I still regret for watching this movie. The director has tried to take a thread out of the novel The Derailed but failed miserably in making a movie out of it. What could be worse than audience walking out of the theatre half way through the movie, that too on the first day.
Gautham Menon’s Pachaikili Muthucharam released with a lot of expectations. The movie had some of the best technicians to boast about, but if Gautham had concentrated more on the script, this would have been a worthy family entertainer. Venkatesh (Sarath Kumar) is a portrayal of a typical working class husband, in love with his family. All goes well till Sharat’s son is diagnoised for juvenille diabetics. To worsen the situation, Geetha (Jyothika) enters into the story and things go hay wire in Sharat’s life.
Lawrence (Milind Soman) steals the show despite being new to tamil cinema and sharing the screen space with Sharat and Jyothika. Kalyani (Andrea) the cute wife of Sharat fails to impress though. Sharat and Jyothia have done their best to their roles … a neat performance, got to praise the director for this.
Arvind Krishna’s camera work is made known only with the rolling credits, an unimpressive job from someone who did Pudhupettai and 7G Rainbow Colony. Too many close up shots which only reveals that Sharat has plaque in his teeth, Andrea has pimples on her face, Jyothika never pierced her nose or her ear. Milind Soman is the only one who survives this close up test and shines on the screen.
Antony is as always rocking with the scissors. A nice job that clearly shows the editor’s style and his concern for the story line. The movie moves at a rather slow pace unlike Kaakha Kaakha or Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu. But again, those were action flicks and this is a family drama. Antony surely deserves three cheers.
Music is just ok excluding the violin bit that runs all throught the movie which is a little better. After hearing Harris Jayaraj on the previous three movies with Gautham, this one is a big disappointment. WARNING : Do not listen to Unnale Unnale (again by Harris) songs and go for this movie. You’ll regret.
Gautham shines as a director and has extracted exactly what is needed from the actors. But he could have also concentrated more on the story and screenplay. There are a lot of questions that arise while watching the movie which never gets answered. If you say Gautham had a hangover of Kaakha Kaakha in Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu, you’ve got to watch this. Gautham, there are more exotic locations and excellent actors in this industry, why do you always have to stick on to the same. It feels like watching Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu once again. And also the on screen chemistry between Sharat and Andrea reminds us of Kamalhassan and Kamalinee Mukherjee and Sharat seems to be a way to old for Andrea. Gautham’s voice lent to Milind Soman is a perfect click. Art director and the continuty manager could have been a little more careful. A 5 on 10.
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Pachaikili Muthucharam – First Impression
I still regret for watching this movie. The director has tried to take a thread out of the novel The Derailed but failed miserably in making a movie out of it. What could be worse than audience walking out of the theatre half way through the movie, that
Boy oh! boy… will be meeting you tomo
your logos are good
That sounds aweful. Though I liked the trailer… the violin in it. Guess only that was the good part of the movie…
i think you saved me some money . lucky i read this before i watched the movie.
@ aswin anand
thanks man … will meet you tomorrow, missed meeting you in the previous meets
@ sagaro
well may be you can watch it in i nox in executive class (10 bucks) … ya they call it as executive class …
@ anand
my pleasure da … you can always treat me with the money i saved for you … i ll remind you in the canteen : )
U said it rite da. Saddest movie. Went with gr8 expectation after Vettaiadu Vilayadu. Was sadly disappointed. The whole violence was unnecessarly time consuming. Looked like it was put there for Sarath Kumar’s sake. Only good thing bout the movie was Jyo’s acting. she has done real well. Oh well, gonna try to forget the experience.
@ vaish
i should have been sensible enough to not go for it after watching vv, but the minnale factor made me watch it … and u’ve to mention milind soman, he came out brilliant
“What could be worse than audience walking out of the theatre half way through the movie, that too on the first day” – prolly they went to the loo
“The movie had some of the best technicians to boast about, but if Gautham had concentrated more on the script, this would have been a worthy family entertainer” – similar to SJ Suryah’s family entertainer?…this movie can never be a total family entertainer because of the mature subject
“Andrea has pimples on her face” – is that why she failed to impress you?
