Paramapadham Vilayattu

In Paramapadham Vilayattu, the villain tells our leading lady in the climax that politics is a snake and ladder game. And when you hear that, you know that it is the director trying to justify the title given to this movie. Because in a film that claims to be a political thriller and has the title Paramapadham Vilayattu (Snake and Ladder Game), the events we see are far remote from the claimed aspects. And the biggest failure of the movie is that it underestimates the viewer in concealing the suspense.

Chezhiyan is the leader of a major political party in Tamil Nadu, and in about 40 days, there will be assembly elections in the state. But during the preparation for the election, Chezhiyan’s health gets compromised, and Dr. Gayathri is in charge of his treatment. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t save Chezhiyan, and she suspects a foul play in the death. Gayathri’s investigation to find the truth and where it eventually takes her is what we witness in Paramapadham Vilayattu.

If you have the experience of watching a handful of thrillers, you will be able to guess the bad guy very early into the movie. Imagine seeing a magic trick after knowing how it is done. Paramapadham Vilayattu feels exactly like that. You are just hopelessly wishing something fresh will happen in the end, and the director goes on diminishing that hope. And to make it worst, there is a new character introduced as a help to our leading lady. His irreverence is supposed to create humor on screen, but it is easily one of the most annoying characters. The logic of certain scenes is bizarre, and you can’t even give it that luxury of being a commercial movie.

K Thirugnanam, who has written and directed this movie, is running out of ideas very soon. The film is marketed as a political thriller, and the political aspect is only there in the periphery. Paramapadham Vilayattu is simply a movie about a single mother escaping after getting abducted by goons. A survival thriller is the aptest genre for this film as we are seeing our heroine stuck inside rooms, car boot space, etc., with her hands and legs tied. At one point, the guy trying to help Gayathri asks her to spill some paint in the road from the trunk of the car to find her location. But interestingly, in that journey, he doesn’t see a murder that happened on the same road. Too many logical errors are there in the film, and the editing that goes back and forth thinking it would create curiosity just messes up the plot. There is a pointless and irritating item song in this movie that they could have easily chopped off at least when they knew it would be an OTT release.

Nothing is challenging here for Trisha as a performer as she is mostly in one particular zone. Maybe the physical demands for the character as she is getting beaten up might have made it tough. But in terms of performance, it’s just a forgettable character. Nandha Durairaj as Tamizh is also a very typical characterization. Vijay Varmaa, who makes his debut with this movie, is playing this unlikable character in a way that you will find it difficult to say whether you hated his performance or that character (I will just wait to see his next performance). Well, the writing for that character was pathetic, and that’s something I am very clear about. Manasvi Kottachi, as the daughter, was sweet and delivered a likable performance. Vela Ramamoorthy, as Chezhiyan, had that grace to be a noble politician.

The trailer of Paramapadham Vilayattu shows you a premise that feels fascinating as it has happened in Tamil Nadu politics many a time in the recent past. But what you see in the trailer is the only bit of “political thriller” in this movie. Everything else is just usual survival drama elements that just get dragged for far too long.