Before few months, we had a satirical drama Mundasupatti making it ways
with a much different and unique presentation that was based on a meteorite
hitting a town followed by the drama. But Appuchi Gramam seeks a different
route with some so-called feel that gives an impression of Roland Emerich’s
flicks (not technically though).


Synopsis

The film opens with a prologue of some reports that claim that every year
our planet is struck by 20,000 meteorites and this year it’s about a
village named  Appuchi Gramam. The villagers are anxious about the
meteorites hitting their village and sooner they are being evacuated from
their native place. Then we are casually introduced to many characters
among which the stepbrothers Nallamuthu and Chinnasamy have their own
conflicts and feud that has hindered the growth and development of village.
Then we find a couple of youngsters in the village named Selvam and Dheeran
stealthily in love with Selvi, daughter of Chinnasamy and cousin
Sangamithra. On the other end, we have some miniscule characters like a
miser, a drunkard, dancer and a stark and different innocent widow awaiting
her son’s arrival from abroad. As the natural disaster is all set to occur,
their lives are not going to be the same.


Performance

The film has almost newcomers in lead roles, but the senior actors score
the most of all spaces. GM Kumar makes an impressive spell as usual and
sticks to the role with perfection. Joe Malloori is a special surprise as
the characterisation took up with sleep walk is more brilliant. Nasser
doesn’t any analysis with his performance and he is always at his best.
Kitty appears only in few portions, but again he is an ample evidence of
stupendous acting. Praveen Kumar is okay. Anusha Naik looks good, but her
performance needs more elegance.


Plus

Director VI Anand has tried to amalgamate the sci-fi stuff with some
emotions. Of course, this is the most inherent formulae of any Hollywood
sci-fi flicks. But the loss of grandeur here doesn’t make you feel up to
the Christopher Nolan stuffs. Sorry to compare! But the latter one from
Hollywood never misses up to bring up right kind of emotions. Of course,
Anand has tried adding some touch of this sort. One among them is the widow
sending off the pets she owns and later they come back united.


Minus

Although, a meteor hitting the village is something that has to be handled
either with tension or fun, Anand fails to deliver the punch that is
necessary for the film. The drama turns little sluggish in many parts and
there aren’t anything special we see on relationship. There are some
messages conveyed emotionally, but the raciness lacking turns out to be a
major disappointment. The songs and background score could have been
better.


Overall, Appuchi Gramam deserves some appreciations for making a different
attempt, but when it comes to a stark analysis, it could have been done
with much brilliance and technical excellence.

Verdict : Reasonable First Attempt.

Stars : 2/5