Once again lingusamy gives a Action movie. This time with Karthik . And Karthik proves his heroism. Some from BH Director Lingusamy traverses on an all new road show in Paiyaa in his home production Tirupathi Brothers and has acquitted himself fairly well. Although romance seems to be the axle in Paiyaa, Lingusamy has skewed away mildly from this and spiced it up with a travel (escape) event as a backdrop.
The film opens up with an ingenious manner of credits flipping on the road and dividers, lucidly indicating the genre of the film. A creative brainwave indeed! Karthi (Shiva), an engineering graduate with an attitude, is on the look out for a job. He does not seem to be much serious in seeking employment while his friends try their best to settle him. He spots Tamannah (Charu) in a bus stop and it is love at first sight. He finds her on a couple of occasions later and in fact misses an interview in her pursuit. Destiny seems to have something good waiting for him and he gets to spend themost beautiful phase of his life, giving her a ride in the car while waiting to pick the owner of the car at the railway station. Life takes an exciting turn from this point for Karthi who accepts to drop her in Mumbai and thus begins Paiyaa's journey of romance, action and emotions on a highway with a few turns, some with caution and some without.
Paiyaa zooms forward in the first half where Karthi is at driver's seat physically and metaphorically. An enjoyable performance from the young actor who appears to relish his role! For the first time in his career, he gets to cover himself with stylish costumes. He sparkles with haughty countenance, sideway glances, mischievous looks, 'know it all' attitude and an understated curiosity to know about Tamannah. He reiterates that he can essay any kind of role with aplomb. But there are still some vestiges of a villager in him which he needs to divest when necessary. Tamannah is fresh, youthful and emotes well too. Jagan has a small role in the second half. Karthi's friends are adept in their performance. Except for looking hot and handsome, the much talked about Milind Soman is wasted and any one could have performed his role.
Yuvan Shankar Raja is the major backbone of Paiyaa with lovely tracks suiting the mood of the film. Tamannah looks as fresh as the raindrops in thuli thuli mazhayai number. Suthude suthude boomi speaks of art director Rajeevan's work but he could have taken extra care especially about the stationery cloud hovering around the moon. The songs are all chartbusters and have all been picturized very aesthetically. Priya Manikandan's costumes are in sync with the nature of characters and the mood of the film. Brinda Sarathy's dialogues evoke laughter at the right places.
The second half slackens with some of the actions sequences appear contrived especially in the climax. How can someone even lift his head when beaten by a powerful metal rod? It is difficult to comprehend despite attributing it to cinematic liberties. The climax fights intend to be more for showcasing Karthi's heroism than for the story warranting it. And why is Karthi shown as someone who does not speak English despite being a city bred engineer with urban friends for company? Director Lingusamy has stuck to the genre that he has chosen for most part. He has recorded romance in a beautiful manner especially when Karthi communicates his feelings to his friends seeking advice and his dignified attitude towards Tamannah. The car chasing sequence in the open field is absolutely brilliant and so is Karthi going reverse in the opposite direction. Cinematographer Madhie needs plaudits here. Crisp editing by Anthony especially in the action sequences is a major plus point of Paiyaa and deserves a special mention.
