Slices of south - South of Nowhere

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Subramaniyapuram - Welcome aboard...

Some movies can be just withstood while sitting in the theatre, which also might make you wonder, "how the hell did I sit through that crap" at a later point of time; and some movies grow on you even after you've come out of the theatre. While the recent "Muniyandi vilangiyal" belongs to the former category, "Subramaniyapuram" is in the latter category.

A simple story of four youngsters wasting their lives around a growing politician has been nicely woven with a period (1980s) backdrop. It has neatly incorporated emotions like love, deceit, anger, fear and slyness peppered all through which motors the story. The first half passes by without much of the story moving forward until the interval block, which is where the movie starts to gain momentum. The lack of story in the majority of first half is compensated by the well-shot romantic episode with a beautiful song, Kangal irandaal. It has some very natural, earthy dialogues that are crisp and to the point most of the times. The attention and care taken (the 80's feel and look) for canning the first half, which moves around a oft repeated theme (like Satya or Thotti Jaya etc), alongwith uncanny wittiness and realism, makes us look forward to the plot in second half.

The second half packs quite a punch. It shows betrayal, fear, hunt etc in quick succession wrapped around with brutal violence. The scene where the councillor's brother is killed in the auto has a very forceful impact that will refuse to leave the mind for some time to come. The movie on first watch reminded me that there is nothing drastically new told in this movie but the characters and their traits make the movie a whole lot interesting than what the story premise suggests.

Jai, the hero, does a pretty good job - his mannerism of smiling radiantly through his beard with rhythmic shaking of his head in "Kangal Irandaal" and his enaction in the scene "enakku saavu bayam kaatitaangada" will remain with you for long. Sasikumar, the director, fits his role as the hero's friend perfectly. His smile, rarely seen in the movie, is very captivating. Kanja Karuppu does his usual stuff (with a good restraint channeled by the director) and also gets to register his image with his potrayal towards the end ably supported by the neat writing of his character. Other characters like Mari, Sithan etc fit the bill perfectly. Samudhirakkani makes an impression in his role and he is here to stay in this new role of his as an actor. The heroine, Swathi, contribute heavily to the pleasantness, the first half carries, and acts with depth in the second half.

Art Direction, Music and Photography rank in that order after the Direction and Scriptwriting departments - all walking away with honors. The lack of major twists in the first half, violence in the second half are minor, negligible put-offs.

Subramaniyapuram shows how some freshness in treatment & effort and little bit of creativity can turnaround a ordinary story into a near classic. A welcome addition to Tamil Cinema.
Go Watch it !

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