Featured Poo Movie Review
"Simplicity is the glory of expression,” said Walt Whitman, and Poo may be one of the best elucidators of this quote. It is beautiful without being complicated, moving without being disturbing and mellow without being mushy. Poo is about love, relations, dreams and sacrifices.
It is difficult to reveal any aspect of the plot of the movie because that might amount to disservice to a carefully crafted work of art. This is not to say that Poo is art-house cinema, it instead treats cinema at a different level where there is neither an antagonist nor a protagonist and only the inscrutable ways of destiny determine the fate of characters who remain so true to the story without even an element of cinematic liberty being thrown in. It seems to be a true interpretation of what Shakespeare so famously said, “All the world’s a stage and all men and women are the players.”
Poo is set in the rustic surroundings of Rajapalayam where life is simple and slow and ambitions are limited. It tells the story of two young children, a boy and a girl, their families and their dreams in life. What happens when dreams clash? Someone has to let go of their dream for the others to realize theirs’. It is one person’s love and affection for the other that makes them sacrifice hoping sincerely that the object of their love will have a better life sharing someone else’s dream. It is also “love” that makes people give up their own dreams and believe in someone
else, trusting them with their life. But when sacrifices go in vain and life of the loved one looks far from the bed of roses that had been envisaged, then it is a kind of helplessness that engulfs the mind and one is left to live only in sorrow, grieving the dream that was never to be.
Poo is a movie that has given some budding actors a wonderful opportunity to set foot in the industry and they have done it with élan. Parvathy, the debut heroine has done a marvelous job, not at all showing any signs of inexperience. She excels in all kinds of expressions and an interesting thing is that at times one can detect traces of Padmapriya. Parvathy will definitely be a strong contender for the best debut award this year. Srikanth is on screen after a long time and appears in a role that is not the regular hero type. First, congrats to him for making the choice. He is adequate without being excellent, fitting neatly into the character. But the one who steals the show is the actor who plays Srikanth’s father, he is splendid and one to look out for in similar roles in future. The Rajapalayam accent has been adapted to near perfection throughout the movie. Poo is devoid of any commercial element. There are a few scenes here and there with situational humor that do not fail to amuse. The emotional scenes are the best. Made to near perfection, they will move even the most passive viewer close to tears, especially the climatic scenes. The movie has content that is enough just for a short story and has been narrated fluently on screen.
Then there are stars behind the camera. Cinematographer P.G. Muthiah has done a wonderful job, translating all the rural charm onto screen. Veerasamar has matched the camera with his art. One is left wondering whether the huts are sets or real ones. Debutant composer S.S. Kumaran deserves accolades for his score and re-recording. Three songs, Maman, Aavaram Poo and Choo Choo Maari stand out as excellent compositions. But the one man who deserves an ovation here is director Sasi. This must be his best work to date. Handling the story, screenplay, dialogue and direction, he has given a product that will please all true lovers of cinema. He must also be credited with extracting moving performances from the cast.
Overall, Poo is like a beautiful poem. Poetry is not everyone’s cup of tea and one is not sure how many will be able to appreciate this subtly narrated story of dreams and sacrifices. It is a sincere wish that Poo does well, Tamil cinema will be better off with the success of a movie like Poo. But one finds it hard to see how the movie will achieve commercial success, given its simple yet beautiful narration.
As the saying goes, “Simplicity is nature’s first step and the last of art.”
No comments:
Post a Comment