PONMANAM

A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam

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.