Kumar Mani
Pannaiyarum Padminiyum – A journey of a gentleman. An ample of film-makers have often interested to show us commercial films enhanced with technologies, some auteur prefer to offer us a biopic, and some, in a rare occasion, would like to take us to many years back by showing a captivating period film. Pannaiyarum Padminiyum is one such film where we're allowing ourselves to live in 1980s. However, the film has no room to telling us what the milieu was and what life people had lived. Instead, it shows us love, passion, predilections, and aesthetics of a man towards a car, Padmini. The central conceit of the film is neither the love, nor the compassion but everything. A Pannaiyar (played by Jayaprakash), landlord of the village, venerate person in the village is given a car, from his relative, to look after during his absence. That's where the film takes-off. But, nobody in the village knows how to drive a cab except, the films third-hero, Vijay Sethupathy. He was merely hired and literally adopted and his wife (played by Thulasi). Pannaiyarum Padminiyum doesn't have so much of convoluted cast. It has a few, who everyone to be a people we see in our daily life. Pannaiyar, his wife, car driver, and his assistant. The movie not only has a poignant sentiment, but the love between Pannaiyar, and his wife have portrayed well. Each wants others to be happy, so they make compromises in their chores, but they don't. If there are people who don't know how the actual and simple past life were happier than the present fast-running-technology real (fake precisely) world, then Pannaiyar and his wife can be taken as an edifying and quintessence to show them. Vijay Sethupathy, a kind of person, who doesn't interest in his family but love this Pannaiyar family. He drives the Padmini (the car), teaches Pannaiyar how to drive a car. He fell for a girl (played by Aishawariya), they both had duet songs, romance, intimacy scenes which is another sub-plots of the movie, those were meticulously composed by the new-comer Arun Kumar. Even if this intriguing love sequences weren't included, this film is still pleasant to watch, considering the main backdrop, the car. Pannaiyar, played by ingenious Jayaprakash. I wonder if there is anyone else who can carry this role, to cast emotions, love, on-screen then this adroit Jayaprakash. Scenes involving him and his wife were salubrious to watch. We once had Late Raghuvaran as a character artist, and then we saw Prakash Raj in different roles, who is now drifted to direction, so Jayaprakash is the replacement. We've seen Jayaprakash as a police-officer, a teacher, a villain, a detective and whatnot. But, in future, if anyone asks you "who is Jayaprakash", and you reply would be "Hey, he is the man who played as Pannaiyar." How often do we get to see songs theaters without forcing us take break in-between? But, music by Justin Prabhakar should be laudable for his indomitable attempt to give a mellifluous, dulcet songs and lingering "Unakkaga Poranthen" flute as BGM. His discerning in selecting singers is the only reason for these tripping tunes. Since the film is set on 1980s, the cinematography had to lot of work in lighting, after all, that is his only job. And the art, sketched by CS Balachander, the same person who done for Bala's Paradesi, here too we see the same hut, same street, what we had seen in Paradesi – only the artists different. But, a commendable effort by him and his team not to show non-grainy places. Pannaiyarum Padminiyum is the most beautiful film made in this year, where we don't have an opportunity to hate it. Could the film have been shorter? Yes. Pannaiyarum Padminiyum – A journey of a gentleman.
