Purampokku Engira Pothuvudamai - Red canvas!

Though politics and cinema go hand in glove, the environment in Kollywood hasn’t been conducive enough for mainstream filmmakers to convey their political views without inhibitions. Though the Kollywood fraternity in general has empathized and involved itself in many political rallies that was concerned with general public interest, there hasn't been enough number of individuals per se who were able to convey a clear political stance. I’m unable to single out a young artiste who when asked about his/her political orientation giving a transparent answer - either the answer would be a very diplomatic one or the question would be ducked. The ones who exhibit political orientation would be either Kollywood veterans who'd like to revive their fading sheen with the help of politics or actors who have strong political ties like their family members being a part of some of the larger regional political parties. Even bigwigs like Rajini and Kamal have also faltered at times whenever their stand on their respective political ideologies were put in question. I would say Kamal was at least quite subtle with some occasional references with his left predilections while Rajini preferred to point his fingers up to the almighty whenever his political entry or political stance came up for debate. With such an existential imbroglio, director SP Jananathan appears to be the dark horse, striving to foster the communist ideologies through his films, depicting relevant social issues in India with socially rebellious characters.

PEP’s story depicts the equation between three main characters - a communist rebel, Balusamy (Arya), who is awaiting his death sentence, a professional hangman, Yemalingam (Vijay Sethupathy), who is hired to execute Balusamy and Macaulay (Shaam), the jail superintendent whose takes the responsibility of executing Balusamy. The characterization was interesting and their on-screen camaraderie was nothing short of brilliant. Vijay Sethupathy as an inebriate hangman has done absolute justice for his role and he was the best among the three. Between Arya and Shaam, I would say Shaam has done a better job with a character that had shades of grey or it could be perceived so. Arya as the communist martyr had a very ordinary characterization but that was sufficient enough for the script. However his Tamil pronunciation was pretty off-handed. I wish the character of Pasupathy in ‘E’ was much more effective as he was more rustic and represented the looks needed for the ‘son-of-the-soil’. Anyway, the star value also counts, so it was a justifiable addition to satiate the film’s commercial quotient.

The movie deals with the negligence of waste management and how India is being treated as a dumping ground by developed nations to do away with their non-degradable wastes. The beauty of the film was that the director has employed a simple narrative structure to deal with an issue that has an international appeal. Also an emotional thread was allowed to run through with the aide of Vijay Sethupathy who adds another feather to his cap. The movie also had its fair share of thrills with some edge of the seat moments that was close to reality and never attempted to defy our belief at any point which was a good morale booster.

However there were some weaker links as well. Karthika as Kuyili, the one who acts as the stand-in leader for the communist group had a rather make-believe character sketch. It was like as if she was like a puppet at the hands of the director and does exactly what was required when the gears were shifted from action to romance and then back to action. Also the “quick-fire” romance between Arya and Karthika with a song choreographed on the snowy peaks seemed heavily thrusted in.

Also the songs were not even hummable and the BGM was below average. They were made to look like last minute additions due to producer's compulsion in order to have some commercial elements tucked into the narrative. The dance, choreography and even the lyrics were jaded and also hampered the pace of the film. A couple of songs could have been easily done away with. I can only pity for directors like SP Jananathan who would have been put through an ordeal by producers who want to shield themselves from “flops” by coercing them to add some unwanted commercial elements to a film whose mood has taken a different road altogether.

The editing in general was fine, but there were some continuity errors (for e.g. the interval block where Vijay Sethupathy vows to help in aiding the escape of Arya from the prison) which should have been taken care as it plays spoilsport in garnering audience’s attention.

The director has never attempted to narrate an epic but certainly he has carved out a niche for himself with his political stance and justifying the same with some well researched facts and spinning a fiction that was emotional and quite gripping at the same time.

Verdict: Above Average

Rating: 2.75 / 5