Film Review/Pudhupettai

Cast – Dhanush, Sneha, Sonia Agarwal Music – Yuvan Shakar Raja Cinematography – Arvind Krishna Directed by – Selvaraghavan Genre – Drama My PG Rating – Adults Only Pudhupettai chronicles the rise & rise of kokki kumar (Dhanush) from a helpless urchin to a dreaded gangster. And from the time he runs away from home, after his father kills his mother, to the final scene it is his survival instincts, which impresses upon you and later has you utterly disgusted.While incidents in the earlier parts of the film makes you sympathize with the antagonist events later on make you lose any sympathy,which you might have had for him. Dhanush as kokki kumar is mostly convincing,especially early on. Circumstances lead him into joining the gang of a local politico, Anbu.After his baptism as a member of the gang his progress is vertical all the way. It is in these parts when the character still has traces of vulnerability that Dhanush scores. As he overthrows the leader and establishes himself as the gang's chief you start witnessing the becoming of a beast. The chilling murder of his father, on Kumar’s orders, sends the proverbial shiver down your spine. Kumar bears witness to himself as he stares onto a mirror, almost to look at what he has become – this moment just before the interval is marvelous in its intensity, though a bit picture postcard-ish. The post interval phase of the film is in total contrast to the action packed first-half . It is a character study on how power goes to Kumar’s head and he slowly deteriorates and manipulates one and all. The moment when he blackmails Selvi(Sonia Agarwal) to fulfill his whims or else threatens to have her brother killed has you in absolute disgust again. Such is the power of the screenplay, but here is where Dhanush falters. He is totally unconvincing and some of the scenes that follow, like grown up men bowing to puny kokki kumar almost seem farcical. Dhanush dominates the screen like Kamal Haasan in Hey Ram! . Sneha’s performance as Krishnaveni, a local prostitute is nothing to write home about (but it seems to be already overrated). Some of the smaller character’s like Kumar’s sidekicks leave a real impact on you. Especially the scene when the gangsters exchange tales about how they landed up doing what they were doing hits you hard. Only God and the director know why Sonia Agarwal is there in the film! There seems no limit to Selva’s infactuation with his own protégé as she is once again portrayed as an almost angelic charmer. Yuvan’s BGM is soothing especially the haunting background score survival of the fittest. Arvind Krishna’s camerawork is slick and realistic. But there are several picture postcard moments, which stand out like a sore thumb,and are clearly aimed at award juries. Admittedly Pudhupettai is not the masterpiece some of us expected it to be. It is the flawed, yet honest work, of a director attempting to break out of the shackles of conventional cinema, and present a work in which he depicts things as is,without ever moralizing. That is cinema for cinema’s sake for you, though it makes you more than a little uncomfortable. As you laugh in horror at the farcical last scene with kumar addressing the audience on a political stage the pitch-black humour has you leaving the hall with an uncomfortable feeling. And this is where the director’s success lies. Partial success if you insist.