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Critics Review
3.25
A Wholesome Entertainer Powered With Solid Drama
The screenplay is engaging throughout, packed with neatly built emotions, laughable comedy moments plus cricket. The minor flaws thankfully don�t affect the totality of the output(more)
Source: Ashwin Ram, MovieCrow
4.00
Sports, spice, and everything nice perfectly come together in this riveting family drama
alent can come from anywhere, and you can�t stop it from bursting out through closed doors, veiled grounds, or tall walls. Talent will find a way, just like how Tamizharasan has found a way to enter mainstream cinema and tell a story that he truly believed in. Lubber Pandhu is the result of honesty, brilliance, and cheekiness, and is testament to the ideology that love will trample every difference that comes its way. It will take time� probably more than the time it took for the price of a rubber ball to go up from Rs 15 to Rs 35, but it will happen. It has to. (more)
Source: Avinesh , Indian Express
4.00
This sports-drama bowls you over with all-round excellence
. Now and then, the film registers the idea that Anbu is a �virundhaali player�, rejected by his environment and left to play for those he feels no attachment for. And yet, the film is quite careful not to make this issue the centrepiece, not to make an activist out of Anbu. It tries to quietly get its message across, keen not to vilify or alienate anyone. That�s why even that cricketer Venkatesh, who might be perceived as a villain figure, gets away with an easy handshake. Director Tamizharasan seems to be saying that sometimes, for profound problems, the solutions needn�t be so complex. Sometimes, all it takes is for an affectionate person to put their ego aside and say, �Sorry.� Sometimes, all it takes for a healthy society is for Anbu to prevail over Gethu.(more)
Source: Sudhir Sreenivasan, CinemaExpress.com
4.00
The year's most wholesome entertainer
The director also deserves praise for the quiet dignity with which all the female characters are treated. In fact, this is that rare film where even the negative characters, like Venkatesh (TSK), a player in Jolly Friends, aren't villains, but flesh-and-blood people who behave the way they do because of their beliefs and prejudices. This mature writing is complemented by the solid filmmaking. Dinesh Purushothaman's cinematography brings out the dusty browns of the grounds and the rustic setting of Gethu's home in fine fashion while Madan G's cuts sharpen the storytelling. And Sean Roldan infuses life into the proceedings with a score that's understated to elevate the emotional moments and electrifying in the cricket scenes.(more)
Source: Suganth, Times Of India
3.50
Harish Kalyan, Attakathi Dinesh hit it out of the park with this wholesome entertainer
As with every Tamil film on cricket, there�s ample scope for humour thanks to the colloquial game commentary, but Lubber Pandhu takes it up a notch with the characters played by Bala Saravanan and Jenson Dhivakar. The film also does a wonderful job when it comes to managing its secondary characters and the one played by Kaali Venkat could very well become a fan-favourite.(more)
Source: GOPINATH RAJENDRAN, The Hindu
3.50
A cricket film that celebrates girl power, calls out caste system
Throughout Lubber Pandhu, we get subplots about caste discrimination in cricket. The 2014 film Jeeva, starring Vishnu Vishal, is a sports film that talked about the discrimination in the cricketing world and exposed the faulty system. 10 years later, Lubber Pandhu effectively portrays this issue and underscores the point that whether it's an international tournament or gully cricket, caste is deeply entrenched, and it must be called out.(more)
Source: Janani, India Today
3.50
This sports-drama bowls you over with all-round excellence
Lubber Pandhu may have been conceived as an entertainer meant to appeal to everyone, but its understanding of everyday life is unusually sharp. See how director Tamizharasan builds up tension with just a simple scene of Anbu and his friend gossipping about Gethu, unaware that he�s nearby. The tension escalates and results in Gethu addressing Anbu with a seemingly innocuous phrase, �chinna paya�. In this battle of egos, the film is aware that a passing word, an innocent greeting, can light a fuse. That�s why a �hello� from Anbu triggers Gethu as much as it does.(more)
Source: Sudhir Sreenivasan, The New Indian Express