Pokkiri Raja - An Audacious Attempt Gone Wrong

Bharath Vijayakumar

The major takeaway from Ramprakash Rayappa's debut Tamizhuku En Ondrai Azhuthavum was his flair for comedy. It was of the understated kind. With Pokkiri Raja he tries the other end of the spectrum. Do the laughs keep coming?

Plot:

A youngster with a superpower. Sounds too generic? But the power isn't. 

Ramprakash Rayappa:

Firstly it is difficult to give out a verdict like 'good or 'bad' for Pokkiri Raja. Simply because there is not even a reference for such a film in Tamil. If sheer guts needs to be given an award then the team of Pokkiri Raja would not even have anyone to compete with them. Really curious on how the director got the core idea and more importantly how he was able to convince his actors. Jiiva has time and again been involved in attempts that deviate from the mainstream. It is not about the performance but you really got to hand it over to him for even accepting to play the lead guy in this film. This is an insane film whichever way you take it.You could so easily be annoyed or you could join the madness and enjoy while it lasts.

The problem with Pokkiri Raja is that the probability or the proportion of scenes of the former is slightly higher. Madness could strike a chord if there is a method to it. But such method is only found in parts of Pokkiri Raja. There are some terrific ideas and scenes but there is simply no coherent narration.Well, coherence would have not hurt if most of the scenes had worked. There are a handful of scenes that could hurt your stomach with laughter. Again this depends on your willingness to surrender to the madness on screen. If not Pokkiri Raja could turn into a nightmare for you. The actors too do not seem to have the flair to pull this one off completely. They are not bad. In fact all of them are decent. But if this had to work it really needed something else.They had to bring something form their own to the table. Ramdoss and Yogi Babu shine in places but the laughs are not consistent. 

Bottomline:

A zany comedy with a fair share of issues. But this is one audacious attempt!!!

Rating: 2/5

Pokkiri Raja is currently rated 39% at MC, Post your ratings and review here