When the tackiest actor around joins hands with the tackiest director around, our expectations about the outcome are pretty low. But even those low expectations don't prepare us adequately for the assault on our senses that is Dharmapuri. Alternating between being plain silly, laughably bad and really dumb, the movie presents the strongest case yet for Vijayakanth becoming a full-time politician. And by achieving a position of power, he could ban Perarasu from directing another movie ever again, which would be an even bigger gain.

Many years ago, Meyyappan(Vijayakumar) left his village when he was accused by the villagers(on the instigation of Meyyappan's brother Mokkaiyan(Manivannan)) of cheating them. Now the village is under the grip of Mokkaiyan and his two sons Silandhikaruppu(Rajkapoor) and Peruchaalikaruppu(Bobby). So the villagers go looking for Meyyappan's son Sivaram, who they believe is the only one who can save their village. They find Sivaram living with his mother in Rameswaram and he agrees to return to the village.

The first half of Dharmapuri is made up of a series of scenes of jaw-dropping stupidity, that make us wonder about Perarasu's sheer audacity to present them on screen. We barely have time to laugh at the silliness of one scene before the next one raises the bar even further. What can we say about the magical computer that, from Vijayakanth's photo when he was 10 years old, produces a picture of him grown up (it even designs a ring bearing his party's photo, for him!)? What can we say about the astrologer who, after narrowing Vijaykanth's location to one of the holy places in India, pores over his horoscopes and proclaims he is in Rameswaram because he is a Thamizhan! What can we say about the villagers who, not knowing either what Vijayakanth looks like or where he is living, are going from one city to another looking for him! Scenes in the same vein continue so that by the time the intermission arrives, we are in a daze induced by the non-stop assault on our senses.

Startring from Tiruppaachi, Perarasu's films have usually involved the hero beating the villain through a mix of brain and brawn as he comes up with a few nicely-laid plans to achieve his goals. With Vijayakanth returning to his village as a servant, the same kind of situation is set up here also. But that is followed with just a single act where he cheats the bad guys out of their land. This one plan is dragged on for so long that it soon becomes clear that Perarasu is completely out of ideas. The rest of the time, we are treated to just stunts(including one with Vijayakanth in full godly attire) and silly jokes as Bhaskar is mistakenly treated as Sivaram.

As in all his recent movies, Vijayakanth looks bloated. Only relief is he doesn't play a police officer or another similar role where his girth looks odd. Lakshmi Rai plays a typical heroine, pining for Vijayakanth. None of the others make an impression. Perarasu has apparently not learnt much from the criticism he got for his over-the-top appearance in Tirupathi and appears in a cameo here also, spouting something close to punch dialogs. Atleast, he doesn't perform any stunts.