Podaa Podi

When we people try to make a movie that goes through a larger phase of a character, they should make sure that the importance is given to the important events of their life. “Podaa Podi” from Vignesh Shivan is a movie that tries to explain too much on a short span and ends up in being a half baked romantic comedy. It is a journey through the a slice of life of a young guy Arjun.

The plot revolves around Arjun and his love of life Nisha. Nisha and Arjun were in a relationship and at one point they decide to get married. After marriage Arjun’s insecure husband attitude and Nisha’s passion for dance causes problems in their family life. How the couple get over this situation and the hardships and troubles they faced because of this is basically the flesh of Podaa Podi.

The basic problem with the movie I felt is the pacing of the script. The speed at which the writer/ director establishes a relationship between the main protagonists is too quick that the audience cant feel any sort of emotional intensity in the relationship and that core part of the movie goes undigested. After a silly first half, the second half opens to a more sensible and commercially feasible way with almost all sorts of emotions placed uniformly and adequately. Even though the makers fail to insert the highly emotional scene perfectly, the director manages to get the movie back into the fun filled rhythm and concludes it in a happy knot.

On screen, Silambarasan is cool as Arjun and I really liked his performance in that emotional scene with Shobhana in the second half. His dance is really cool and I believe he has done his part very neatly in the movie. For me, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar was an absolute disappointment. She neither looks apt as a pair for Silambarasan and her on screen chem with him wasn’t that great. She fails to excel as a dancer in the role of Nisha. Shobhana and Ganesh are comfortable in their limited supporting roles.

In the making, Vignesh Shivan has tried to make it a commercial potboiler with all those introduction song for Simbu and all. But he fails in the writing session. The script lacks intensity and fails to make the audience feel the situation. Dialogs are satisfying. Cinematography is ok. Music is an impressive one along with some smart choreography. Edits are fine.

On the whole, Podaa Podi is an awkwardly paced movie that at the end manages to be an average entertainer. The “Kuthu Dancer” gets 2.5/5 from me. Just another modern day love story.