Pandigai Review
Star Cast : Kreshna, Saravanan, Anandhi, Karunas
Director : Feroz
Debutant director Feroz's Pandigai is a smartly written and executed action thriller with required elements to captivate audiences till the end. Of course, there is a mundane romance portion and a needless item number in the fast moving screenplay but the film captivates us throughout, major credits to the intelligent twists and turns.
Velu (Kreshna) works as an intern in a star hotel. All through his life, right from his young days, Velu had to fight with others to safeguard his life and his only dream is to lead a respectful life. Meanwhile, there is Muni (Saravanan) an addictive gambler, who loses all his wealth in betting and his own wife dumps him.
Impressed by Velu’s fighting skills, Muni offers him a chance to make big money by participating in an illegal underground fighting competition run by Natwar Dada(Madhoo Soodhanan) . At first, Velu refuses Muni’s offer but to buy a new mobile phone and to get a passport, he agrees!
Velu wins the first match but the good samaritan inside him wakes up and he gives the winning money to a poor needy girl. As a team, Velu and Muni decide to compete in several fights for steady income. Things go well until Muni asks Velu to lose the final match so that they can get good money by betting on the opponent. Throughout the match, Velu acts per Muni’s plan but he beats the opponent out of excitement and thus, the latter once again loses all his money!
A devastated Velu and Muni decide to loot the betting money locked inside Natwar Dada’s place with the help of the tip given by Munthiri Settu (Nithin Sathya), a close associate of the gambling kingpin, who reveals how his boss cunningly uses the greed of people and swindle their money!
Newcomer Feroz has an eye for detailing, his frames, dialogues and the way he extracts subtle performance from his cast is promising. Despite the silly romance of Velu and Kavya (Anandhi), each and everything in the film has a reason to do with the screenplay. The twists and turns are not predictable, the director really surprises us with the heist portions in the second half.
The film benefits from the compelling performances. For a change, Kreshna is refreshingly restrained, which is the film’s biggest strength. Kudos to his commitment in stunt sequences (impressive choreography by Anbu Arivu duo), which are raw and real. Easily, Pandigai is Saravanan’s best since Paruthiveeran and ‘Black’ Pandi offers occasional laughter through his comic one-liners.
Though Karunas cis there in a small sequence as Raatinam Kumar in the second half, his characterization has been effectively used and the actor is sure to get applause from the masses. It’s awkward to see Anandhi trying too hard to look cute and act chirpy.
RH Vikram’s stunning background score is undoubtedly one of the biggest strengths of Pandigai, his contribution in elevating the stunt sequences deserves a special mention. Aravind’s cinematography and Prabhakar's cuts aptly provide the perfect look and feel to the heist action thriller genre.
Overall, Pandigai is an enjoyable action thriller, which offers quality entertainment. Go for it!
