PA.PANDI (2017)

Critic - No.100

Director: Dhaush
Casts: Rajkiran, Revathi, Prasanna, Madonna Sebastian, Chaya Singh, Rinson
Music: Sean Roldan
Language: Tamil
Genre: Drama

Plot: A retired old stuntman ‘Power’ Pandi decides to break free from his controlling family and stereotypical society’s view of an elderly. He escapes his house for a soul-searching travel to find himself again.

Review:Who would have thought that the very talented actor of Indian cinema, Dhanush would decide to helm a film? After almost 15 years in the industry, the multi talented actor has forayed into the role of a director and writer through Power Pandi, which has been renamed as Pa.Pandi for obvious reason. So let’s see whether he excels in this role as well.

The interesting thing about this film is that it is not pretentious or preachy. The film starts of with creating very natural scenes of a family setting and how the lead character ‘Power Pandi’ is confined into a space where everything he does affects the family. The basic knot of the film is not entirely new but the screenplay and Pandi’s character is fresh. Dhanush strikes a perfect balance with a few crowd-pleasing moments as well as heavyhearted emotional scenes. His hard-hitting dialogues about the role reversal of parent and child when we get older are noteworthy.

The film travels in a very fast and engaging manner without any draggy or unnecessary scenes. There are almost 4 to 5 scenes about parenting and elderly that will certainly silence the viewers. Despite the conventional story, the natural and fresh treatment of the scenes is where Dhanush scores as a writer. The authentic looking flashback rural love story is neither complex nor original but a believable and relatable love episode. The way the romantic track between Revathi and Rajkiran is written and treated is simply matured and heartwarming.

The only flipside of the film is the conflict between Paandi and his son. These scenes at the first half seem more like a function of plot than organic difference between a father and a son. Raghavan comes across more as a cold-hearted workaholic and it is never really revealed why he has such contempt for his father. That weakens the pay off in the climax.

As an actor, Dhanush gets his performances right from each and every casts involved. Of course, Rajkiran and Revathi steal the show with their matured and natural performances. Rajkiran fights, dance, and speak fluent English and at the age of 68. He is definitely an underrated asset of Tamil cinema. Such an intense and natural performer! Among the other pivotal casts, Prasanna, Rinson and Master Raghavan does a need job.

Sean Roldan’s songs are both intriguing and embedding. We have 5 soul-stirring songs in the film and acted as a speed breaker.  His score gives the necessary punches to all the scenes, making the emotional graph of the film a notch higher.

VERDICT: 

With Rajkiran’s arresting performance, matured direction and soul-stirring music, Power Pandi is a meaningful, moving drama about old age that will make you cry and smile at the same time.

CELLULOID METER- 3.5/5 :