Film: Pongi Ezhu Manohara
Director: Ramesh Rangasamy
Cast: Irfan, Arundhati Nair, Archana, Singampuli, Sampatram
The plot of Pongi Ezhu Manohara is set in a rural milieu in the 1990s. Irfan, who has acted in a few sports centric films, plays Manohara, a rustic milkman in the movie. His constant companion is Mani, who seems to hog more screen space than the hero. Mani (Singampuli), who runs a local drama troupe, is frustrated that his plays get aborted even before the first act. The adventures of the duo, which are meant to be depicted in a humorous way, sadly lack humour or fun.
Irfan delivers whatever is expected of him. One cannot blame the actor, if all his effort to strike a chord with the audience goes wasted in a dismal scenario. Manohara has two girls in his life. The director has seen to it that the two don’t encroach each other’s space. For, while the hero’s first love Thenmozhi (Archana) comes in the earlier part, the other, Anandi, his childhood classmate and friend (debutante Arundhati is a promising find), takes over after the hero’s tryst with the first.
Manohara’s deprived childhood with an alcoholic as a father, and a mother who abandoned them, is depicted with some realism.
Sampatram leaves his mark as the abusive father who takes out his frustration on his son. With all the supposed-to-be-fun elements not working, the director takes the sentimental-mode towards the latter part.
Manohara, who eagerly looks forward to a reunion with his mother, is made to go through another traumatic phase, worse than what he had been experiencing earlier. But the director’s effort to garner sympathy for his protagonist just doesn’t work here.
It’s a lacklustre screenplay and an insipid narration. At times it gives one the feeling of watching a mediocre TV serial, that which never seemed to end. It is low-down comedy, a noisy affair lacking finesse. For this kind of an experience, the film’s running time — of about 160 minutes — seems an over-indulgence.