Arvind Krishna’s camera work is made known only with the rolling credits, an unimpressive job from someone who did Pudhupettai and 7G Rainbow Colony – A good cameraman is one who makes the audience forget the camera rolling and make the events look as if they are happening right in front of their eyes. Aravind’s work is pretty good in that sense. About close-up shots, that’s the way we look. In fact, Andrea’s pimples add charm to her beauty
“WARNING : Do not listen to Unnale Unnale (again by Harris) songs and go for this movie. You’ll regret.” – I think you are referring to unakkul naane
“There are a lot of questions that arise while watching the movie which never gets answered.” – questions such as ?
“Gautham, there are more exotic locations and excellent actors in this industry, why do you always have to stick on to the same” – exotic locations like?
“It feels like watching Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu once again” – it’s amazing that Gautham has done a terrific job of making this movie without a single cop which could remind you of KK and VV
“Art director and the continuty manager could have been a little more careful.” – were you expecting a middle class medical rep to live in a Karan Johar-ish bungalow ?
@ gal interuppted
probably they went to the loo -
why wouldn’t they come back ? for want of a better view, i shifted to their seats during the break
this movie can never be a total family entertainer because of the mature subject -
it even fails to impress its niche audience, 85 % of movie goers (theatrical) are the youngsters (there were stats recently on tv), the director can be bold enough to make a movie for audience excluding the youth … but this one fails in that too … because the people who were walking out were in their mid 30s and 40s (someone who could relate to the character)
btw whom do you think is the right audience for this movie
A good cameraman is one who makes the audience forget the camera rolling and make the events look as if they are happening right in front of their eyes -
very true, what i meant was, i was so bugged by the cinematography, i was wondering who did it and i was surprised to see arvind krishna’s name roll …
pimples add charm !!! interesting to hear though !!!
I think you are referring to unakkul naane -
no i meant harris’s next movie, jeeva’s unnale unnale, its the chartbuster at the moment
questions such as -
how sharat gets so much money to give milind … well they say they have saved for their kid’s medical expenses, again its not that easy to give away money saved for such a reason, a phone call from milind and sharat is their with the money !!!
why did the police take no action against sharat, especially after he killed two people (you cant say police dint come to know about these murders, especially milind’s death – police are brilliant these days, dint you watch KK and VV)
exotic locations like –
the house on royapettah is not the only location in chennai, a new location creates a newer feel to the movie, dint that work well in VV ?
it’s amazing that Gautham has done a terrific job of making this movie without a single cop which could remind you of KK and VV -
when i say actors, i dint mean the cops alone, there are some people who have been in every Gautham’s movie … people cant keep seeing them again and again in the same role
were you expecting a middle class medical rep to live in a Karan Johar-ish bungalow -
not at all, i expect a middle class houde like Prakash Raj’s in VV and btw choosing the right bungalow alone is not the work of the art director and continuity manager … there is something more to it, for instance, when everything in sharat’s hyderabad house is new and posh, why is the tv alone an ancient non remote type one ?
i loved minnale, i loved kaakha kaakha, and i even liked vettaiyadu villaiyadu, but this one not even comes close to any of these movies, you also cant blame the genres too, i watch every genre under the sun … this movie is a disappointment
[...] career in this industry would have been of no use if she had quit acting with her previous movie. Jyothika, Prithviraj and Swarnamalya actually learnt the sign language for the movie’s sake. [...]
[...] career in this industry would have been of no use if she had quit acting with her previous movie. Jyothika, Prithviraj and Swarnamalya actually learnt the sign language for the movie’s sake. [...]
