Film: Paisa
Director: Abdul Majith
Cast: Sriram, Aara,Madhusudan Rao, Rajasimhan,Nasser, Senrayan
How the lure of ill-gotten money brings mental trauma and chaos to a youngster from a low-economic background, forms the core of the plot. The message that money is important in life, but life is not all about money, especially if it’s ill-gotten, is conveyed through the life of Murugan. Director Majith has attempted a modest film that is a blend of the realistic and the commercial. But the film is too slow-paced to the point of boredom in the earlier half. And the commercial elements are not packed judiciously to make it entertaining enough. It’s in the closing fifteen minutes or so, that the narration picks up momentum and spirals into a fitting finale. But it’s too little, too late.
The plot centers around Murugan, an adolescent who made a living out of rag-picking. He had a happy existence with his loyal friends, and a newfound love that pepped up his life. Sriram plays Murugan and while he was watchable with a horde of other child actors in films like Pasanga and Goli Soda, one feels that he is yet to evolve as an actor with a screen presence, who can carry a film on his shoulders.
While he executes the episodes that are closer to reality adequately, like the ones related to Murugan’s life as a rag-picker, he is clearly awkward and inhibited in other moments, like his romantic interludes and the dream-song numbers. Aara as Veni, his beloved, exudes freshness and pocesses an expressive face with a promising find. Working at a supermarket, Veni would be the motivating factor in Murugan’s life.
The life of the rag pickers, their daily routine, aspirations and indulgences, are depicted fairly realistically. The pace is leisurely here. The narration peps up when Murugan finds a bag of money worth crores. It was unaccounted money of a businessman, given to Krupa, a thug, for safe keeping.
Amusing is the scene where Murugan walks up to an expensive car and asks the owner its price. When the bemused stranger points out the cocky youngster’s torn pants, Murugan nonchalantly pulls out a currency note and covers the hole in his pants. But such moments are few and far between. Sriram brings out the changed attitude of Murugan, walking with a swagger and a new ound confidence. But the scenes of Murugan splurging the money on trips to malls and expensive restaurants, give a sense of deja vu. Senrayan provides light moments as the thief, who knowing Murugan’s secret, blackmails him into funding his vacations. The rest is formed by the businessman’s ultimatum to the thug to find his stolen money and the thug hot on Murugan’s heels.
The narration, sluggish, almost throughout, builds momentum at the end, where the action choreography is impressive and realistic. Mildly entertaining, Paisa could have been made more appealing and interesting.