Pokkisham

Cast: Lenin (Cheran) & Nadhira (Padmapriya)

Storyline: Love and not Romance, because nowadays people use both these words in an interchangeable fashion.

Word of Caution: If you belong to the generation that can't wait for things to happen then this is not your cup of tea and if you are looking for sexy bikini dances, slick stunts, cool chicks, racy but unrealistic story & screenplay, double-meaning dialogues, comedy, etc. etc., then SORRY again this is not the movie for you. If you can sit through two-and-a-half hours and a bit more & open your ears and listen to the lengthy but meaningful, poetic dialogues filled with love then you are the one to enjoy this movie.

With Pokkisham, Cheran has made an earnest attempt to portray the joyful ecstasy of being loved and the muted sorrow of having lost it. The film is a flashback set in the 1970s - and the screenplay to a major extent is set in the past. Mahesh, Lenin's son accidentally comes across his father's priced possession - the letters that Lenin had written to his lady love of the past, Nadhira. Pokkisham starts to unfurl as Mahesh reads the letters and his father's diary page by page.

Cheran's team of Assistant Directors along with Vairabalan (Art Director) & Rajesh Yadav (Cinematographer) have made a painstaking effort to etch the India of 1970s. To name a few apart from the normal traditional stuff such as hand-pulled carts, post office, hospital, etc. - meticulous detailing had gone into small things such as the size of the currency notes used in the 70's, the way Madras was spelt in Tamil, the trunk call booking process, the design of postal letters, the ad posters of the 70's, and more importantly the Muslim lingo.

Lenin has his first word with Nadhira during his father's hospitalization and from there on friendship blossoms into love. One may easily sum up Pokkisham like this, but the way Cheran tells us this tale of love using the letters written between Lenin and Nadhira is a poetic treat to watch. Padmapriya comes across as a ravishing Muslim girl and Cheran as his own self with cinematic expressions at some places when he comes to terms with life after knowing that he has lost his love. Parallels can be drawn between Padmapriya and Amala of "Mella Thiranthathu Kadhavu." Nadhira scores more when compared to Lenin on the acting front too.

As all inter-caste/inter-community love stories, this one also faces problems with the family goons in the form of father and mother playing tricks close to their chest. Lenin's love for Nadhira takes a hit from Nadhira's father and from here on whether their love succeeds or the foolishness over caste succeeds is what the story is about.

People may say that Cheran could have made the screenplay a little more racier with some artificial stuff, but I am of a strong opinion that there are certain things in life which is worth the time it takes, and Pokkisham for me is worth a movie to watch to celebrate the intricate tenderness of love.

When I left the theater, I could only hear the audience bad-mouth this tale and I fear that Cheran had consumed a whole lot of time to explain this lovely tale of love to the ever Speedy GenNext guys..........