Pasanga - Review

It's really good to see a film like Pasanga, that too in the commercialized Tamil tinsel town.

It"s Tamil cinema"s finest hour. After some real good films like Veyyil, Paruthiveeran and Subramaniapuram, now debutant filmmaker Pandiraj comes out with this fantastic one - Pasanga.

Though the films seems to be the copy of Hollywood's Clique, it gives new hopes to Kollywood film making and changing trend. This film is specially for children but at the same time it is a movie for adults as well and quite enjoyable. There are no double meaning dialogues, no exaggeration of emotions, but it is not wanting in romance, family sentiment or humour at the same time.

The story goes - Jeeva Nityanandham (Sriram) is the son of Chockalingam (Jayprakash), a school teacher in a Village near Madurai. He is the school dada, who, along with his two aids, terrorizes even adults during summer holidays with their mischievous acts. At a point the residents even go to the police station, seeking protection.

All of a sudden Anbukkarasu (IAS) crosses Jeeva"s path. Anbukarasu is forced to enter the government school from a private one since his father Vellaichami (Sivakumar) cannot afford the high fees.

This is a bone of contention between him and his wife and the frequent fights which follow naturally upset the three children, and Meenakshi Sundaram (Vimal), Vellaichami"s brother.

Humiliated by Jeeva on his first day in school, Anbu, however is fired by Abdul Kalam"s message 'to be the dream you want to be'. So Anbu calls himself as Anbukarasu IAS. Soon, the entire class is inspired by him, but the war between him and Jeeva starts affecting the lives of their parents as well.

Meanwhile, Meenakshi and Chockalingam"s daughter Soppikannu (Vega) fall in love, through cell phone contacts and lilting tunes of Illayaraja. Initially, both the families opposed the relationship but later they are convinced.

The director cleverly ties up all the loose ends with ease in the climax. The opening scenes are very novel to Tamil cinema and it has many rib-tickling one-liners. The entire cast is new, and all of them have performed like seasoned actors, including the kids. Especially, Jayprakash performs excellently well as Chokkalingam, a typical good-hearted village teacher.

James Vasanthan's music pass muster. He must be thanking Maestro Ilayaraja for using most of his fantastic tunes. Prem Kumar's camera work speaks of his talent.

On the whole, Pasanga is a real Summer treat to 'Pasanga' (boys and girls)

Credits:

Producer: M.Sasikumar
Director: Pandiraj
Cast: Jayprakash, Vega, Kishore, Sriram, Dharani, Pandian, Murugesh
Music: James Vasanthan