Writer-director JJ Fredrick's message oriented, courtroom drama PONMAGAL VANDHAL (meaning The Princess Has Arrived) made news for becoming one of the first biggies directly releasing on the online platforms in the lockdown months. But honestly speaking, it ideally should have made news because of its important theme of child abuse/rapes, injustice for the victims and police-politician nexus creating a shocking case.
However the reason, it couldn’t become the talk of the town as an important film happens to be its weak and questionable execution wherein the courtroom drama itself remains unconvincing right from the beginning of the case. The proceedings and arguments surprisingly appear to be amateurish but the most hurting is the way a judge is presented irresponsibly hearing a crucial case (clearly inspired from the famous Jolly LLB series in Hindi)
Having said that, PONMAGAL VANDHAL still partially works due to the shocking twists it throws at significant points which keep you engrossed despite the poor writing and over-melodramatic courtroom sequences. These twists also work as at times they turn out to be unpredictable and yet again explore the dark secrets of our society, making us feel the pain watching the innocents being framed and the helpless kid-girls being raped and murdered by the people with powerful political connections.
Leading from the front, Jyotika impressively carries the entire film but really wish this had some solid writing and explosive courtroom scenes taking the story forward.
Anyway, even with the above mentioned flaws, I would still like to recommend watching PONMAGAL VANDHAL keeping the expectations in control, as the film surely has an interesting and engaging basic premise, gives a strong relevant message and also remains unapologetic in its representation of the crimes, pointing towards our own social responsibilities.
Rating : 3 / 5 (with the additional 0.5 for its basic storyline and message)
Tags :
PONMAGAL VANDHAL (Tamil) Review by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, New Regional Films Reviews by Bobby Sing, New Tamil Reviews by Bobby Sing, Regional Movies.
