6 Candles Review - Burns brightly with a sincere effort

By Bharath Vijayakumar

Director V.Z. Durai made people take notice of him through his debut flick Mugavari. His latest offering is an important film for him and his leading man Shaam. The film got noticed in it's making stages for the physical transformation that Shaam had undergone. Has all those efforts paid off? Read on to find.

Plot:

The film wastes no time in extras and gets in to story telling mode right away. It is the journey of a father through the grim underworld network involved in child trafficking in search of his 6 year old son. It is an action drama with a gloomy feel that keeps running as an undercurrent.

Cast:

Looks like Shaam has given his everything for this film. The film travels on his shoulders and Shaam has managed to capitalize on the opportunity. The scenes where his eyes are swollen hardly covers three minutes. But that such meticulous efforts have been put in deserves definite notice from the audience. He looks convincing at places where his anger vents out at the peak of helplessness. A little more care should have been taken at the places where he speaks while weeping. The lip sync goes for a toss at those times. One sincerely hopes that this turns out be the elusive hit that Shaam has been searching for. The bad guys in the movie are cold blooded and display such brutal villainy that you are gunning for their blood as much as Shaam does. The other artists playing supporting characters have done well too.

Making: 

The mood of the film is effectively conveyed through the lens of Krishnasamy as it takes us with Shaam in his search. A part of us shudders to even think that places and people such as these exist. Srikkanth Deva has done a neat job with his musical score. A particular background score however reminds us of a famous scene in Aboorva Sagotharargal. Editing by N. Arun Kumar is smooth and the film has a running time that is just about right. The first half in fact gets over in a jiffy. The action sequences are grounded in reality and are raw.

 

V.Z.Durai needs to be credited for not deviating from his central idea. In fact Shaam is present in almost  every frame from the start to the end. There are a few scenes that make us sit up. The scene where Shaam has to rescue another child even at the cost of having to let go of his own son and the scene where the taxi driver makes a confession to Ram are cases in point. Cinema encompasses various genres. 6 is not a film that you watch for a pleasant viewing. It has a grim feel to it but that is precisely what this film is supposed to be. It also actually conveys that however gloomy things might seem there is always light at the end of the tunnel if you are clinging on to hope. So people who want to see all kinds of movies in Tamil cinema need to support such ventures.

Bottomline: An engaging action drama that merits a watch.

Rating : 3.25/5