Padikkathavan

Dhanush, son-in-law of superstar Rajnikanth is popular among malayalees through his superhit film, ‘Kathalkonden’. He has got a memorable last year, since he got 2 of his projects like ‘Pollathavan’ & ‘Yaradi Nee Mohini’ were hits. His latest project caught attention since the title of the film (‘Padikkathavan’) is adapted from a well-known film of Rajnikanth in the 80’s. But there are no similarities in both these stories.

Thamanna, who is emerging as a big star these days is the heroine here. Don’t you know her? She is the same innocent girl (with extra white complexion) who acted in films like ‘Happy Days’ and ‘Kalloori’. The director of the film Suraaj, has given hit films like ‘Thalainagaram’ starring Sundar.C and ‘Maruthamalai’ starring Arjun. The big banner Sun Pictures is in the role of distributors.

As the name of the film suggests the hero hails from an upper middle class family. He is not well educated. The father (Prathap Pothen) is scolding him most of the time for his misbehaviors. Thus the hero, who is not fond of studies, takes a shortcut route to keep his name in the society. He plans to marry a degree holder. He finds the heroine; though she doesn’t like him in the beginning, later they fell in love each other. In the course, villain and some other gang who planned to take revenge on the hero for some happenings in the past is also seen. Anyway, whether the hero gets success over them is what the climax of ‘Padikkathavan’ tells.

We can’t see anything special in such a storyline. But the difference is in the treatment of the film by the script writer –director, Suraaj who was once associate to Sundar C (director of ‘Arunachalam’, ‘Anbe Sivam’, ‘Ullathe Allithaa’ etc). Here there is lot of twists and turns in the path to make it unpredictable. In addition to it, you have got a humorous second half with Vivek at his best. Also the climax doesn’t have usual melodrama; though it is cinematic, it is straight.

Don’t expect much from a masala mix like ‘Padikkathavan’. Dont forget that such an entertainer should target the front benchers also. Here you will be having gang members of villains like Suman and Atul Kulkarni using guns as if like toys for their survival. In between, you can see songs with good dance movements. Manisharma has given some fast numbers like “Rani Rankamma…” and “Vela Vetrivela…” A.Venkitesh has created the fast mood with his camera work. Dhanush has performed in his usual style. With couple of big projects also in her hand, I feel the charming girl, Thamanna will be emerging as a big heroine in the south soon.

‘Padikkathavan’ is a real masala entertainer. If you need a time pass, you can watch it once.

Rating : 3 / 5