Cast: Shaam, Poonam Kaur , Jagathy Sreekumar
Story, Screenplay and Direction: V.Z.Dhorai
Music: Srikanth Deva
Dialogues: Jeyamohan
Storyline
Ram (Shaam) and Lizzy (Poonam Kaur) are well settled young couple who are ready to do anything to keep their son Gautham happy. The couple loose Gautham on his 6th birthday while in Marina beach. After a deep search they lodge a complaint to the local police with the help of a family friend, only to know that taking the legal route could do nothing to solve their problem.
Guided by a policeman, they go and meet a kidnapper in the guise of a beggar living in a nearby slum to gather the whereabouts of Gautham. With a misguiding link from the beggar, Ram travels to many cities in the country in search of his son. Whether he manages to rescue his son forms the rest.
Script Review
V.Z. Dhorai who has given a few notable films like Mugavari, Thotti Jaya andNepali has taken the issue of Child trafficking in this outing. He enters into the main plot right after showcasing the joyous atmosphere of the family in a song which helps to make a solid impact once the child is lost.
A few tearful episodes follow and they seem justified given the bonding shared between the parents and the child. In the same scenes the utterances and reactions of the family friends’ are overrated. Especially the one who guides the couple to lodge a police complaint and accompanies them all time doesn’t fit the need of the script. Once the focus shifts to the search episode there is no looking back.
The parent’s agony of missing their only child and a clueless father’s search for his son have been brought out very well with the able support of Jeyamohan’sdialogues, throughout the film. The Director should be appreciated for bringing out the nexus of a Child Trafficking mafia spread all over the country and its super powerful status in a hard hitting manner. The portrayal of kidnapped children are used for different purposes in different States that include sexual abuse in Goa, forcible organ transplantation in Mumbai etc., is a shocking revelation.
Ram risking the opportunity to get back his son to save a girl who has been kidnapped makes him a good-natured father. The reason he gives for doing so is convincing. Wherever he goes in search of his son, and finds some other children toiling under the kidnappers he does his bit to save them like writing a letter to the local media. Almost all the songs being used to move the script forward is something to praise about.
The director could have avoided factual errors like showing the Chennai office of ‘Times of India’ while the Story is happening in Bhopal. The trick used by Ram to trace the kingpin of the kidnapping Mafia is illogical.
The Climax where Ram is surrounded by many children begging to rescue them is impactful.
Cast and crew
Shaam is back after a hiatus with one of the most memorable performances of his career. He has worked hard to bring the body shape to suit the mood of the sequence and has improved a lot in histrionics. The Make-up (M.N.Balaji) lends a helpful hand in the actor’s quest to make a mark. However it will be better if he concentrates more in improving his dialogue delivery, especially in the emotional scenes.
Poonam Kaur as a young mother looks good and emotes well. In the scene where she asks her husband to come back expressing her loneliness, makes her as a performance oriented actor to watch out.
The taxi drivers character is well etched out and the actor who donned that role has understood the needs of the Character. He excels in the scene where he makes a confession to Ram.
Jeyamohan has penned a few strong verses to bring out the highly inhumane nature of the kidnappers. The verses uttered by Ram in the climax succeed in bringing out a father’s agony. But the veteran writer could have concentrated on the dialogues uttered by the friends of the Ram’s to console them. They sound amateurish to say the least.
Srikanth Deva’s re-recording is apt and it’s a revelation that the actor can score for such movies. Songs are also passable with some meaningful lyrics by V.Z.Dhorai for a song. The movies fortunes may lead to a come back of sorts for its music director also.
Krishnasamy’s lens and N.Arun Kumar’s editing (debutante) fit the bill.