'Bale Pandiya' (Tamil, Entertainer, 2010)
Director: Siddharth Chandrashekar
Cast: Vishnu, Piaa, Vivek, Gibran Osman
The film centers around Pandiyan, a loser, who, frustrated by misfortunes stalking him throughout his life, decides to end it and makes a pact with a gangster. But with his life taking a positive turn, Pandiyan realises that he wants to live after all.
'Bale Pandiya' is publicity designer Sidharth Chandrasekhar’s maiden directorial venture and his approach is breezy and light-hearted.
Vishnu, who had essayed the role of a rustic kabadi player in 'Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu', has played the role of the perpetual loser Pandiyan with casual ease. We get to know of Pandiyan’s tale of woes, in flashback, as he narrates it to a gangster AKP (Amarendran). AKP agrees to help him out, and chalks out the date and manner of Pandiyan’s death.
But the entry of Vaishnavi, a politician’s daughter (a petite Piaa), is the turning point in Pandiyan's life. The duo gets caught in the politics-underworld imbroglio and these scenes are neatly piled in quick succession, giving no room for boredom.
Gibran (a former VJ) is sufficiently menacing as the bald-pated killer stalking Vaishnavi. Vivek with his weird hair-do and weirder antics amuses at times, with his potshots at some of the norms and habits of people.
A promising effort from a debutant filmmaker, 'Bale Pandiya' is light-hearted entertainer, sustains its pace, and makes for easy viewing.