Dear friends,
Thouh this movie seems to be a bit out of tune and a mere imitation,there is something in it. There is no point in speaking about the similarities between the music of this movie and unnale unnale because unnale unnale is a mere collage of all the earlier movies of Harris. Evidently,you can find traces of unnale unnale’s songs in vettaiyadu vilayadu minnale as well as in a few english albums of the genre, country.Right , now taking the screenplay into account undoubtedly this the best script by gautham. Anybody can easily break into my argument by saying that this is not his original plot but from derailed. You should realise one thing, “adaptation” of the story is the flight in which gautham flies above all your criticisms. Adaptation is as difficult and painful as creativity. Also this movie is full of ironies and synechdochies which makes this movie poetic. Regarding Jyothika in this movie ,she represents the vicious Satan who tempts. And also according to me this movie is the first movie in which sarath has “acted” for the first time. So i would like to conclude that Pachai kili muthucharam clearly portrays the dangers of post modern life from an middle class indian’s point of view. If you watch this movie again very deeply and by dedicating yourself to it you will feel for missing something before. This is the true success of a director.
@ capjack
Pachai kili muthucharam clearly portrays the dangers of post modern life from an middle class indian’s point of view very true … accepted
but doesnt the movie itself get derailed, when you say middle class, isnt 8 lacs a way to huge to settle an illegal affair when sharath’s son is fighting for life … the focus on the son’s treatment is lost half way too …
and why adapt ? people have the resources to watch derailed itself … with sub titles and the dubbed versions derailed is definitely value for money
i still believe minnale and kaakha kaakha is the finest work of gautham menon … the only descent and fantastic love story in tamil after minnale was kanda naal mudhal by priya and no police story has come till today anywhere near kaakha kaakha … this is the true success of the director … being way ahead of times
Hi Dinesh,
i am happy that you took pains to read my scribble. I would like to say that the movie is questionable only if the movie doesn’t get derailed in the middle. Please note that ,in this movie we are not getting a bird’s view point but only the hero’s. When he gets derailed at once, the whole story gets derailed since he is the protogonist of the plot. He doesn’t know what to do and he is helpless. So even his kid’s health doesn’t come before his guilty mind. I would like to add that at this situation he becomes man whose heart and mind palpitates.
Secondly we should know one thing. The English movie Derailed is itself an adaptation of James Siegel’s novel of the same name. So this is as original as Derailed. Coming to your point that ” people have the resources to watch derailed itself … with sub titles and the dubbed versions” My reply is simple. In Tamilnadu apart from a few cities “Derailed” was not filmed. We should note that our Tamil industry is not based only on the “A” centres but also on the small towns and rural areas where people hardly have even a broadband connection. And lastly in a much broader sense, “how many “people” will watch English and dubbed movies?” I would like to excuse urban students and professionals from the above people. And obviously those people will rarely know what is an subtitle though they actually know it. Regarding the last para of your reply, though we are brothers on this mother earth, our tastes differ. If you ask me i would say that “I think Dishyum is best of them all” I could even say that “I will write an Epic by pointing out the flaws in Minnale and Kanda naal muthal”.Please Dont let the above two quotes to spoil your mood since I just wanted to bring out the different tastes people have. I think ,the only reason for this movie’s failure is that it has a spiral and a mature plot structure which become an anachronism when released in Tamilnadu. So please think of the above statements.{sorry for being a bit lengthy, and also i want to heartily congratulate you for this blog!}
@ capjack
thanks man !!!
