VISITOR COLUMN

Most of us think the meaning of Paradesi as “good-for-nothing” person, but it also means “Foreigner”. This movie was supposed to be released 4 months back and it got postponed due to various reasons. Anurag Kashyap (renowned Hindi Film Director & Producer) was very much impressed with Paradesi movie and had decided to release it in Central & North India with English & Hindi Subtitles. This is happening for the first time for Tami Cinema and it will really help us to reach wider market. Bala has a dedicated fan base, Anurag’s decision of distributing the movie and Reality Teaser Controversy had created expectation for this movie which doesn’t have leading actors. Let us see whether the movie will satisfy the Common Man in this Review.


Story: It is Bala’s best movie till date. It is not the story where the hero behaves like a Psycho and takes revenge for his friend. It is the story of enslaved tea plantation workers in pre-independent India. It is about the lives of the village people who travel 48 days by walk to work in Tea Estate to earn money and lose their freedom. They are treated like slaves and don’t have any opportunity to escape from the place. Climax of the movie is completely different from earlier Bala movies and it will definitely make people cry.


Adharva’s first two movies (Baana Kathadi & MUK) didn’t run well. It is the most important movie in his career and he had utilized the opportunity with both hands. Atharva had really done a wonderful job and he may get awards for his acting.


Vedhika had done more than 5 movies in Tamil but she was just used as a “Glamour doll” in her previous movies. Bala in an interview mentioned that she will agree that Vedhika has white skin, but will not agree that she is Beautiful. Hence, she comes with a dark tone in this movie, looks beautiful and she is the only person in the movie who is quite bubbly. Love scenes between Adharva & Vedhika play the pivotal role till the interval and they manage to engage the audience due to their excellent acting.


Dhansika comes in the movie post interval and does good job in 5 – 6 scenes in which she appears.


Cinematography by Cheziyan and Art direction by the debutant Balachandar was very important for the movie as it is based on 1930’s. They have really done a wonderful job.


Music by G.V. Prakash was quite average. But, when you watch the movie, you will like the songs due to excellent lyrics from Vairamuthu and awesome voice of the singers.


Editing by Kishore was too good. Movie runs for just 2 hours. He had made sure that movie doesn’t have any irrelevant scenes.


Director Bala had done only 6 movies in 14 years. But, he is one of the reputed directors in Tamil Cinema as his first 3 movies were blockbusters and they were even trend-setters. But, his last 2 movies (Naan Kadavul & Avan Ivan) were quite average and didn’t satisfy his fans. This movie will be celebrated by his fans and people who love emotional movies. It is one of the movies which will take our Indian Cinema to the next level.

Negatives: It is an off-beat movie which may not be liked by few people as it is too emotional.

Overall, for people who liked the Trailer of this movie (Bala fans & People who love world cinema & Emotional Movies) - 3.5 / 5


People who didn’t like the Trailer of the movie (Commercial Movie Fans) - 2.5 / 5