Sindhanai Sei is brilliant

This weekend's collection of new movies might, excluding a few moments, have turned out to be a yawn-inducing celluloid collection but Tamil cinema has a way of redeeming itself at the last possible moment. How else can you explain the arrival of Green Apple Productions' and RMA Film Factory's Sindhanai Sei (Think!), directed by Yuvan? It is truly a gem of a film that throws out all of Tamil film cliches and revels in its uniqueness?

The director has realised that the first scene, like the first line in a story, needs to grab eyeballs, and every conversation, every nuance has been fine-tuned to provide an engaging suspense thriller with all the commercial elements intact.

And just like Subramaniapuram, this one too is a story of love, betrayal, money and vendetta that simply grips you right until the last moment. It might be a plot you've seen often if you've been fed on a diet of world cinema but even then, its set in a time and place that's different enough to drive any thought of similarity out of your head.

Humour is a big part of Sindhanai Sei and it begins when you're introduced to five kids who perpetually occupy the middle bench. Unlike the first-benchers (who are all eventual doctors, engineers and scientists) or the last-benchers (a tongue-in-cheek dig at politicians and goondas) the middle-benchers are vague and have no idea about how life's going to shape up. Which leads us to Adhi (Yuvan, the director has donned greasepaint as well), the principal protagonist, and his four friends-in-the-bench, Seenu, Pazhani, Hari and Sankar (Sashanth, Bala, Nitish Kumar and Sabhi).

Adhi's down and out on his luck, having been thrown out without a penny on him by erstwhile wife Gayathri (Madhu Sharma), a rich kid who does everything on impulse: love, marriage, sex and divorce. The reason? He can't satisfy her  and as he can't offer her either money or sex, there's no point to his existence.

Pazhani works for a bank. He's supposed to get loans but can't speak even a sentence in English properly. An unpleasant tendency to talk for hours drives away every person within his orbit, but at least he has a job. Seenu, thieving petty money at bars doesn't have even that. When the three bump into each other in a police station, it's their loss of basic comforts (like women and money) that acts powerfully on them, and they turn to a suitably dark solution: robbery.

These scenes -- even if heavy on prostitution (the flick does have an A-certificate) have been handled with particular panache bringing a sense of reality without making it seem like a documentary.

But chain snatching and picking pockets can get only so far, and Seenu begins to chafe at their thrifty budget.

The next obvious step? Plan a big heist, grab hold of crores of money and live the high life. Except that three middle-benchers, all having led commonplace existences aren't going to get very far robbing banks which is when they enlist professional help: Hari and Sankar.

You'd think there's not much to watch in a movie that seems to have the heist as its high point but the screenplay jets away at breakneck speed only after this point.

It's a cat-and-mouse game that leads you first one way and then another, playing hide-and-seek until the last, explosive climax which is completely satisfying in every way, including poetic justice.

Shades of Johnny Gaaddar are evident, of course, the heist appears to be an inspired version of several Hollywood flicks. But it's been sufficiently coloured to suit the local flavour, and every character is individually strong enough to support itself without boring you to tears. At no point does the script flag  -- even if Thaman's songs are a tad harsh on the ears, they've been picturised in such a refreshing fashion that you're riveted. And the stunts are realistic, a definite pleasure, in place of the stylised thwacks you usually see.

The camera-work is scintillating: it gives an intimate feel without wrecking the viewing experience.

And then there's the cast, coupled with a storyline that actually lends dignity to each other. Even the police force isn't as stupid as it's usually portrayed though, after a point, it gets redundant and leads nowhere.

That minus aside, this one's definitely not a family entertainer: there's no feel-good factor in it. Which is what makes the movie so intriguing, of course.

Intelligence and mind-tricks take precedence here and Yuvan deserves a great thump on the back for a riveting story, perfect dialogues and the sense to not patronise his audience. He certainly could give lessons to other hot-shots with dreams of making it big.

If you're a fan of sensible cinema liberally shot with realism, gallows humour and no-nonsense scripts, then this one should gladden your heart.

A must-watch.

Rediff Rating: