Director: Sasi
Cast: Vijay Antony, Satna Titus, Deepa
In an industry that is full of sentiments, music composer turned actor cum producer Vijay Antony’s guts to keep such an inauspicious title Pichaikkaran (Beggar) came as a surprise to many. It did raise lot of curiosity. And when director Sasi joined hands with Antony, expectations were high. Inspired by a real life story and extracting the best from the entire cast, Sasi has managed to weave a commercial entertainer with comedy, sentiment, romance and action mixed in proper proportions.
Arul Selvakumar (Vijay Antony) is the only scion of a multi-millionaire mill owner family in Coimbatore. He completes his studies abroad and returns to India to take charge of the company from his widowed mother (Deepa), who has diligently built this empire. Arul’s mother slips into a coma after a freak accident at the mill. After months of treatment, her condition fails to improve. Arul realizes that money alone cannot save her. Meanwhile, he meets a swamiji who tells him to renounce wealth, name and fame and live the life of a beggar for 48 days to get back his mother. He disguises as a beggar and embodies their way of life in the streets of Chennai. Then there’s a subtle romance with Magi (Satna Titus), who runs a pizza outlet with her friends. How Arul accomplishes his task forms the rest.
Vijay Antony’s success lies in the fact that he picks up scripts and plays to his strength. Be it the suave business tycoon who later turns a beggar, he gets his emotions right and scores for most part of the film. Having taken an action hero avatar, he is also highly convincing in stunt sequences, which are aplenty in the movie. Satna Titus looks good and has come out with a decent performance. Bhagavathy Perumal , Deepa, Muthuraman, Moorthy and Sabarish lend their solid support.
All the baddies have done well especially the performance of one who could not control his laughter when the hero beats up his associates. Sasi’s character detailing was evident and interesting. The dialogues are also a major plus for the film. Even though the motherly sentiment touches the border of cliché, it seems like to have worked out in the end. The pace also suffers post interval, but the climax makes it up. Technically, the music by Vijay Antony creates the right mood and his background score elevates the proceedings. Cinematography by Prasanna Kumar and editing by Veera Senthil Raj deserve special mention. Overall, one can offer money liberally to this ‘Pichaikkaran’ as it is worth a watch!
