After successive doses of Amman with Rajakali Amman and
the recent Paalayathu Amman , those who have still not
had enough have another version of the deity in Pottu Amman. But this movie has a few
characteristics that make it better than its predecessors. It does not have an actress
portraying the Goddess, has a scary villain, offers better graphics and special effects and has
more than a string of incidents for a story. While it also has a couple of negatives when
compared to the other two films, the overall tally is on the positive side which makes it
tolerable.
An evil wizard learns from his guru that he will attain the greatest powers if he
sacrifices the first-born kids who were born under the 27 star signs. He succeeds in this
task but then learns that there exists another rare star and only the sacrifice of the
kid born under this sign will complete his tasks. This kid is born to Durga(Roja), the
daughter of a rich doctor, and Pratap(Venu), son of a flower vendor(K.R.Vijaya). So the
sorcerer makes his way to the village with the intention of kidnapping the son and
sacrificing him on the next eclipse. One of his plans kills Durga by mistake but he
he uses this to his advantage by occupying her body. So he is in constant touch with
the baby and bides his time until the eclipse.
One thing that separates this movie from the other recent movies in this class is the
portrayal of the villain. With unkempt hair and piercing eyes, Sureshbala makes a scary
sorcerer and creates a character that is scary rather than cartoonish. The way that the
very first scene, where he kills his guru, has been picturised gives us an idea of the
quality of the whole movie and his acts of sacrificing the kids further revolts us and
makes him a hateful figure.
Unlike other devotional movies, Pottu Amman is not a string of incidents to glorify
the Goddess by having her help out her devotees in times of trouble. There is evidence at many
places that the director has put some thought in the story of the movie. The surprise in
the identity of the sorcerer is one such place. The twists and turns the story takes in the
second half with the sorcerer taking over Roja's body and then losing his own body also
generate interest in the proceedings. But this does get a little confusing towards the very
end where it actually becomes difficult to keep track of who is actually in whose body!
Movies dubbed from Telugu have always exhibited better computer graphics and though the
special effects here are not exactly outstanding, they are leagues ahead of what passes
for effects in Rama.Narayanan's movies. The scene where the Sureshbala's head is bashed
in by the wooden log is the pick of the effects and is really startling. The rest range
from good to amateurish with a tilt towards the latter. The comedy, with Manivannan as a
womaniser, is vulgar and completely out of place in a devotional movie. Come to think of
it, since it is not funny either, it is out of place in any movie!
Roja delivers a nice performance in this, her 100th movie. She romance with Venu
enthusiastically and brings out the villainous side nicely when acting as the mother who is
really the sorcerer. Venu is not really hero material. Suvalakshmi plays another thankless
supporting role though she gets the chance for a little emoting when saving the baby from
Roja.
|
