Sentiment Film

Familial ties and the emotion that go with them have been writer – Director Hari’s forte. And if the story is woven around a village ambience, the filmmaker is on stronger turf. Better still if the village is in Tirunelveli. Hari,s USP comes together in Jinnah Creations’ Serval(U).

The film opens with Murugeasan(Bharath) walking out of prison after serving a life term in it. The rest is in flash back, till the final Scene. A wastrel who goes around town with cousin ,Postman Thangavelvu (Vadivelu), Murugesan reforms after he meets Parijatham (Poonam Bajwa),a school student. But fate will not let him be. Parijatham’s beauty attracts the middle aged village head a wolf in lamb’s clothing, as much as it does her venomous relative (Krishna). Again there the story of Parijatham’s sister Gayatri(Simran) and a separate track for Panchami Iyer(Y.G.Mahendra), the father of the two girls, who in penury… After a point you begin to feel that Hari has crammed too many Characters and incidents that they seem to burst at the seams. But the directors ingenuity lies in the way he connects one with the other and makes them a cohesive whole.

Bharath has proved his mettle as a small town hero and jilted lover even earlier. Sevel is another such. He carries off the recklessness of youth and the naivete of rustics commendably. The film offers Bharath ample scope to showcase his dancing, fighting and acting skills the talented young hero utilizes it to the optimum and comes out with flying colors. His emotional out burst in the climax  on  seeing his beloved being bullied and taunted by her family shows he scaling higher as a performer with every film.

Widowhood being treated with such brutality and apathy albeit in the name of reality is hard to digest in today’s scenario. But you Can’t  close your eyes to the fact that such things do exist in society. It bring mind the true depiction of the Vrindavan widows in Prabhu Movies White rainbow, which dwelt on the heartless treatment meted out to them. Seval highlights it to a very minimal extent. All the same Hari’s dialogue and the characters’ reaction could have been less crude.

With hair or withour, Poonam Bajw is a chubby beauty, who draws viewers with an innocent face. Simran  returns in a strong role that give her enough scope. But Somehow the spark of the past is missing. In portrayal, however, she is still flawless, with Savitha, Her voice pitching in with the right modulation. Venturing beyond his beaten track of comedy, vadivelu does a neat job in the serious sequences too. Mention must be made of Y.G. The veteran fits the role of a poor Brahmin temple priest to a so does Rajesh, the hero’s dad heartbroken by his son’s waywardness.

Thulasi chediya is a hum worthy piece from G.V. Prakash Kumar.  The Lyric also by Hari is not worthy too, While songwriter Muthukumar’s stamp is seen in Kannamma….and Parvaiyilae Oru… Kadhir’s artwork lends more sheen to the  be witching bucolic milieu.

A decent family drama for the sentimental kind!