Paagan

My review: Paagan

Srikanth is one of the unluckiest actor in Tamil film industry. After his initial success his career is on a downward spiral. "Paagan " is yet another effort to salvage his career. Sadly "Paagan" would add to his innumerable duds would do nothing to resurrect his career. Written & directed by Aslam , "Paagan" is a stale tale of romance with contrived storyline , poor direction & patchy screenplay.

Only novel concept in the movie is that the narrator of the story is cycle that hero dotes on. Other than that there is nothing new. It is a usual story of childhood love , misunderstanding between the lovers & finally how they unite. Actually first half is okayish. Protagonist's character in the first half evokes interest. As a money minded aspiring entrepreneur who gives a damn to sentiments least of all love , the character is well written in the first half. As a result the happenings in the first half raises promise. But the second half is torturous with the protagonist's character suddenly becoming righteous & love-lorn, it makes one yawn.

Heroine's character is also poorly written. She is showcased as being either all white in the first half & all back in the second half with the change being very sudden with one more change towards the end. And there is a confusion on the part of the writer whether to keep the movie light-hearted  all through or to introduce melodrama & sentiments into the narrative. As result of this confusion movie changes mood abruptly from being  comical to serious to melodrama to once again comical. 

Aslam shows glimpse of his potential in comical sequences. His dialogues in those sequences are also good. But when one looks at the whole picture , his capabilities seems inadequate both as a writer as well as a director. One example of careless direction is in a song sequences which is supposed to be happening in Pollachi , there is more than  a glimpse of Karnataka state transport bus on the screen.

Srikanth tries his best but he fails to impress especially in the comical sequences. Janani Iyer looks artificial in her emoting. Kovai Sarala is too loud. Soori raises a few laughs here & there. Pandi is sincere.

In James Vasanthan’s music none of the songs create an impact. His background score is shoddy.

Laxman is the cinematographer & has done a good job.

On the whole, “Paagan” fails to impress. Better luck next time Srikanth.

Bottomline: Punctured cycle

2/5