Set in a tiny remote village, it’s about the problems the villagers face and the politicians turning a blind eye to their plight. How two of the villagers, friends Periya Pandi and Chinna Pandi, turn an impending election to their advantage, forms the crux of the plot.
Meant to be a breezy satire on modern day politics, and with Bhagyaraj scripting it, one expected it would be an interesting film. But the script lacks the punch and fritz, the genuinely good moments few and far between.
The village is depicted as one which is flood-prone, and sans any school, hospital and transport other than a couple of boats carrying people to the other side. But the ambiance hardly registers. All requests by the villagers for a dam to be built across the river is ignored by the politicians who are busy with their own games of survival. With election round the corner, the friends decide to turn it to their advantage. The earlier part is mostly taken up by the domestic life of Periya Pandi, his wife (Shweta) and their little son. There is a liberal dose of double entendres here that puts one off.
The narration, slow in the first half, shifts to Chennai in the second. Periya Pandi, the independent candidate who had won the election, is wooed by politicians of two rival political parties who need his vote to form the government. A stage is set for an interesting scenario. But the episodes that follow hardly excite. The style of presentation is more like that of a TV serial, the actors making no impact. If you think of the female leads, nothing positive registers!
The narration peps up a tad in the second half where Periya Pandi gets trapped in a web of his own making. After a few episodes it slips into absurdity. The 151-minute movie doesn’t make the viewing experience any easier.
It was a knot that had the potential to turn into an engaging entertainer. Bhagyaraj, once hailed as a master screenplay writer, seems to have not just lost his touch, but also seems to be out of sync with current audience sensibility and taste.