Pallikoodam - Meendum sella Aaasai

Pallikoodam -- Meendum sella aasai :-)

No fights, no separate comedy track, no punch dialogues, no sentiments(like Thaali), no foreign locations for songs...

gosh.. where is Thamizh cinema goin.. are you of the kind that think like that.. then.. no, the movie is not for you.

There are different kinds of people with different taste:

1) One will like masala movies
2) One will never watch movies which are sad or sentimental. They always wanted to see feel-good movies with lots of comedy.
3) Some will like movies which exhibit family sentiments and give importance to relationship.

If you are of a kind who will want to watch action movies/comedy movies, and once in a while, like to watch movies that will have you emotionally touched, that moves you, and make you shed a few eye drops, then Pallikoodam is the movie for you.

There are some movies which you wanted to carry the feelings at least for a week. Examples are Sethu, Pithamagan, Moondram Pirai, 16 vayadhinilae, Mudhal mariyadhai, Azhagi, Paruthi Veeran, Vazhvae Maayam..

And, the latest flick from Thangar will easily join the above list.(Itz now in my list of movies that I would like to treasure)

The man who made a soul-stirring Azhagi, is back with similar concept, this time with a social message too.

We all saw in Azhagi a very different dimension of love told in an interesting angle. The movie disturbed many a hearts and for many, it is one of their secretly admired movies ;-)

Here too, Thangar weaves a beautiful love story with emotions throughout the movie, also handling Dialogues & Camera. Kudos Thangar!!

The story is this: There comes a Government order to stop the functioning of the school, because of the very bad condition of the facilities in the school.

Vetrivel, Iyodi Kumarasamy, Muthu & Gokila are classmates in the Pachimuthu Uyur Nilai PaLLi, the place where we see most of the happenings in the movie with lot of emotions.

Vetrivel(Narain) is now working as a Collector in Kanjipuram. Iyodi Kumarasamy(Thangar) is a school drop-out and works as a coolie in the same village(Pallavamangalam).

Gokila(Sneha) continues in the same school as a teacher. Due to the bad conditions & facilities in the school, the govt issues an order to stop functioning of the school.

Vetrivel and Gokila fall in love with each other from the school days.

Due to a misunderstanding and ill-fate, Vetrivel doesn't want to see/meet Gokila, but both couldn't forget each other(how can they?) & remain unmarried.

Gokila proposes an idea to invite Vetrivel so that the school will get attention from him as well as others who once studied in this school, so that they can protect the school from demolition. The task is given to iyodi Kumarasamy, since the villagers know Vetri won't return to this village due to his bad experience.

Kumaru meets Vetri in Kanchipuram and in the process they meet their classmate Muthu(Seeman) too, who is now a film director.

Together, do they protect the school from demolition and do Vetri & Gokila unite form the climax.

The story line offers ample scope for all of the lead characters and they all perform very naturally. Special mention needs to be made of iyodi Kumarasamy played by Thangar himself, who pulls off the character almost effortlessly. Emotions and expressions come very easily for this man. In one word .. wow!!

Narain's performance is getting better day by day. Though at some of the scenes, he overacts, he makes it up comfortably towards the end of the movie. A matured performance.

Sneha... I don't have words for her... This is her best performance till date, after Parthiban Kanavu & Autograph. I went to see this movie expecting a good performance from Sneha and she didn't disappoint and she beat my expectations with a spectacular performance. Towards the climax, when Vetri announces that he is goin to marry Gokila, Sneha's expression is top class. I just couldn't think of any other actress who can do justice to Gokila's role. I am very proud being a Sneha fan :-) [I know I am goin overboard :-), but couldn't resist myself]

That the audience too(I certainly did) want Vetri & Gokila to unite speaks volumes of their roles. What a feeling it was to see them unite. How many movies do we get to see Love told in a convincing fashion?

Seeman comes as a director himself and gives a natural essay. Meenal(Kovai gal) who comes as Thangar's wife also gives a good performance)

That all the emotions in the movie told without going over-board or over-senti proves the director's mettle.

Though the BGM should have been slightly better, Bharadwaj impresses with the "Meendum PaLLiku pogalam" and "Indha nimidam". Though manasu marugudhae is sweet on the ears, Thangar could have done away with this number.. a needless one.

The lyrics in all these songs are very meaningful and powerful. Kudos to the lyric writers, especially, for the Meendum PaLLiku pogalam, Indha nimidam & Kaadu padhuguromae songs.

The dialogues in the movie and some of the scenes make a big impact on the viewer.

Some of the scenes that I admired the most in the movie:
1) When Vetri sits in the desk he once sat and look backwards at the place where Gokila sat. The gal at the desk(presently) looks with bewildered eyes and after a while she stands up and says "Good Morning, Sir!!"
2) The expression on Gokila's face when Thangar says Narain is married and has two children.
3) The scene where Vetri announces his marriage in the climax and the expressions on Gokila, Muthu & Kumaru's faces.
4) When the old students express their love for the school, share their feelings and announce their contributions(cheers!!!)

The movie can give nostalgic memories down memory lane for many.

Go, watch the movie in theaters. Only there, we get an ambience that will allow you to express yourself(laugh/cry) without any inhibitions.

Emotionally,
Dharma.
P.S:
The movie is based on a novel "Kazhavadiya Pozhudhugal" written by Thangar himself.