PARRIS JEYARAJ MOVIE REVIEW CLICK TO RATE THE MOVIE

Parris Jeyaraj is a comedy film written and directed by Johnson K of A1 fame. The film has Santhanam and Anaika Soti in the lead roles, while Motta Rajendran, Tiger Thangadurai, Prudhvi Raj and others play supporting roles. It is produced by K Kumar under the banner Lark Studios. Santhosh Narayanan has composed the music while Arthur Wilson has done the cinematography.

After the success of A1, director Johnson and Santhanam are back with Parris Jeyaraj, where Santhanam plays the titular character. He is a Gaana Singer from North Madras, and falls in love with a girl, but his father (Prudhvi Raj), a lawyer, breaks their relationship after getting money from the girl's father. He then gets into a relationship with Anaika Soti. How Parris Jeyaraj's father gets involved in this relationship forms the rest of the story.

One of the biggest strengths of the combo's previous outing (A1) was the simplicity of the plot. Even here, there are not much deviations from the storyline, to an extent where even the songs become a part of the narrative. Since Santhanam plays the role of a Gaana singer, all the songs in the film belong to the Gaana genre. Their placement appears natural and doesn't hinder the screenplay. The songs like Kaava Ulla, and Mustaache Vestaache end up as instant earworms.

Right from his introduction, Santhanam is earnest as Parris Jeyaraj and infuses a lot of energy to the film. Though a lot of trademark Santhanam jokes look like we've heard them before, most of them work because of the nature of the film. Parris Jeyaraj is a film that doesn't take itself seriously, and is also self aware about it. It operates in a care-free zone for a long time, and this results in Santhanam being in full form.

Among the supporting cast, Tiger Thangadurai, Motta Rajendran and KPY Vinoth chip in with useful performances. However it's Prudhvi Raj as Santhanam's father who nails his role, at times overshadowing even Santhanam with his well timed dialogues and expressions. In A1 we would have seen a comedy of errors taking place in a funeral. Similarly, in this film, there is a Charlie Chaplin-esque scene involving Santhanam and Anaika Soti's family that takes place inside a shopping mall, which is outrageously hilarious.

The major difference between Santhanam's earlier outings and this film is that the previous films were dependent on dialogues for humour. Here, Johnson clearly demonstrates what writing funny situations offer to the film, when there's someone like Santhanam in the lead. Even if the counters don't work, the scene is funny by itself. In fact, the portions that are solely dependent on dialogues are the weakest parts of this film.

In the early parts of the first half, there are a few dialogues here and there in bad taste and that could have been avoided. In addition to it, the film takes the whole first half to get into the central conflict. Therefore the first half could test your patience. But once you get through it, you're in for a fun, entertaining ride.

The second half looks like a different film altogether, where we are served one humorous scene after another. One of the directorial decisions that works well is that most of the songs appear in the first half itself, and that results in the second half being more focussed. Though Anaika Soti's performance looks neat, some work could have gone into her characterisation.

Technically, Arthur Wilson's camera isn't outstanding but offers what the film requires. When it comes to the music, Santhosh Narayanan's background score isn't as good as the songs and it's not bad either. The production value could have been a bit better especially in the initial stages of the first half, but nothing big to complain about.

Overall, Parris Jeyaraj will definitely satisfy Santhanam fans, and you are guaranteed at least a few 'ROFL' moments. It's definitely an engaging film, with a simple, linear story that doesn't leave you with much to think. A good commercial entertainer from Santhanam and Johnson, and probably the second of many.

PARRIS JEYARAJ VIDEO REVIEW