when people watch a movie they tend to relate to it … am not speaking about the film fanatics but people who watch movies for leisure … when am in such a mess like sharath’s i definitely wont try saving a woman at the cost of my son’s life … and 8 lacs is way to high and that too after each phone call by milind soman, sharath comes with a bag of money …
when i said people have resources to watch dubbed movies, i also had B and C centres in mind … almost all english movies has a simultaneous release in tamil to cater to the B and C centres … there is a potential market for dubbed movies
and yes opinion differs … i havent watched dishyum but i ve seen the director’s other two movies sollamale and roja koottam and i liked it … flaws happen ! no director makes flaws intentionally though …
the movie has a mature plot … exactly ! this is where the director should have concentrated more on the screenplay … well this is my honest opinion after watching pachaikili … its not that people in tamilnadu are against anachronism … sigappu rojakkal was a movie way ahead of times which was a huge hit, thanks to Bhagyaraj … but an example of a movie being way ahead of times and flopping miserably is aalavandhan … the movie is sheer technical brillaince …
considering the previous movies of gautham menon, pachaikili is definitely not a technical brilliance, its not that the movie dint have room for technicality, its just that technology was not put to proper use … so was the story of derailed …
Hi Dinesh
This time i would like to start of with your quote that”when am in such a mess like sharath’s i definitely wont try saving a woman at the cost of my son’s life … and 8 lacs is way to high and that too after each phone call by milind soman, sharath comes with a bag of money …” But I,will definitely give away my savings not only to save another woman but
also to save my own skin. I would not like to loose my image in the society as well as in the family{here exactly its “Gauravam”} If you become a bit older you might feel it{ kindly note that i am not saying that “you will” but “you
might”}
Secondly i would like to comment on “almost all english movies has a simultaneous release in tamil to cater to the B and C centres … there is a potential market for dubbed movies”. Derailed is not a proper english movie which would score like other fascinating movies like Van helsing , Harry potter or may be ghost rider in B and C centres{This is not the stuff which those people expect from Hollywood films}. Also really speaking Derailed was not screened in many places apart from chennai. The funniest thing is that most of the masses doesn’t know that there was a movie called Derailed, and they realised it only when critics said that PKMC is exactly the imitation of Derailed. If you go out of Chennai for atlest 150 kms and ask about Derailed you can easily learn that it was not screened there. Adding to this ,many good English movies release only in urban areas and in places like Satyam or Inox or any city theatre for that matter. Example the recent good English films like Departed Blood diamond Dejavu Music and lyrics and Babel were not screened in too many places till date.
And ofcourse this movie is not a technical excellence of Gautham. May be he concentrated much on the screenplay
of the mature plot , he couldn’t do much on the technical part. On the other hand in Vettaiyadu vilaiyadu he excelled in technology by but failed very pathetically in the storyline half way through.So this happens.Anyway any movie is not comparable to VV in its technical excellence.
And lastly I was coining the term Anachronism in the context of place but not in time{but usually its used in the context of time. Sorry for confusing you.Actually I was trying to bridge} Speaking about Sigappu rojakkal its definitely a movie which rocked the Tamil cinema of the 80s. The story and screenplay were perfect. But that movie was a success though its ahead of time because 80s were the period in which the pocket novels, Crime novels and thrillers were at their peak in Tamilnadu. So they loved watching a thriller onscreen. Like VV Aalavandhan also has a crippled screenplay which obviously caused its downfall.{ I think Kamal has intervened too much into the director’s work in VV!}
regarding the screenplay i think both of us have different opinions!
