Paayum Oli Nee Yenakku Review - Never Really Pounces!

Ashwin Ram

Paayum Oli Nee Yenakku is an action thriller starring Vikram Prabhu and Vani Bhojan in the lead roles. Directed by debutant Karthik Adwait and presented by SP Cinemas.

Premise:

    Vikram Prabhu suffers from night vision. The villains target him as they doubt he is an eyewitness for one of the murders they committed without knowing his health issue.

Writing/ Direction:

    The runtime is just two hours, but it is a good thing only if the film is engaging, no one can be happy for the crisp duration when the screenplay is ultimately boring. The one-line is on the lines of Naan Mahaan Alla, but the protagonist’s viewing difficulty makes it a challenging subject. But the idea is utterly wasted right from the very beginning, there is not even a single scene to highlight his medical issue and make the audience feel about it. The characters are passive and it doesn’t strike as a big problem as there are plenty of huge ones. The making is very poor, the presentation quality is worse than short films that are coming out these days. Pathetic work by all departments and the output looks like an old tele film. Amateur product that struggles from the get go, and there is no redemption till it finishes. The climax is overly cinematic and the execution is also flat, felt like watching a spoof scene from Tamizh Padam.

Performances:

    Decent job by Vikram Prabhu, he has tried to show his shortcoming by his body language, but the performance is a little too tight, he does well in the action sequences though. Vani Bhojan exists just for the sake of a heroine, offers nothing much to the story, the two romantic numbers are such a waste of time. Vivek Prasanna appears as a filler character who is used to crack some silly jokes at places. The villain character is written in a lazy manner, his intentions in particular, nothing much to appreciate in the robotic performance of his too.

Technicalities:

    Technically, one of the worst movies in recent times. How can all the departments go completely wrong in a movie, this film proves that it is a possibility. The songs are outdated and the background music feels like TV serial stock compositions depending on the situations. Zero effort by the cameraman is very much visible on the big screen, crappy shot compositions and it looks like the film never made it to the DI table. Irrelevant edit pattern for the order of the day, fade-outs, jump-cuts and what not. Decent stunt choreography, by utilizing the beast-like physique of Vikram Prabhu to its full potential.

Verdict - A familiar plot, yet had the scope to provide a relatable underdog commercial flick, but literally nothing works out in the film’s favour due to weak screenwriting and terrible filmmaking.

Paayum Oli Nee Yenakku - Never Really Pounces!

Rating - 1.5/ 5.