There are plenty of aspects to like in a musical action drama. Catchy songs, memorable dance sequences, and a heartwarming story. Even if one of these aspects fails, the others will entertain you. Unfortunately, Prabhu Deva’s Petta Rap has none of these qualities. Every scene is a reminder of how an ambitious story alone cannot make up for a film that fails to do justice to its colourful genre.
The story of Petta Rap is as flimsy as it can get. Balasubramanian aka Bala (Prabhu Deva), is branded as ‘junior Prabhu Deva’ in school but grows up to become a struggling actor. On the verge of giving up, he faces unexpected challenges. The question of whether he finds a renewed vigour for life forms the rest of the story. The short answer is Yes and No. The major drawback with Petta Rap is Prabhu Deva himself.
He is miscast as an actor who drags his feet from audition to audition to be cast in a film. Even as he acts with all his might, we only get to witness the actor and not Bala himself. Somewhere between his pursuit of becoming an actor and his love for punching goons, we fail to connect with his character and ambitions.
When he is not breaking into dance and song, Balasubramanian is busy giving out sermons to people. He is either extremely confident or loathes his existence. There is no in-between. However, he continues to deliver one message after another, even if it has no relation to the scene playing on screen. Take for instance his conversation with Veeramani (Riyaz Khan). He tells him, “Madhu, madham rendume danger,” but it has nothing to do with the scene it comes in.
Vedhika puts on an impressive performance as Jeni, a successful singer, and an entertainer, but the script hardly does any justice to her role. She is reduced to just another performer who is thrown insults at for doing her job. The scenes involving villains Veeramani (Riyaz Khan), King Kumar (Mime Gopi), and their long-standing rivalry with Michael (Kalabhavan Shajon) are terribly written.
They merely act as characters who incite violence, which adds little to no value to their own goals. The film tries to bank on the nostalgia for the ‘Pettai Rap’ song from Kadhalan. It fails to evoke the intended emotion but remains a harmless addition.
In a musical drama, it is surprising to not have a single memorable song. On top of that, the lyrics that go along with it are cacophonic and nauseating. We get lyrics like, ‘Trouser kizhinju pochu danguvaar arundhu pochu’. And just when you think that Tamil cinema has moved away from using voyeuristic camera angles, we get Petta Rap, which has the camera focussed on the female actors’ hips and other body parts.
Just like how Bala crashes into a random wedding after drinking like a fish, Petta Rap too takes illogical detours that bring no value to the story. Maybe, the makers had already hinted at the same with the tagline, ‘Paatu, Adi, Aattam, Repeat’. During one of the scenes that leads towards the climax, Prabhu Deva’s character takes the form of Thiruvalluvar and says, “Endha nokkathodu vandhaai enna seidhu kondirukirai?” How I wish the makers had used this self-awareness while writing the film.
Director: SJ Sinu
Cast: Prabhu Deva, Vedhika, Bagavathi Perumal, Vivek Prasanna, Ramesh Thilak, Mime Gopi, and Riyaz Khan