@ capjack
on english movies being dubbed – true man, just realised it, blood diamond and babel where released no where in chennai except satyam and inox, if thats the case then rural market is ignored as you say …
and the gauravam factor ! i would have killed milind, when i dare to go out with another married women i’ll definitely have the guts to kill … if sharath is not of that kind, he actually fights a dozen people in the end so its not a big deal for him
and sometimes the age and experience/relevance factor decides the impact of a movie, i hated 7g rainbow colony when i saw it the first time but loved it when i saw it after a couple of years …
kamal is known for his intervention with the script and the directors cant say no when it is kamal … even the munna bhai was spoiled in the name of vasool raja, if not for crazy mohan’s dialogues, the movie has nothing in it
and if not for bagyaraj, i don’t think sigappu rojakkal would have been a hit, isn’t he one of the best, and the innumerable genres he works on, thriller, romance, comedy … awesome
Hi Dinesh
Thank you for accepting my ideas. regarding your point “and the gauravam factor ! i would have killed milind, when i dare to go out with another married women i’ll definitely have the guts to kill … if sharath is not of that kind, he actually fights a dozen people in the end so its not a big deal for him” He is an ordinary man till he realises that he is been cheated, and please note that an affected person gains more strength than the party who created the havoc , when the affected person comes to know that he had been a dead duck till then. In this case Sharath is a strong guy whose body is controlled by his “palpitating mind” till the moment he realises that jyothika is not genuine. But then he devises his plans and goes ahead. This is what we call “suspension of disbelief” when confidence steps in. But I think , regarding this matter i think our own characters differ. Thank you for revising your idea regarding the B and C centres. Hope we continue our discussions in a week’s time………
@ capjack
an affected person gains more strength than the party who created the havoc
but then that makes it totally commercial in the likes of vijay’s tirupachi or sivakasi …
so when gautham tries to make a realistic movie which he specialises in, then pachaikili is totally derailed
Hi Dinesh
“but then that makes it totally commercial in the likes of vijay’s tirupachi or sivakasi …” yes i agree… You are saying it ,because you are viewing it from the other side.Let us put that statement this way. He is a man who doesn’t know whats going on, till he finds that jyothika is none other than milind’s girl friend. Note that at one particular point of time in the movie sharath says that he hit a guy long ago ,in his college days. Secondly when a duo of autorickshaw men try to molest Jyothika ,he fights back. the above two instances give a clear proof of his character. A bird could fly high only if its wings are not tied. Similarly sharath’s wings are under the clutches named guilt , fear and ofcourse the “gauravam” . He has already commited a sin or an “almost sin” by his attempt to mutually entertain Jyothika. {Note that even at that point he hesitates but its jyothika who pushes him forward} He really loves his wife, and he knows that she is possessive in nature ,so if he goes forward to perform the next step he knows that his family might loose its shape. So he gives away whatever he has. But when the buoyant force becomes the maximum sarath’s nightmare comes true , that is his wife leaves him. But realistically she comes back. Now since everything’s out of water, he acts. This is pretty much real unlike Vijay’s movies in which he builds the Rome in a single song or scene.
Secondly ’so when gautham tries to make a realistic movie which he specialises in, then pachaikili is totally derailed”
Ofcourse Gautham attempts to be realistic but he fails in certain places in Minnale KK as well as in VV.For instance how Kamal comes alive after so much cuts by a professional killer and a roller coaster fall? so there are flaws in his every movie. But my sincere opinion is that in PKMC since its an adaptation of a novel, he makes a good attempt to be realistic. The story comes to a proper shape only when its derailed.
@ capjack
yep, the reason you gave for sharath not hitting back in the beginning is a valid reason, totally agree with you this time
you are really giving me a wonderful new perspective into the film … i dint see pachikili this way, thanks a lot for the gyaan
vv has been influenced by a lot of sources, primarily kamal and then kaja mohideen and then producers controversy, gautham would have definitely gone mad over these interventions
hi Dinesh,
thanks for revising your ideas. Let our discussions continue. I will write about Unnale Unnale after watching the movie….By the way its time to tell about me. I am also an MCCian and I belong to the English department………………………….
@ capjack
i am looking forward for it … these discussions often helps exploring new areas
MCC ? UG or PG ?
were you a part of the play recently staged by the english dept ?
Hi Dinesh
I am doing my UG in English Lit. Normally I dont take part in such activities.There are other people in our dept. who professionally do their best in theatrics. But I like writing and browsing. I think that I am a man who could do much with a pc or a piece of paper than a stage and audience. But in the recent past I have tried writing scripts{screen plays} and I plan to focus more on it.
@ capjack
thats cool, you know what, the roof top film fest is a nice place for you to discuss scripts, what more, you might even find a producer to get your script rolling