachaan as Kumaraswamy lives his part.
Shreya Reddy as Jhansi impresses everyone with her dignified acting.
Seeman as Muthu makes a confident debut. The actor who comes as
the younger Kumaraswamy is a revelation with his superb comic
timing and quick wit. The scene in which he drops his pen to see
Shreya’s legs will surely bring the house down.
Baradwaj’s music is soothing to the ears especially the
“Meendum Pallikoodam pogalam” track, which lingers
in one’s heart long after the leaving the theatre. Gana
Ulaganathan comes up with a remix of the old song “Nanamoo”
which can achieve a hit status if marketed properly. Sathish does
a good job as the Editor but the pace of the movie drops in the
second half, which if taken care of, would have made a big difference
in the outcome of the movie.
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Overall
the movie is well made and will be lapped up by the urban
audience. If you thought Azhagi was a fantastic effort,
chances are that you would have the same feeling with Tahnkar
Bachaan’s new effort as well. Besides, the emotional
aspect of the movie is sure to go down well with the female
audience.
Verdict - Revival of good-old memories
Rating - 
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