Perumaan, directed by Rajesh Kannan, starring new comers Arjun and Sruthi has hit the screens after being in the cans for a long time. This is a suspense thriller that happens in the backdrop of Chennai.

Shakthi (Arjun), an IT professional aspires to be as famous as superstar Rajinikanth, for which he thinks he needs loads of money. An opportunity knocks his door, when his friend asks him to assist a businessman in getting the latter’s black money to India through an NGO. Shakthi does the job and becomes filthy rich. With so much money around him, he loses the peace of mind he had earlier. Fear of his money being stolen gets into his mind, unexpected traps await him and how he manages to survive is ‘Perumaan’ in a nutshell.

With too many pot holes in the script, the director fails to keep the audience engaged. Shakthi gets chased by many groups in the film, but the reason for this must be known only to the makers. The businessman asks Shakthi to maintain a low profile, so as to keep the money he earned a secret (A valid point). But it looks meaningless when he tries to kill Shakthi for eating in a road side tea shop. There are more such logical inconsistencies in the story.

Arjun looks smart, with his impeccable physique. But when it comes to acting, the hero creates an impression that he is attempting to say something. But he disappoints and with his cryptic expressions he leaves the audience pondering as to what he is trying to say.  None of the other actors, including the female lead, Sruthi have significant roles. There are one or two comic moments when Arjun’s friends are around.

CJ Rajkumar’s cinematography creates a short film like effect. It is evident that the makers have gone for a low end camera. Music director Vikram Sarathy (of the contemporary music band Staccato) has scored music for the film. Few of his OSTs are exceptional and the composer has made use of a variety of instruments. But towards the end of the film, the cinematography and the background scores together create a ‘mega serial’ impression, too noisy and too shaky. The lack of sufficient dialogues is also a major contributing factor in creating this sense. 

To sum up, Perumaan could have been made as a decent short film. Fewer dialogues, jumpy song sequences and the dead slow script show the director’s desperation to make it into a two and a half hours feature film.

Verdict: Da Vinci’s codes are much easier to crack