The critical and commercial success of ‘Duruvangal 16’ is probably the only reason the makers of ‘Pagadi Aattam’ got the courage to release this message driven but otherwise taxing take on lifestyle of modern youth.
Suriya (debutante) is the rich kid of Nizhalgal Ravi and Sudha who has multiple girlfriends and is an expert in keeping them unknown to each other. In one of his rendezvous with a girl, he is abducted by an unknown person and is locked inside a coffin like box. There is a cell phone in there and a man calls him, reminding him of his past sins and Suriya guesses him to be a relative of a an innocent college girl Koushalya (debutante). The rest of the screenplay is whether he is rescued and what happened to the girl.
The newcomer playing the villain Suriya is a good find and could make an impact if he gets to feature in better films. Similarly the girl playing the innocent Kousalya is easy on the eye and brings to life a first year college student. Rahman as the police officer and Gowri Nandha as the auto driver sister of the heroine do what is required of them.
For a screenplay that takes its own time to move music director Karthick Raja and the rest of the technical crew including cinematographer Krishnakumar have done a fair job. Karthick has used his dad’s timeless classic "Ilayamayenum poongattre" sung by SPB in the interval to a great impact. Similarly the "Enna Enna Kanavu Kandayo" song from ‘Valli’ is used in the climax and it is due to Ilayaraja’s voice we get to feel for what is happening on the screen. Writer-director Ram K Chandran a lawyer by profession, has tried to convey a message about how innocent girls spoil their lives trusting rich men and also the girls who are amoral. But the screenplay, which has borrowed heavily from ‘Buried’ and ‘Vazhakku Earn 18/9’ is so tedious that even the relatively better climax and a twist do not provide the desired impact.
Verdict : Venture into this game at your own risk if only to receive some relevant messages for today’s youth.
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