Sathya Tamil Movie
"Sathya", a title that has been used in 3 of the 4 South Indian languages (except Telugu) is something of an equivalent to the name "Priya" for the conventional bubbly heroine. It has an underlying violent predicament that was fostered over the years, thanks to the 1988 Kamal flick in Kollywood and a more violent one from Ramgopal Varma in Bollywood in 1998 bearing the same title. In short, the name carries along with it a powerful and aggressive vibe that is perceived to resonate well with the audience.
This, in my opinion, would have been the pretext for titling this Sibiraj starrer. First time I am watching Sibiraj on a big screen. He hasn't had any major breakthroughs until now and has been the star kid whose bane has been his inability to carry off himself as a saleable star. As a responsible father, Sathyaraj has doled out some funds to produce this movie for his son to make a move on. Has it worked? The answer isn't straightforward!
The movie is about a lone mother's (Ramya Nambeesan) battle against the conspiracy to snatch her kid away. After the cops and her family betray her, she places her entire trust on Sathya (Sibiraj), her ex-boyfriend. Even he gets frustrated after a point and starts believing that the kid is a figment of her imagination. Things get more clear towards the end and the twists find their way, leading us to the truth.
The plot was a decent one. The biggest problems were the narrative and Sibiraj. The relationship between Sathya and Swetha (Ramya Nambeesan) was one of the least romantic ones and didn't really kick off, thanks to an overtly timid Sibi who found it hard to strike a balance between emoting and being romantic. It was simply a case of bad acting. Especially when seen along with an actress like Ramya whose expressions were measured and natural, Sibi just fell apart.
The director, like his previous movie (Saithan), employed the art of deception in the most predictable manner. We get to guess the pattern of what actually could have happened well in advance. However, there were some underpinning twists with Varu (plays an IPS officer) and Sibi himself toward the climax. Anandaraj with a limited scope to swagger with his foolhardy natural instincts did well to provide some laughs as a cop with some whack.
Among the songs, "Yavvana" was my favourite and it was picturised quite decently. The slowed down version of the song at the end was used aptly too. A warm welcome to music director Simon King. The pace of the movie was decent as it was a little over 2 hours.
Had the director concentrated more on an engaging narrative and an actor who could have carried off the title role of Sathya with more conviction, it could have made a much effective impact at the box office. But as of now, this is just a bundle of love from a doting father (Sathyaraj) who is battling to prevent his son (Sibiraj) from getting disappeared from the boundaries of Kollywood!