Film: Pulippaarvai
Director: Praveen Gandhi
Cast: Satyadev, Manoj Aiyur, Madan
Set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan ethnic war, it captures the closing days of the LTTE war against the Lankan army. The director in an opening caption calls it a ‘fictional story inspired by real life events’. Credit for the inspiration is also given to a private foreign channel’s depiction of some events, like the alleged cold-blooded killing of Bala, the son of LTTE chief by Lankan soldiers.
Reality blended with fiction in its plot, the main problem with the film is its inability to do justice to both. So, those who go to view the film hoping for some meaningful and realistic depiction, will be put off by the forced-in romance, the dream songs, the stereotype army soldiers, and a chubby militant leader (named Krupakaran here) who seems almost like one of our old time heroes. There is a song for him too, which he seems to lip-sync at times, as he inspires the militants to action.
Also, those who go for its sheer entertainment value would find the engaging moments few and far between. The Guhan-Selvi romance seems a forced in affair, with a dream song for the duo. Gruesome is the scene of torture of Guhan and his friends by the soldiers.
There are a couple of appreciable points in the film. Like the confident, touching portrayal of Bala by Sathyadev (a child actor of TV and films). The controversial portions having been edited out, the boy is shown urging the children to concentrate on their studies.
Another interesting factor is the contrast the director draws between the cool, gusty Bala and Rasool the timid, diffident son of the army Major. The Major embarrassed by his son’s timidity, goads him to perform risky tasks resulting in unfortunate consequences. The locations have an authentic feel. And some of the scenes of aerial bombing and ambushes are capably choreographed.
Praveen Gandhi scripts, directs, edits and handles the art, lyrics and the music department. If only he had made up his mind as to what exactly he wanted to convey!