REVIEW

'Chennai 28' star Vijayalakshmi makes an impressive debut as a producer with 'Pandigai' directed by her husband Feroz. Kreshna and Anandhi play the lead roles. It is an action-thriller made with a moderate budget in which Nithin Sathya, Karunas, Saravanan, Pandi, Madhusudhan Rao and others are in the cast. It has RH Vikram's music, Aravind's cinematography and Prabaahar's editing. 

STORY

Velu (Kreshna) works as an intern in a star hotel. All through his life, right from his young days, Velu had to fight with others to safeguard his life and his only dream is to lead a respectful life. Meanwhile, there is Muni (Saravanan) an addictive gambler, who loses all his wealth in betting and his own wife dumps him.

Impressed by Velu’s fighting skills, Muni offers him a chance to make big money by participating in an illegal underground fighting competition run by Natwar Dada(Madhoo Soodhanan) . At first, Velu refuses Muni’s offer but to buy a new mobile phone and to get a passport, he agrees! 

Velu wins the first match but the good samaritan inside him wakes up and he gives the winning money to a poor needy girl. As a team, Velu and Muni decide to compete in several fights for steady income. Things go well until Muni asks Velu to lose the final match so that they can get good money by betting on the opponent. Throughout the match, Velu acts per Muni’s plan but he beats the opponent out of excitement and thus, the latter once again loses all his money! 

What follows next should be seen on-screen.

PERFORMANCE

Kreshna has worked really hard to nail the character of Velu through his body language and with his eyes projecting the seething rage hidden deep inside. This will be a film for him to cherish for a long time as he comes across as near flawless.  Kayal Anandhi looks pretty in the few scenes she has  but suffers due to the poorly written character of the typical film "loosu pony". Saravanan after a long gap gives a good account of himself as a weak man Muni, who loses everything  in life looking for a quick buck. Madhusoodhanan as the deadly don, Aruldoss as the loan shark, Feeling Suresh and Nithin Sathya are apt. 

The aboriginal attraction that steals the attention is that Pandigai deals with a theme that was not seen much before in any Tamil cinema. Of course, we have seen the theme of boxing and wrestling, but this one is pretty different from such erstwhile concepts. Director Feroz deserves special mention for picking up an unconventional ground. Moreover, the narrative strokes during the first half keeps you so much engaged with tight and gripping moments. 

The director has to thank his editor and cinematographer for being strong pillars to his screenplay. But the course of story turns into a different direction by second half. Although, it doesn’t act like a barrier, but gives an impression of watching two different films. The post-intermission sequences have a slight push down in pace, but Feroz brings things back to right moments sooner and it travels well gripping till the end. But then, the second hour being a different dimension as it refrains from continuing the basic plot conceived in the first half leaves us disappointed slightly. 

PLUS

Kreshna and Saravanan’s Performance 

Editing 

Cinematography 

Stunt Choreography 

MINUS

Kayal Anandhi’s role is of not much importance 

Climax 

Verdict : A Smart Thriller.!

Stars : 2/5