Saturday Jun 07 2008, Chennai

'Pandi,' a masala money-spinner

Directed by - Raasu Madhuravan

Produced by - Hithesh Jabak

Music by - Srikanth Deva

Casts - Lawrence, Sneha, Namitha, Nasser, Saranya, Ilavarasu, Ganja Karuppu.

Banner - -

‘Pandi’ is an oft-repeated story of an individual who is abhorred by his family and relatives for being easy going with no care in the world.As it happens in most movies, it is the same guy who finally carries the fortunes of the family on his shoulders and takes them ahead.Raghava Lawrence is the second son of the village elder and ‘Vathiyar’ (Teacher) Nasser, who has earned a name for being straight-laced and honest.  Raghava, a carefree guy who mooch about the village, is hated by all, and is loved only by his mother (Saranya).  He has an elder brother (Shreeman) and a younger sister.

Shreeman, a good fellow, falls in love with a girl from the same village.  Unexpectedly, he steals the money his father had taken as loan for sister’s marriage and elopes with the love of his life.  Faced with family pride, Raghava is forced to manage the required money to conduct his sister’s marriage.   He does so, and in the process, he sought and got permission from his father to marry his sweetheart (Sneha) too.Raghava explores the various means to go abroad to find a job and earn money to settle the loans he had taken for his sister’s marriage.

  As he starts earning and making his family proud of him, his mother passes away.  The rest of the story unfolds with some unexpected turns and twists.Raghava Lawrence’s portrayal as a carefree guy and as a responsible family-man is worth watching.  He has certainly improved his acting, as compared to his last film ‘Muni’.  Dances are his forte and he doesn’t disappoint his huge fan following with some of his typical dance numbers.

Sneha appears to have finally decided to shed her girl-next-door image and has taken a big leap to look ‘glamourous’.  She looks really hot and gets too close for comfort with Lawrence for the re-mix song ‘Maasi Masam...’.

  Sneha might have wanted to outscore Namitha, the other heroine in the film who does a miniscule role as a dancer.  Namitha’s solitary dance number, surprisingly, doesn’t evoke much response.The combination of Lawrence and ‘Ganja Karuppu’ rocks in comedy scenes.  Certain scenes, thought, remind the viewers of the comedy riot of  the Parthiban-Vadivelu duo.Srikanth Deva’s take off of the song ‘Maasi masam’ from Rajni’s ‘Dharmadurai’ sounds terrible.

  The insertion of the husky number from ‘Sakalakalavallavan’ in this song makes it more absurd.  The rest of the songs are somewhat good.  Senthilkumar’s camera work is commendable, especially in action sequences.Rasu.Madhuravan’s attempt at a commercial entertainer, with the right mix of romance, action, sentiment and comedy, seems to have paid off! ‘Pandi’ is sure to rake in the ‘moolah’ at the box-office!