Pachaikili Muthucharam
The movie was in my much-awaited category purely because of Gautam Menon. But if you ask me if the expectations were met... Well I would say in a way yes and in a way no...
First why YES... because the subject was something that I wasn't expecting from him... frankly the first half of the movie was kind of lengthy, dragging and monotonous... the Jyothika-Sarath scenes are so deceiving that they just give you an impression of another extra-marital-affair story... but the actual twist comes at the intermission... if the first-half moves at a snail's pace the second-half is a roller-coaster rider... but the climax is just the exact one you would expect from a Kollywood/Bollywood movie.
And now why NO... because the story was not Gautam's and is the desi version of Novel/Hollywood movie 'Derailed'. I am wondering why Gautam chose to (re)make Derailed when he scored excellently in his two previous attempts... (yes Minnale not included)...and secondly in my view Gautam-Harris magic did not a cast a spell in PKMC (the violin BGM of 'Unakkul Naane' is an exception) and the songs are just average.
Overall my rating is 7.5 out of 10
Tailpiece: I was always wondering why the title of this movie was changed from 'Silandhi' to 'PKMC' when the former was very apt to the theme until I heard the explanation from Gautam himself this morning in an interview i.e. Sarath's family (string of pearls) gets scattered when Jothika (Parrot) crosses his life... quite poetic... isn't it!
Paruthi Veeran
The next one was Paruthi veeran... and the expectation was very high because of
* Karthi
* Yuvan
* Ameer
Let's see each one of them ...
Karthi - Right from the first frame until the last... it is completely Karthi's show... As everyone is saying... it is pretty hard to believe that it is his debut performance... and it is even more difficult to believe that a US -return degree holder can transform completely into a typical villager. Karthi has played with ease the character of a rustic wastrel. The body language of a 'sandiyar' and the Madurai slang/accent of Karthi and his witty one-liners are absolutely mind-blowing.
On the whole... an extra-ordinary performance by Karthi
Yuvan - Well we all know that Yuvan hasn't tried his hand much on a village based subject... but his hardwork and brilliance is tangible in almost all frames. The native folk songs and re-recording becomes the sole of the movie. And the voice of Maestro Ilaiyaraaja for 'Ariyadha vayasu' has lifted the song to a totally unattainable height. I am sure the song is going to linger in everyone's mind for many years to come.
Overall, a very impressive work of Yuvan.
Ameer - Already, because of his earlier two movies, Ameer is in the elite group of young directors who will be the next generation of Tamil cinema. And through Paruthi Veeran Ameer has reached new heights. Though the story line may not be fresh... but the way he has handled it is incredible. He has gone a step ahead of Bharathiraja's portrayal of our villages. He has captured the exact mood of the sun and soil of where the story takes place. The witty dialogues and native language has given a new dimension to the movie and makes the viewers empathize with the characters. For the first 2 hours of the movie you never bet bored and you get a feeling that you are on a week-long tour to Madurai/Theni villages. But the biggest disappointment comes in the last 20 mins... and the climax! It makes you sick and is so disturbing that the impact is going to haunt me for a long time...
Now that I have talked about my three expectations... I still feel that I have missed to talk about so many other astonishing features of the movie... like brilliant histrionics of PriyaMani, Saravanan, Ponvannan... and... and... gosh... I just realize that every other face in the movie was a newcomer! All the supporting characters - ponanthinni, kutti chaakku, the visually impaired granny, Ganja Karuppu, Ponvannan's wife ... and so many have blend excellently well with the movie and have done an extra ordinary job. Once again kudos to Ameer again for attempting another bold move!
Overall, Paruthiveeran is one of the best movies Tamil filmdom has ever produced and it is a must-watch movie (except for the climax) and my rating is 9 out of 10.
