Ponmagal Vandhaal
We are half an hour
or so into the movie. It has been an interesting day at office for the district
court Judge (played effortlessly by Prathap Pothan) and his assistant
(Pandiarajan). At the end of the day, they sit down to relax for a few drinks
under a typical cold evening in Ooty. Soon, what begins as an interesting
revelation of their comradery and childhood friendship, fizzles out after
teasing for a very short while. Leaving us begging the question as to why the
Director chose not to impart any depth into the characters after setting such
an interesting premise. This scene pretty much encapsulates the superficiality
that prevails throughout Ponmagal Vandhaal.
Ponmagal Vandhaal
narrates the story of an amateur lawyer Venba (Jothika), who embarks on a legal
battle to reverse the judgement that was
meted out to 'North Indian' 'Psycho Killer' Jyothi 15 years back, who was convicted
of kidnapping and murdering young girls. This is no novel theme and almost all
the characters are usual suspects - the rich and corrupt businessman clad in
white (a gritty Thiagarajan), a remorseless defense lawyer (Partheipan), the
blink-and-you-miss-witnesses who get killed (no, this doesn't count as a
spoiler) and the hands-in-glove police force etc. Hence, any twists in the
story become very much predictable, except maybe the last one. But even that
appeared forced and comes too late to leave any impact. What could have been an
excellent character study of a #MeToo victim, becomes diluted by stereotypes
and melodrama, as the movie hastily tries to brighten the spotlight on the
issue while letting go of the opportunity to build on the characters central to
the plot. For example, very little is shown about the lead character, her
psyche and thought swings all of which should have been the core theme. This
results in us not building any empathy and the intent of the story falls flat.
But the movie is not
without its moments. Particularly, the scene where Partheipan discusses the
past events with his clients in the beginning of second half he tone of the
crime scenes and the art director's work in such places made me think, why
couldn't this have been made as a Crime drama instead, sans all the melodrama.
Maybe the impact could have been better? Or maybe that is what the Director
wanted, but did not get? Maybe, maybe…
The performances of
the main artistes remained satisfactory and stayed true to what the script demanded from them. Jothika's underplayed portrayal was only betrayed, just a
little bit, by her own dubbing that looked a little out of place for a Courtroom.
The same can also be said of Partheipan's mannerisms, though enjoyable, yielded
a lightheartedness that needn't have been. Editing could have been crisp in
the second half and repetition of certain scenes could have been avoided. Songs
and Background music were adequate.
Overall, the arc of
the beaten-to-death theme does engage a wee bit till the end, but does not
leave any impact. Ponmagal Vandhaal empty handed.
Rating: 2/5
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