DIRECTION: Isakki Karvannan
CAST: Prabhu Ranaveeran, Shravya, Ravi Mariya, A. Venkatesh
Murugan (Prabhu Ranaveeran), an agricultural graduate aspires for a government job and that too in a liquor shop (Nasmac here) although his father, a farmer wants him to look after his agricultural lands. After paying heavily to middlemen to get a job in one of the Nasmac shops, much to Murugan’s disappointment, the liquor store and the bar where he got the posting shuts down due to anti-liquor activists, who go on a protest using WhatsApp as a tool and the messages go viral. Then there’s this romance with a local girl (Shravya) who along with her mother helps Murugan in his search for a new shop. What lessons does Murugan get while pursuing his dream of working in a bar and how he has a change of mind forms the rest.
Ranaveeran from small screen does his part well, while Sharvya is just about adequate. There are umpteen numbers of characters including Ravi Mariya, TP Gajendran, A.Venkatesh, K. Rajan, Marimuthu, Adhira and most of them are loud.
The movie touches upon the plight of farmers in today’s scenario and the director should be appreciated for taking up a relevant subject. It also takes a dig on the current political set-up through satirical dialogues. But where the director Karvannan errs is in his execution. Having taken a serious script, the director has instead resorted to lackluster narration and murky scenes in the name of comedy. This aspect of the film could have largely been toned down. It would have yielded us a more thoughtful and sincere piece of cinema. In the end, Pagiri is a very novel twist to the 'common man woes' idea, but shallow comedy undermines the impact it could have had.
