Chennai: Film: 'Porali'; Cast: Sasikumar, Allari Naresh, Swathi, Vasundhara, Kanja Karuppu; Writer-Director: Samuthirakkani; Producer: M. Sasikumar; Music: Sundar C. Babu; Rating: **
So what does Samuthirakkani as a director want to convey? Encouraging child prodigies? Treating the mentally-challenged with dignity? The greatness of doing good for others? The complications of the second marriage of a man who has a 10-year-old son?
Well. Samuthirakkani wants to tell everything and he does tell them with some emphasis. But the script is written in such a way that mass killing is the ultimate solution for everything.
'Porali' speaks about a man haunted by his greedy relatives. He has to kill a few to avoid getting killed and take shelter in a mental asylum to escape from the police (how simple!). Then he has to kill a few more to settle the score once and for all. That is 'Porali' (warrior) in a nutshell.
The Samuthirakkani and Sasikumar combination had tasted success in 'Subramaniyapuram' (directed by Sasi) and 'Nadodigal' (directed by Samuthirakkani). While 'Subramaniyapuram' was one of the finest efforts in recent years, 'Nadodigal' turned out to be a hit despite being raw and shallow.
Now the combo comes back with Samuthirakkani wielding the megaphone and Sasi playing the protagonist and the result is the same.
'Porali', produced by Sasikumar, begins with Kumaran (Sasikumar) and Nallavan (Allari Naresh) seeking shelter in Chennai in Pulikutty's (Ganja Karuppu) room inside a compound that has many houses and a variety of residents.
This variety gives the director a chance to present some fun-filled scenes in the beginning. Kumaran and Nallavan slowly become the favourites of the compound with their friendly nature.
Kumaran and Nallavan, working in a petrol bunk, start a side business, which grows at a dramatic pace (portrayed through montage shots in a song, as usual!). They soon find the neighbouring girls fall for them for different reasons though.
Kumaran for some mysterious reasons runs away from Bharathi's (Swathi) love. But he finally obliges seeing the stubbornness of her love.
You guessed it right. The twist comes here, when everything seems to be going on well. A group of people lands in Chennai in search of Kumaran and the friends are on the run to escape from them.
The group says these two have serious mental illness and that they have escaped from a mental asylum. Bharathi refuses to believe this and Kumaran tells her his past that has some bitter and bloody incidents in his native place involving his step mother's family and their cruel acts.
The flashback also shows how he landed up in a mental asylum. Now the same people are hunting him to kill him.
The rest of the movie shows how he faces the challenge.
The director hasn't cared for any finesse or reasoning in his narrative but he was very keen that it should be fast paced. The movie does move fast but it is found wanting in presenting the story convincingly.
Everything happens like a magic. The fun element seen in the first half is raw and repetitive. The director gives little space for imagination in the climax and the scenes leading to it. He simply makes his hero a one-man army to settle scores.
The scenes portraying the happenings in mental asylum and those involving Vasundhara have been executed well.
Sasikumar handles the warrior part with ease. But he has got a long way to go when it comes to handle soft emotions. Allari Naresh is competent. His portrayal of mental illness is stunning. Swathi adds some colour to the narrative. Kanja Karuppu and Suri provide some fun.
Kathir's cinematography is good. Sundar C. Babu's music is loud.
The film is for those who would like to get entertained without bothering about finer elements and reasoning.
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