Vinveli Payana Kurippugal review: An overlong drama posturing as science fiction
Vinveli Payana Kurippugal
Director: R Jayaprakash
Cast: Athvik Jalandhar, Pooja Ramakrishnan
Rating 1/5
A month after the release of India’s first space film, Tik Tik Tik, we now have another film based on space. But Vinveli Payana Kurippugal isn’t your usual science fiction; this film has a plot that unfolds in a rural background. Sounds interesting, right? Though the idea sounds fascinating on paper, the end result on screen belies the genre.
R Jayaprakash’s film is a story about a village don, Duraipandi, who aspires to go to space as a tourist. His dream requires a lot of money, and he orders the local village heads to pay him for the favours he has done them over the years. Enraged by Duraipandi’s actions, several people plot to kill him. The rest of the film is about whether he survives these plots and goes to space.
The problem with the film begins right from its title and genre. Going by the promotions, you expect something along the lines of Appuchi Gramam. Instead what you get are incessant closeups and never-ending conversations between random characters, which give mega-serials of the 80s a run for their money.
Despite having a very linear narrative, the film is split into needless chapters, which are bizarrely named Kurippugal (notes), presumably to justify the title. Also, nowhere in the film do we get a reasonable justification for Duraipandi’s desire to go space travelling.
Though Jayaprakash hits the right note with emotions in the scenes involving Duraipandi, his ex-lover and her husband, he fails to create the same impact with humour. Logic, needless to say, goes for a toss in many places and a lot of questions are left unanswered. Apart from the surprisingly well-animated climax sequence, the film fails on the technical front, too.
The only saving grace is the performance of the leads — Athvik Jalander and Pooja Ramakrishnan. Though the former performs impeccably as the dull-headed yet strong-willed Duraipandi, it is Pooja, playing Duraipandi’s ex-lover, who steals the show.
Vinveli Payana Kurippugal may perhaps have been effective as a short film spanning ten minutes or so, but as a feature, it’s a total drag. During a random exchange between Duraipandi and his henchman, he says, “Kaakuravan manushan, kaakaveikravan periya manushan.” Given how long you wait for the end of the film, it’s hard to agree with that assessment.