Title: Paardhu
Banner: Manyam Entertainments
Rating: 1.75/5
Cast: Lawrence, Sneha, Namita, Nazar, Saranya, Sreeman etc
Music: Srikanth Deva
Editing: Marthand K Venkatesh
Cinematography: Senthil Kumar
Director: Madhuravan
Directorial-Supervision: Lawrence
Producer: Manyam Ramesh
Released On: 23 May 2008
The film pulled the attention of crowds only with posters having raunchy Namita and sensuous Sneha on them. Theatres have also seen front benches getting full with the expectations on Namita and Sneha. But the essence is something else. It is not a glamour-filled film but a sentimental one. This is the film made by Madhuravan but Lawrence's flavor is seen in full dose.
Story:
A regular mass treat, the story begins on the backdrop of Dubai where Pardhu (Lawrence) and a group of his friends work tirelessly and share their ups and downs.
The story goes as flash back that Pardhu happens to be a happy go lucky guy with not showing any inclination towards responsibilities. However, the good side of him is his nature to help others and that gives him a good name in the locality. He is despised greatly by his father Seetharamaiah (Nasser) for his irresponsibility and even his siblings look down upon him.
The only source of strength for Pardhu is his mother Janakamma (Saranya) who takes care of him at every instant and is constantly worried about him. Meanwhile, Pardhu meets Bhuvana (Sneha) in an unexpected turn of events and in no time they fall in love. Things take a turn when Pardhu's sister has to be married and the money that his father borrows from outside is taken by Pardhu's brother (Sreeman) who elopes with his lover. This leaves the family shattered and Pardhu comes to the rescue by his goodwill among people and manages a loan and ensures his sister's marriage is done. To clear the loan, he comes to Dubai and starts working. His attachment with his mother is strong throughout and when he is in Dubai and everything just seems to be going fine, an evil colleague of Seetharamaiah tries to take revenge on him and in this process Janakamma is killed through a hit and run accident.
Pardhu is not aware of this and when he returns to India, he discovers the truth. He sets out on a revenge mission and all things end peacefully.
Performances:
The film is all about Lawrence which is usual in most of his flicks, however he needs to work more on his acting and get some maturity in his presentation of expressions. Lawrence has greater affinity towards sentimental and pathos subjects. He projects himself as good but ill-treated by people around him. He is not leaving that yesteryears' Raj Kapoor style in this aspect. Hero getting sympathy wave- is the subject that he loves and this film also has the same.
Sneha who created a lot of glamour hype before the release came out with a moderate presentation in modern outfits but not very steamy as expected. She is not at all good in western wear. Namitha's role was just a cameo and she was there for only two numbers. She sported her sex appeal better but that couldn't be sufficient to pull masses in big way.
Nasser had a lengthy role apart from Lawrence and he carried out his role with some good feel. Saranya looked natural as the caring mother and added value to her role. The others were just about okay and delivered their bits mechanically.
Over-Dosed Scenes:
1. Paardhu's sister genuflecting and feeling as if she is touching the feet of him while talking to him on phone
2. Scenes between Sneha and Lawrence in train while the latter sleeps on the former after consuming alcohol
Analysis:
The film is a major mass oriented movie but then too much of sentiment and dragged scenes played spoilsport for the film. The songs were all theenmar folk-based and except the remix number, not much can be carried home by the audience. It could be a bit of a strange experience for the Andhra mass viewers since there is a lot of Tamil touch to the movie and it could not go that well with our folk here.
The costume department was not up to the mark when it came to Sneha. Camerawork is okay but could not capture the foreign locales scenically.
Editing could have been better; script was stale and no traces of strong dialogues and screenplay. The music is a dud. The film could have done better if focus was made on the comedy tracks and the glamour aspect of Sneha and Namitha could have been utilized to the fullest. The story line was very thin and most of it looked like filling the required duration for a feature film.
It is a core front bencher movie but the touch of sentimental overdose might go against the anticipation.
(SiraSri can be reached at [email protected])
