Film- Padikkadha Pakkangal
Director- Selvam Mathappan
Cast- Yashika Aanaand, Prajin,George Maryan, Dharshini, Manohar,Eereen Adhikary, Muthukumar, Adhav Balaji,Shobaraj
A suspense thriller, the plot revolves around Sreeja an actress (Yashika) who while on a shoot at a hill station gets caught in a situation where she has to fight for her dignity and life. A crazy fan Muthu had entered her hotel room posing as a journalist, she at his mercy. As the whole story unfolds, we get to learn about the backdrop to the incident and the vendetta angle to it.
The infamous Pollachi-incident yet again provides fodder for the film’s plot line. Only, the writing and treatment makes it seem more like a comic spin-off of the scenario than a serious take on it. Young girls are lured into the flesh trade, or used as honey traps by a criminal gang led by an influential man’s son Rudra. It’s about how vengeance is meted out, and the culprits made to pay for their crimes.
It’s appreciable that the director has chosen a woman as the protagonist here, the male lead (Prajin) relegated to the sidelines. Yashika has made an effort to portray Sreeja the avenger. Only, the character distracts one with its glamour quotient. Sreeja’s opening scene in the back-story, is of her coming out of a swimming pool, the camera caressingly travelling over her body. While taking up the cause of sexual exploitation of women, the film itself seems to have turned into an exploitation-film, where woman are objectified.
Added to that is the poor selection of actors, particularly those cast as the villains of the piece. Their expressions and body language not exactly reflecting their characters, it’s a pathetic lot we get to watch. Though there is no comedy in the film, Muthu the main psychopath villain (Muthukumar), provides a lot of unintentional humour.
Amateurish in both its writing and execution, ‘Padikkatha Pakkangal’ (106 minutes) is a lost cause.
Malini Mannath
Malini Mannath 