| Few people can play the role of a man with a heart of gold better
than Prabhu. His soft voice and expressive eyes aid him and he
can inject his role with a lot of emotion. The effectiveness of
his performance has typically been lost amidst weak story-telling
in movies like Manam Virumbudhe Unnai .
But in Ponmanam, he is perfectly cast as a simple man who
has gone through a lot and whose main aim in life is helping
others - even if at the expense of his own happiness. Containing
a nice twist, pleasant comedy, a down-to-earth script and a
terrific performance from Prabhu, Ponmanam is a good movie
about a good man.
Anandan(Prabhu) is a singer. His happy family consists of his wife Maheswari(Suvalakshmi) and their son
and they live in a house in a colony.
A young man Kumar(Karan) moves into the same colony as them and
seems to have his eyes on Maheswari even after
she sternly tells him off on a couple of occasions. Anandan runs
into Poornima(Priya Raman), a model, on a couple
of occasions and his good-naturedness gradually wins her over.
She is from a rather poor family and
singlehandedly supports her father('Delhi' Ganesh) and her two
handicapped sisters. She soon proposes
to Anandan while Kumar makes his moves on Maheswari fully
knowing that she is married.
The initial portions move along in a jolly vein giving no hint of
the serious developments to come later. Though Prabhu has
Manivannan and Charlie along for the ride, his comedy when
teaming up with them is rather cheap. Its his run-ins with Priya
Raman and 'Delhi' Ganesh that evoke laughs. Both the scooter
mix-up and the scene where he alternates between giving them rides
are funny. Manivannan has one scene in the post-office that is
very amusing.
The big twist before the intermission manages to be really
surprising inspite of some fairly obvious, well-placed hints
beforehand and is well-handled. Though the proceedings are rather
predictable after this, the director moves things along at a good
pace.
There is one big flaw in the movie. Though it is necessary
to move the story along, it is impossible to ignore. How could
Prabhu hide the situation at home from Priya Raman? While it is
acceptable initially, it is beyond reason that he would not talk
about his marriage once they start loving each other.
The director manages to keep overt emotions to a minimum even
during the heavy scenes. For instance, the events transpiring
during Prabhu's flashback are really tragic but they are are not
dwelt upon with the sole intention of bringing tears to the
viewer's eyes. There is none of the loud wailing that usually
characterises scenes of this kind. The same is evident during
the climax too. Though underplayed, the climax is really
touching. Prabhu's simple dialog about human beings helping
each other, really rings true.
The role fits Prabhu like a glove. He is superb, whether in the
comedy scenes or in the emotional scenes. The other actor who
makes an impression is 'Delhi' Ganesh. He excels in the scene
where he asks Prabhu for a favor and belobors himself for his
helplessness. Suvalakshmi is underused while Priya Raman is
adequate. Azhagaa Azhagaa... begins as an excellent
melodious number from S.A.Rajkumar but the heavy beats in the
middle spoil it.
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