Sarpatta Parambarai - My review
After the immensely disappointing experience with Jagame Thandhiram I did not have high hopes for Sarpatta Parambarai. I assumed Pa. Ra would have undergone the post-Rajni movie disorientation that Ka. Su went through. Pa. Ra proves otherwise, and I did not regret a minute of watching SarPar.
While I was growing up in a small town, there used to be kabaddi tournaments (much before street cricket took over). A rough game that kept many like me away from playing, but we used to enjoy the watching experience. SarPar brings alive that nostalgia. There is this unabashed nativity about this movie with no pretention, that makes you sit up and say 'That's what I wanna watch Bugga'.
Here the sport is boxing, which is not played in most of South India. Yet Pa. Ra has creates a convincing experience, which makes you sit for close to 3 hours, with occasional difficulties.
The storyline is nothing creative. But the premise and the characters are. The movie opens up and goes on till it sets the stage for what is coming, and only then the title slide comes up. By then, you are either bought in to the plot or you are logging out. There is no in-between.
The screen-time of the key characters as compared to the protagonist says it all. It is not a movie about one man. It is about the sport, pride, the clan and the place. Daddy (John Vijay) and Dancing Rose (Shabeer) deserve a loud applause. A memorable role for Pasupathi after a long while.
Arya shines with his sincere effort. Arguably his best so far, though his voice fails him yet again. Every other character is worth mentioning. The boxers' references and the research behind their styles are impressive. Very few Tamil directors succeed in that.
This movie is not without its flaws. It has many. Make no mistakes, this is an out and out mass entertainer.
- Looks like it is an unwritten rule (since Rocky or even before) that sports movies should show the routine done-to-death workout sessions where the protagonist turns around from a paunch wielding (fake one though) uncle to 7 packs (or whatever, I lost count) athlete.
- And that 'slo-mo' for the climax fight was totally unnecessary. The fights in the first half were raw and real.
- Why should Pa. Ra's strong women be screaming all the while? Every time Arya's (Anupama Kumar) mom comes on screen I could feel my ears bleeding. This woman's shrill voice is deadlier than Vembuli's (John Kokken) punches.
- The decibel levels of all the characters are unnecessarily high. Everyone is screaming all the time. Anupama still stands out.
These flaws, in no way come in the way of the pace of the movie. SarPar is likely to be an everyday topic for many days to come. A must watch.
