Films recently watched & worthy of some discussion

[mappi]

Pambu Sattai [2017 : Tamil : 2h15m : Drama]
Written & Directed by Adam Dassan

Banner : Picture House

Starring : Kreethy Suresh, Banu, Bobby Simha, K. Rajan, Rajendran, Guru Somasundaram, Charlie & R.V. Udhayakumar



The Self alone, the Sole Reality, Exists for ever.

Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanatkumara requested the Supreme to teach them methods to eradicate Maya (illusion). The four gathered around a man who was seated under a banyan tree. He introduced himself to them as the destroyer of ignorance and the four men asked him several questions. Initially the Q&A session was proceeding well, but suddenly the replier refused to answer any more questions and went into a deep silence. The four men sat down before him in silence too. In that calmness they united with their Self and were surprised to get the answers to their own questions. As they were building questions, Anjana (Ignorance) made them poke several more queries. The Devine Silence produced by the Devine Soul liberated them from their ignorance, and they called him Daksina.



Snake Plissken is one of my favorite fictional characters (created by John Carpenter / Nick Castle). Decoding his nature, by aggregating Snake's features and traits, reveals the reason behind the given name. After decades, Adam Dasan in his premier directorial has come up with an excellent title - Pambu Sattai, simply put Snakeskin.

Daksina (a wonderful name), living with his widowed relative (Anni), falls in love with Veni, a young lady working in export garmenting. Her father, a sanitation worker (high time our government takes measures to replace humans with machines for such job descriptions) objects the marriage pointing at the community which has judged Daksina cohabitation with his relative as sexual union. To jump out of the ugly mouths of the society, Daksina searches for a good-hearted man to marry his Anni. During this event, money introduces itself as the main obstacle, which in return poses a problem from the unison of the young couple. The shadow of money, acting as the original, seduces Daksina by taunting him with measures that could get him all that he desires. Hesitant to take the path that was not meant for him to travel, Daksina slowly gets pushed onto the unlit lanes where his regret is quickly overtaken by survival.

Pambu Sattai is a well-directed film. Snake, as in the title, is also painted as a primary shade around the character Daksina. While moulting its skin, a snake undergoes several psychological shifts - blindness, irritation, aggressivity, etc. Daksina, wonderfully portrayed by Bobby Simha, floats on the waves of such effects while the film progresses. He is blinded by greed; he becomes ignorant to righteousness; he is triggered by anger; and finally, he turns calm when he sheds off the hesitance and slithers gradually towards his nemesis. The director also jots an ancient saying "Kala suthuna pambu kadikama vidathu" while showcasing the conflict between Daksina and Shanmugam, a trader in counterfeit goods, authentically enacted by K. Rajan. Post climax, the final snake connection "Pambin kaal pambariyum" is indicated, where the writer attaches it to the backstory of Daksina - the younger brother knowingly or unknowingly had crawled on the same tracks of his elder brother. Hats off Adam Dasan.

As soon opening of the film flashed, I was certain that I am going to watch an excellent movie. Parthiban's Sugamana Sumaigal (1992) talks about the struggle of a family man and looks deeps into the measures he takes to acquire money. Similarly, Daksina runs around to gather wealth, and the same smiling paper projects to him the dark traits of life.

Bobby Simha plays the cheerful young man in search of fortune. He is certain about uncertainty and does not hesitate to fire questions. During his expedition, his questions and morality converts into angry and makes him sit in silence. There is a steep variation in the character throughout the film, and every moment was well enacted by Bobby Simha - he truly emotes. His accent is kind of catchy and his grin looks natural.



I have nothing to say about Keerthy Suresh (plays as Veni), simply because she is not a type I would want to watch for a hefty runtime. But I did find that she has imitated Catherine Tresa's Kalaiselvi character from the movie Madras (2014). The film making too closes up with another work, Cuckoo (2014), in both music and the ambience. The film shifts elegantly inside a social environment captured by K.G. Venkatesh, which is cut (editor : S.P. Raja Sethupathi) and polished brilliantly in post-production.

Actor Charlie puts up his trade mark expressions and uses his sunken voice during pathetic situations. Guru Somasundaram straightens up after his atrocious mannerisms in Yaakkai (2017). He carries himself well as Rajendran, a broker working for Shanmugam. K. Rajan as the villain devoid sympathy. His casual dialogue delivery adds to the lack of feeling. He reminded me of the cold-hearted character Chidambaram from Agni Natchathiram (1988) played by Anand theatre owner G.Umapathy. There is couple of henchmen named Ravi and Samy and the artists have put up a neat performance. I look forward to the compositions of Ajesh, lovely music arrangements. "Kanavugalaal Kalaindhomey" sung by Madhu Balakrishnan and written by Yugabharathi is a sad and soulful song, which are very rare these days.

Even though Adam Dassan has narrated his story professionally, I felt it had more voice in picture. I understand that sometimes the script defines such narrative - for instance, in Iraivi (2016), Karthik Subbaraj enlarges the characters psychology through random scenes, but he stammers to elaborate Jagan's character. Unlike the Arul and Michel, Jagan expresses himself inside a closed room, converting the part of the narration as an inner monologue. Adam Dassan should tighten his expression and provide more events embedded in the images of the motion picture.

Pambu Sattai is neither an action film nor a thriller nor a crime movie. It is an elegantly paced Drama, similar to our awesome movies of the 70s and 80s where tragedy follows the characters throughout the film, yet, the movie explores life and the experiences without dashing too much on the hurdles.

Pambu Sattai - Ceasing Thoughts