Palli Paruvathile movie review: Too much of forced melodrama and tragic events

Director: Vasudev Bhaskar

Cast: Nandhan Ram, Venbha, KS Ravikumar, Urvashi

The plot of 'Palli Paruvathile' is inspired by real life incidents that took place in director Vasudev Bhaskar’s school life and is shot in the same government institution where he had studied in Tanjore.

Kalai (Nandhan Ram) and Kani (Venbha) are classmates in the government school. The former – a studious boy – is the son of school head master Sarangan (K.S.Ravikumar), and the latter belongs to an affluent family with dad (Ponvannan), uncle (RK Suresh) doting on her. Kalai is head over heels in love with Kani, but she doesn’t openly reciprocate.

However, when Sarangan comes to know of his son’s behavior, he advises him to stay away from Kani and concentrate on his studies instead. But he wouldn’t listen. He still pursues his romance. One day he pulls Kani’s hands in the middle of the road and demands an answer from her. Kani’s dad and uncle witness this and irked by the scene, they call for a panchayat. Much to everybody’s shock, Kani says that she is not in love with him. All hell breaks loose and what follows is a series of unfortunate incidents in Kalai’s family.

Nandhan Ram looks handsome and given a good performance. He has also managed to pull off the emotional scenes. Venbha plays a serious character. KS Ravikumar does a commendable job and Urvashi as his wife passes muster. The supporting casts are just about adequate. The film takes us to nostalgic memories of our school days. But too much of forced melodrama and tragic events mar the interest. The director could have infused freshness in screenplay. A bit of trimming would have helped too. Cinematography by Vinoth Kumar and music by Vijay Narayanan are okay.