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Seval – A mute crow |
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| Behindwoods
Movie Review Board |
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Starring:
Bharath, Poonam Bajwa, Simran, Vadivelu
Direction: Hari
Music:
G.V.Prakash
Production: Jinnah Creations |
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Hari returns for Deepavali after the success he had in 2007
with Vel. He has quite a task on hand to replicate his previous
triumph and maintain the spotless track record. Normally,
movies are referred to or identified by naming the star in
them. Hari is one of the few directors who are a brand in
themselves. His trademark rural action-sentiment cocktails
have always been liked by the audience and being a festival
release, Seval is expected to be along the same lines. Does
Hari deliver?
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Seval
follows the life of a wayward village philandering youth.
He roams around carelessly all day, gets drunk, involves
in scuffles, cares naught about what happens at home
– a typical spoilt young man (Bharath). No father
(Rajesh) will be particularly proud about such a son
and one can understand it when he just stops short of
banishing him from the household after a very irresponsible
act, which he considers as the last straw. Meanwhile,
Poonam Bajwa and Bharath are involved in a very (stereo)
typical boy meets girl kind of romance. It is a bit
fleeting at first but gets stronger after Bharath rescues
her from the clutches of the prying villain played by
Sampath.
But this love story is nipped off in the bud when Poonam
Bajwa is forced by fate, circumstances and a sister
(Simran) to marry another person. Both Bharath and Poonam,
realizing that what is happening is best for everyone,
choose to bury their love. But the villain resurfaces
and wreaks havoc in Poonam’s family and then it
is revenge by Bharath that takes the story to its climax.
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What strikes you most about this movie is that it is so unlike
Hari. Neither action nor sentiments have prominence here and
even when they occur you are not gripped by them, as in his
previous films. The story has its moments and is not entirely
predictable, especially when the heroine agrees to marry another
person without a protest. But, all events meander along without
ever getting us interested in the proceedings. It is as if
Hari forgot to add the spices after getting his basics right.
The movie is bland. The script does have some interesting
inclusions, like the Simran track where she misunderstands
Bharath’s overtures and imagines that he is trying to
woo her and the mini-duet that follows. But this sequence
too has not been pulled off convincingly. Action- well, that
can never be bad in a Hari film, we think. But, here the rough
and raw fights are not there, whatever is present makes for
just passive viewing. The saving grace (for the umpteenth
time in Kollywood) has to be Vadivelu’s comedy track.
With absolutely nothing to do with the main plot, the scenes
of the comedian regularly punctuate the narrative like snippets
straight out of a TV comedy show. Some of them are really
enjoyable while others are a test of our patience.
Performances - Well, in a movie that can be described as bland,
the subject of performances is better left alone. Poonam Bajwa
does not really fit the role, while Bharath goes through the
motions. Others walk in and out of scenes, doing just what
is required and one wonders why Simran chose this role as
one of her comeback bids, it is not really worth her caliber.
Looking
at Seval, one does not know whether Hari has tried to be
different or is it the execution that went wrong. Clearly,
this was made by a really ‘out of form’ Hari
who generally delivers great results. At the box office,
the lack of the regular Hari elements and the plain feel
will make its life difficult.
Verdict
- Bland fare
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