Wednesday Dec 31 2008, Chennai

Manic Masala!

Genre - Action

Directed by - Perarasu

Produced by - Pushpa Kandasamy

Music by - Srikanth Deva

Casts - Sania vakil, Sai Kumar, Perarasu

Starring - Arjun, Pooja Gandhi

The Arjun-starrer ‘Thiruvannamalai’ is a typical Perarasu film with high-octane action as the main highlight.

The storyline is so thin that it can be written on the backside of a bus ticket.

The local MLA Poongundran (Saikumar) indulges in all kinds of atrocities against the poor residents. Our hero, Easwar (Arjun), a cable TV operator in a small town takes him on single-handedly.

Easwar opposes the anti-people moves of the MLA and the latter plots the downfall of the former and sends his thugs to eliminate him. Easwar's mother takes him to Tiruvannamalai temple to meet a saint (Arjun again) and request him to advise her son to keep out of harm’s reach and to curb his aggressive instincts.

When the saint tries to advise him, Easwar puts the godman in a spot of bother whether he could do what he preaches if he was in the shoes of the young man. The saint readily agrees and takes up the challenge. Now, the sanyasi flexes his muscles and goes about bashing the baddies!

As always, Arjun breathes fire in action sequences. It’s amazing how he manages to keep his body slim and fit after more than 25 years in the business.

Sanjana, who debuted in Karan’s ‘Kokki’, returns with her original name of Pooja Gandhi and has little to do other than shaking her hips for the songs. She plays a school teacher, Malathy, wo falls in love with Easwar.

Saikumar excels in a typical villain role but tests our ear-drums with his high decibel dialogues. Karunas and Vaiyapuri provide comic relief and towards the end, give good accounts of themselves as character artistes too.

Meenal, who has surprised many with an awesome performance in Cheran’s ‘Thavamai Thavamirundhu’, plays an insignificant role and gives a hugely disappointing performance.

Director Perarasu, who has written the story, screenplay, dialogues and lyrics for the film, has delivered what is expected of him: a no-holds-barred masala with no logic!

Srikanth Deva’s music is impressive and is ably supported by Padmesh’s cinematography, especially in the action sequences.

-FS Desk