Tamizh Padam - Review

I walked in to the theatre with my fingers crossed. The movie fan in me fell for the hilarious trailers and got me to venture out on the first day. Now I hoped, it was worth the back ache from the front row seat (all that I could manage considering my pathetic clout with the Chennai theatres) and the 120 bucks I spent on the tickets. I have this experience with most over-publicised comedies... The best jokes were all in the trailor. I hoped it was not the case with this one.



Ten minutes into the film and all my doubts were laid to rest. A baby who narrowly escapes male-infanticide at a remote village of Cinema patti is taken to Chennai by his Paatti. The young boy grows up to be the saviour of the masses and we are ready for a hero introduction song. The film further proceeds through all those familiar twists and turns we are so familiar with in a hero's life. Encountering the villains, the heroines, her dad, his fortune and of course his long lost family. It is here that CS Amudhan the director displays his vision. It is no mean feat to repeat a story that's been said a hundred times. Nor is it easy to get away with poking fun at our demi-god heros. He manages to give us a hilarious movie by keeping off individuals and playing up the innumerable cliches that has over the years become part of Tamil cinema. He refrains from mimicing an actor' s mannerisms / style and concentrates on the characters the 've played. A very wise strategy I must say. He uses the various situations over used by Tamil movie directors to get the laughs and communicate the sattire. Actor Shiva, who plays the hero Shiva never mimics an actor, he simple goes through the situations our favourite stars have already visited.


The pure joy of spotting movies and dialogues as the story proceeds is incredible. The rip-offs from Mouna ragam, Thalapathy, Annamalai and Apoorva sahodarargal even manages to bring in a feel-good nostalgic element. Needless to say, one is likely to enjoy the movie better if they have been watching Tamil movies over the last couple of decades. Our tradition of having middle aged comedians passing off as college students /heros friends is taken to another level with the 'Boys' ensemble. Mano Bala, Venniradai Murthy and MS Bhasker play Nakul, Siddharth and Bharath who happen to be juniors of the hero. The villians come in the form of popular villan characters from various movies like Anniyan, Bhaasha, Dhool and a few more.

Shiva looks like he was born to do the role. The actor with his excellent comic timing and underplayed expressions instantly takes the audience with him on the joy ride. With a subject where one can esaily go over board, the restraint he displays is commendable. Paravai Muniyamma as the hero's grand mother is endearing. I wish the casting of the heroine was done better. Someone familiar with Tamil movies could ve done a better job. Disha Pandey was just adequate. The dialogues are smart, but the screen play meanders for a while in between. To have an entire song with gibbersih for lyrics borrowed from previous Tamil hits deserves credit both for the idea and its brilliant execution.

Wonder why the director did not travel too much back in time for his inspiration... Some puns off the films of the 50's, 60's and 70's would've added to the party. Perhaps he's saved them for the next spoof. Can't wait.