Cast: Dhanush, Archana, Meera Jasmine, Nazar, Livingston, Riyazkhan, Santhanam, Kadhal Dhandapani, Adhithya, Ajay Rathnam, Manobala, Crane Manohar, Kadhal Arun
Direction: Suresh Krissna
Production: Yogesh KR
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja, Gurukiran
How do we begin? Okay… The billing was great, the build up was greater; it arrived with a bang but will go with a whimper. This sums up the first day reactions to Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram. A story chosen by the Superstar especially for his son-in-law, with great care after a lot of thought. Yet after watching this movie one cannot help but wonder as to what made the Superstar (no disrespect intended) choose this story for Dhanush.
The story begins in a village. A picture perfect family, father, mother and son. The son (Dhanush) is almost his mother’s shadow, never moving out of her sight; it’s a happy content life. But, the death of his father leaves the family in tatters. Driven by compulsion and emotion (for which you have to see the movie) Dhanush leaves for the city to find work. There he meets Nasser who employs him in his tea shop. As he is picking up the pieces of his life, fate hits Dhanush hard again and this time he finds himself as the prime accused in a murder case which actually was the result of a fight between two gangs. This time too Nasser helps him out of the lock up after a lot of explanations.
But fate is not prepared to let Dhanush live a peaceful life.
Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram
It drags him into trouble again, forces him into violence and before he knows he is a member of one of the gangs. Now, carrying the knife is mandatory for his survival. Unwittingly and unwillingly, Dhanush is now a goon. He is unable to go back to the village to meet his mother. But what he does not know is that she is already in the city looking for him. Here again fate gives Dhanush a raw deal. His mother never finds him, they never meet (in spite of coming within touching distance). Do they meet, do mother and son reunite? The film has all the answers.
Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram
Okay, so the story has lots in terms of substance (just joking). Now it is left to the execution of the script to make the movie a superhit. At the helm of affairs there is Suresh Krishna. The execution has nothing to write home about. It is just plain ordinary. But then a director can only shoot what is there in the script and the script is a reflection of what the story is and the story as we had discussed earlier is exceptionally uninteresting.
The artistes do not have much to perform, its just plain sailing for most of the film. Dhanush goes through the motions, Archana is convincing as the mother, nothing special. Meera Jasmine is neat in a role that is limited by any standards. Nasser’s potential has been wasted. The only actor who leaves any impression is Ajay Rathnam who appears as a policeman, but he has just a few scenes and so the impact here too is limited.
The Tamil that Dhanush and some other characters speak in the name of Thirunelveli ‘slang’ will make the natives of Thirunelveli squirm. The attempt looks so half baked. The technical aspects of the movie are better off not being discussed, but this being a movie review we decided to give a few lines to the technical crew of Parattai.
The camera handled by Velraj.R looks amateurish at best. The images are not clear, they fade and glare alternatively. He has placed his credentials under the scanner with this movie. The camera work need not be splendid or breathtaking, but at least it has to be face saving. Compare the standards of camera in Parattai with some of the other recent releases and one would stop short of calling Parattai’s camera work pedestrian, even then one would have been generous.
Then we have the editing that seems to have complemented the camera work. Both the worthy technicians seem to have been in a battle of supremacy of ‘who’s the bigger dud’. But, they have some serious competition; Guru Kiran with his music has shocked everyone. Leave the songs alone, let’s discuss the background music. Actually, there is not much to discuss, just one final word- deplorable.
Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram
All factors combine to make Parattai an experience that you have to endure rather than enjoy in theaters. It has proved to be a costly mistake. Dhanush’s career will sure take a setback after the success of Thiruvilayaadal.
Parattai Engira Azhagusundaram
This is the fourth big dud in a row for Suresh Krishna; can he come back from here? Another interesting point. Dhanush was so impressed with Velraj’s work during the making of Parattai that he recommended Velraj’s name for Polladavan. Now Velraj is handling the camera for Polladavan too!
In conclusion, this is what we have to say. Mistakes do happen, let them not be repeated. Fate does not play havoc in anyone’s life as shown in Parattai. Everyone controls his own destiny. So, Dhanush better control his own and choose stories carefully. Otherwise he will become the ‘Polladavan’ of the industry.
Parattai: when everything goes wrong.