Sivappathigaram is preachy and unrealistic

Karu. Pazhaniyappan directs Sivappathigaram that stars Vishal, Mamta Mohandas and Raghuvaran in the lead. Sivappathigaram is the story of a college professor and his student. The professor along with his daughter returns to his village in remote Tamil Nadu and is researching on the folk songs along with the help of his favorite student. The assembly elections have been announced in the state and it starts witnessing a series of strange murders where in the candidates who have submitted their nominations for elections are being murdered one after the other, that too in public without anyone realizing how. The Police department starts its enquiries and finally finds out the culprits who are none other than the Professor and his student. The director then takes us to the flashback where an opinion poll conducted by a group of students adversely affects the election results. The wily politicians of the losing party storm the college and in the large scale violence that ensues, many students lose their lives. Disappointed, the professor decides enough is enough but the seeds of vengeance are sown deep in his heart. His brains coupled with the brawns of his favorite student start working together to eliminate the group of politicians responsible for the mayhem. The police rise to the occasion and nab the culprits but the movie does not end before the student breaks into a sermon on what responsible politics is. Having sat through the movie, one also starts thinking if it were this easy eliminating corrupt politicians. However, one has to admit that though the movie deals with a real life scenario, the solutions that it offers are quite unreal. The manner, in which murders are committed in the open public without anybody present in the vicinity realizing the same, is utterly foolish. One also fails to understand as to why is it necessary for the hero to make speeches at the end of every film that takes upon itself a social issue. It is getting a bit too repetitive and boring, especially when the speech is peppered with suggestions and advices that are anything but practical. It is to Karu. Pazhaniyappan’s credit that he keeps the audience engaged to his narrative. The first half is slow but Vidyasagar more than makes up for the lethargic pace by contributing immensely to the narrative. His tunes are so deeply rooted in the cultural milieu of Tamil Nadu. The editing could have been crisper in the first half. Camera and Art Direction are normal. Vishal plays a mellowed hero compared to his earlier releases and is quite at home doing so. Mamta Mohandas makes a lackluster Tamil debut. She has very little screen time and has nothing much to do. Raghuvaran is impressive as the idealistic teacher. Kanja karuppu manages to pull a few laughs. Sivappathigaram does tread a different path and takes up an issue that is plaguing the nation. However, it is unnecessarily preachy and ends up providing unrealistic solutions!