Pattom Pole

There are times a film becomes a total let down because of its climax. Pattom Pole directed by Alagappan is that love story that goes on like an average entertainer for almost 3/4th of its runtime and fizzles at its conclusion out of total haste.

The plot here has the lead pair in a relationship. Karthik and Riya decides to run away from their family as they thought their parents won’t allow their inter cast marriage. But during this runaway itself, certain ego clashes starts to annoy them resulting in a breakup. The story moves to that interesting terrain when both of them happen to meet again after a short while. The dramas that unfolds after this particular meeting is what this rom-com trying to narrate.

Considering the underwhelming trailers and teasers of the movie, the film was able to surprise me at the beginning. But as the story moved on, it went to that over dramatic or rather exaggerating phase which we have seen in certain Tamil/ Telugu films. The film largely focuses on the post breakup portion leaving us blank about how intense was the romance of the couple which broke over a lame ego complex. With a climax that shows the confused characters doing the same drill, I don’t know what they were trying to say.

Performance wise Dulquer Salmaan was convincing as the typical Brahmin boy who is a bit shy. Debutant Malavika is good as Riya but the actress should reduce the agility of her head as it is annoying for certain one liner dialogs. Anoop Menon did his small appearance smoothly and the actress who played the sister’s role of Riya was also good. Lalu Alex and Jayaprakash did their part with required conviction. Archana Kavi was also cool in her character.

In the making, Alagappan hasn’t done anything unconventional or fresh to make this brittle thread more endearing. His cinematographic frames that will remind you of Amen occasionally are something that I felt positive about the movie. Script doesn’t really move forward and the drama quotient was also on the higher side.  Edits aren’t that great and the background score is totally disappointing. Couple of songs was really good.

Overall, this kite can’t fly high. It’s not an unwatchable film, but the used up back and forth romance idea required a fresh take which sadly isn’t there in Pattom Pole. My rating is 2/5. Better than its trailer, but not as cool as its posters.