A Sensitive Plot Mishandled. Review on Sathampodathey Movie

When everything in life moves on in the normal and expected way, life atleast ''seems'' to be sailing smoothly. The moment a rude and unprecedented happening is encountered, life either goes topsy-turvy, or gets back to normal after a brief phase of emotional outbreak depending on how we react to it.

We still live in a society where guys or girls who have crossed the marriageable-age, (but are still unmarried), and worrying childless couples dread the sight of people who bombard them with questions or come up with already tried and tested suggestions. So how does a person in this kind of a situation react ?

This movie ''SATHAMPODATHEY''  (literally means 'Don't shout' in English), revolves around the life of Ratnavel, who has experienced devastating effects (impotence & killing a kid in a freak accident) as a consequence of his unrestrained habit of alcohol consumption. With wilful cunningness, he hides his dark past and  marries Bhanu, who has never aimed for a career for the sole reason of raising a family and devoting her full time to it. Ratnavel, pretends to be shell-shocked when the doctor they consult reveals his inability.

Bhanu suggests to adopt a child to which Ratnavel consents, but his psychopathic activities continue and he pleads Bhanu to return the child to the Home, as he gets reminded of his drawback whenever he sees the child. She is even forced to sacrifice the job which she resorts to as a solace, when her husband suspects her for infidelity.

Coming to know of his true colours, Bhanu divorces her husband and meets RaviChandran, who gives her a new lease of life. Now, how does Ratnavel react, on seeing his ex-wife as now someone else's better half? This forms the predictable part of the remaining storyline.

My Views :-

• The heroine doesn't profusely cry or shout helplessly when she faces the bitter reality. Nor does her parents behave that way. They come over it, sit, think, discuss and decide to foster a child. Kudos to the director for saving the sob sob scenes and for enduring to touch a chord in a believable way.

-The movie, though slow-paced is quite realistic till the interval break. (till Bhanu comes to know of   her husband's true colours)

• The comedy scenes in the latter half,  are totally unwarranted in the serious movie. They may have been added for some commercial element, but would only hinder the very purpose.

  
  




• Music is by Yuvan Shankar Raja (son of maestro). Songs are ok, but given the kind of songs in recent movies, I guess a couple of songs would top the charts for sure.

  
  




• Ratnavel, after being separated by his wife, lives in a remote place, which is uninhabited. Strangely though, atleast 4 times an elderly person is shown in the vicinity,  who very busily irons clothes of God knows whom in that area. Only in the later scenes are we 'made to believe' the weightage of that character.

  
  




• What started off as a bold venture by Director Vasanth, slowly drifted away and in an attempt to add commercial value the impact or social message is completely lost.

  
  




• There is a strong semblance (couple of gross scenes) to some previous movies in the same genre (like Kadhal Konden).

  
  




• Choice of actors is very apt. Everyone fits the role to the T. The cameo roles of the dad, mom and brother are also done neatly.

  
  

PRITHVIRAJ :-WOW ! -He is not just good looking, and he proves it yet again. But his role (Bhanu's second husband) is somewhat similar to his previous roles in Mozhi and Paarijatham, where again he appears as a cool guy with an adorable sense of humour, reaching out to the under-privileged or shattered heroine in almost the same cheerful and gentlemanly style. If he appears in another similar role, he maybe written off keeping in mind history of some heroes. The tinge of Malayalam accent with which he speaks Tamil is enjoyable and comes as a relief, what with the industry flocked with non-Tamil speaking actresses, for whom the same person lending her voice becoming a pain.

PADMAPRIYA :- Its hard to believe that she is the same person who danced for an item number in

Pattiyal. Well, she has received rave reviews and praises for her great performances in many movies. She has brought out the expressions well, but her character has not been given the required vigour. In the pursuit to depict Bhanu as a common person with usual expectations out of life, the director has subdued  violent reaction from her side to the outrageous injustice done to her. Nevertheless, she shines in her role.

NITHINSATHYA :- (Ratnavel) He was good, but was not brilliant in his performance. But the director deserves to be praised for choosing him instead of the usual Dhanush for such roles.  He dons an innocent face to get into the good books of Bhanu and her parents, and that suits him well.

People are anyway sick and tired of such incessant flow of psycho characters featured in Tamil movies. Hope the directors realise that they are setting wrong standards by trying to portray a crude account of some real happenings. I was appalled when I came to know that this movie is influenced by a real-life happening, as the heroine here is locked into a claustrophobic room for 6 months.

If your looking for some entertainment, this would be a wrong choice. If you're a fan of Vasanth's direction, you may enjoy it in bits, though the movie is more like a conglomeration of many old and parallely released movies.

BEST TO WATCH WITH : Alone, with a book/magazine so that you can doze off in the forgettable loathsome scenes in the 2nd half of the movie, if you want to, that is..