SIVAPPU MOVIE REVIEW

Director Sathya Siva made a name for himself in Kollywood, thanks to his tragic romantic thriller Kazhugu. Sivappu which was supposed to be his follow up film after Kazhugu has been in the cans for some time. Finally, the film manages to see the light of day.

 

Over the years, we have had a considerable number of films based on the Sri Lankan Tamilians issue. And here we have another one to add up to that list. Sivappu is all about a poignant love story between a native Tamil man and a Sri Lankan Tamil woman. It is set in the backdrop of a building construction site. The director blends both love and the Sri Lankan Tamil issue equally as he tries to deboss a strong message with the help of a love story. But it ends up being neither here nor there.

 

The manipulative scenes and dialogues highlighting the life of Sri Lankan refugees could be heart wrenching at places, but it is largely overshadowed by some clichéd romantic scenes which don’t work. The climax looks a little force fitted and reminds us of some of the recent films. The overall packaging of the movie also makes it tedious for the viewers.

 

Most of the characters in the film are either trivial or confusing, especially that of Selva who plays a politician. Probably the director wanted to underplay his role, but still more importance or screen time could have been given to his role.

 

Sivappu doesn’t have too many songs, but even the couple of occasional ones which are intended to mellow down the heaviness, act as serious speed breakers. The songs and the background score by NR Raghunanthan are functional, with the melody factor standing out.

 

Acting wise the film scores big time. Sathya Siva has to be lauded for his effort to extract such fine performances from his cast, even from his junior artists who flash off for a second to two. It is also nice to see the team giving extra care for the Sri Lankan Tamil accent and the lip sync.

 

Rupa Manjari, as one of the Sri Lankan refugees, gives a career best performance. Naveen Chandra of Sarabham fame does a very neat and acknowledgeable job too. Rajkiran proves yet again that he is a fine actor who could do any sort of role effortlessly. Here he doesn’t play his usual type of role, but a character that is helping in nature, someone who doesn’t mind breaking the rules for Tamil people. But the screen time for his role isn’t much and it is more like an extended cameo.

 

One of the major highlights of the film has to be the cinematography of Madhu Ambat. The three time National Award winner has given the rough and gritty look that the director must have envisioned. The film’s DI deserves a mention too. There are a couple of action sequences which have been choreographed convincingly well too.