After being in the cans for a long time and repeated postponing of release dates, Singam Puli finally hit the screen today. This film directed by newcomer Sai Ramani was publicized with a few highlights to look forward to. First film for Jiiva in double role and his crackling comical chemistry with Santhanam after Siva Mansula Sakthi were the attractive points.

As the promos suggested, Singam Puli is set around the contrasting characters of twin brothers Shiva and Ashok whose outside demeanor belies their inner composition. Ashok is a Casanova lawyer always on the trail of women but is extremely in the good books of his parents. On the other hand, Shiva, a school drop out, sells fish and is ever at the receiving end from his parents. While Ashok is shrewd and scheming, Shiva is straight forward and emotional. What happens when their paths cross form the crux of Singam Puli.

For his debut project, Sai Ramani has chosen a mainstream commercial subject taking in sibling rivalry with clearly etched out characters which could have worked wonders but unfortunately he has not capitalized this aspect in weaving an engaging tale. The inconsistent narration meanders through the course of the film with its lumpy episodic nature that fails to have an engrossing effect on the audience.

The major factors that work against Singam Puli are its lengthy duration (2 hours and 45 minutes), music with jarring old RR and contrived song sequences. Mani Sharma’s musical tracks are unimpressive and do not add any value to the progress of the film except for utilizing them to up the glamour quotient and the hemline of lady artists. Santhanam’s comedy which was much anticipated, works in a few instances but the talented comedian should control his double entendre lest he would lose out on family audience. Santhanam’s tracks are disjointed in the second half and his much talked about ‘12 make overs’ only add to the already existing misery.

Jiiva, is effective with his spontaneity although there is no big effort from his side to delineate his double roles but for differently colored shirts. The talented actor in him is wasted. Of the two heroines, Divya Spandana has more screen space than Honey Rose and anyways, the ladies have nothing much to do but to take care of the titillating sector. Ponvannan and Kuyili as parents of the Jiiva duo have nothing much to offer.

On the technical front, cinematographer Balsubramaniem’s work does not rise up to the occasion and leaves a lot to be desired.  The VFX work by Venky is satisfactory.

Intelligent pruning could have helped the film take up a better form. In all, Singam Puli may find takers in audience who want to just relax at the end of a hard day with a masala fare that includes a couple of stunts, song sequences, comedy tracks, good looking ladies while not worrying about critical aspects.

Verdict: muted roar