" People with mental problems are our neighbors. They are members of our congregations, members of our families; they are everywhere in this country. If we ignore their cries for help, we will be continuing to participate in the anguish from which those cries for help come. A problem of this magnitude will not go away" . It is a famous quote of former US first lady Rosalynn Carter on Stigma surrounding the mentally ill. “Porali” is an attempt to address this issue of stigma associated with the mentally ill & tried to show that people with mental illness also have ambitions and desires as rest of us do & they are no different from rest of us. Kudos for the team to think of such an important & under-represented issue as far as movies are concerned.
Director Samuthrakani has tried to sensitize that it is our duty to support people with mental health problems, not to ridicule them. We also need to educate against the myths surrounding the mentally ill, and not perpetuate stigma. Eradicating stigma will make the world a better place for people with mental health problems.
All said & done , howsoever noble the intentions of the director be , the message he tries to put across gets lost in sluggish screenplay & contrived situations abound in the script. Story is a novel one accepted but the execution of the material onto the screen leaves a lot to be desired. Screenplay is so bad that while grudgingly sitting through the first half one is reminded of the amateurish teleplays we have come across in the 80’s in Doordharshan. The pace is so lethargic that few laughs here & there (though some are very juvenile) props up the sleepy viewers on & off. To make matters worse the acting by the supporting cast like “Badava” Gopi , Sandra , Naresh irritates the already battered viewers.
Interval point has a twist & succeeds in waking up the viewers from the deep slumber. Second half is better than the first & is purposeful with better pace , narration & performances. M.Sasikumar , Suri & Vasundra have done well in the second half & it is their performances that makes the viewing worthwhile. Though second half is full of contrived situations like the age old evil step-mother , step-brother property feud , Hero suddenly becoming macho from being an innocent village bumpkin & bashing up tons of villains etc. The climax is a big joke.
As said it is mixed bag when it comes to acting. Sasikumar , Vasundra , Swathi , Nivedha, Suri have done their parts well. Naresh , “Badava ” Gopi , Sandra , “Kanja” Karupu irritate with their amateurish acting. Especially the scenes involving “Badava ” Gopi & Sandra will make you squirm in your seats.
Background score is pathetic to say the least. It is right out of the yesteryear Doordarshan serial. This one makes even Vikraman- S.A.Rajkumar movies’ background score a classic. No songs are worth mentioning in Sunder.C.Babu ‘s music.
S.R.Kathir’s cinematography is adequate & supports the narration. Editor should have been more proactive while editing the first half & saved us from the misery.
Samuthrakani after his successful “Nadodigal” has slipped this time with his “Porali”. His noble intentions have got undone by poor execution & therein lies the problem. And there is an overdose of sermonizing which gets unbearable after a point when each & every character give their share of moralistic one-liners. There are few instances of brilliance but they are few & far in-between getting submerged in the gargantuan mediocrity.
On the whole , for good intention to have an impact on the viewer execution needs to be spot on which is not in “Porali” .
Bottomline : Spineless warrior
2.5/5
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