POOVARASAM PEEPEE MOVIE REVIEW

The trailer of debutante director, Halitha Shameem’s Poovarasam Peepee said, “Boyhood is all about rising against violence”. The film is exactly that. 
 

Poovarasam Peepee is about the vacation adventure of three boys – Venu (Gaurav Kaalai), Harish (Praveen Kishore) and Kapil Dev (Vasanth). The movie begins on the last day of their school, before their vacation begins, and ends on the day of reopening. 
 

The kids witness a crime, get agitated that the criminals have covered it up, and what they do about this is what PPP all about. The best part is that they never overreach – the ploy always stays within the limits and capabilities of the kids and hence believable.  
 

The movie has a lot of subplots as well – each of them contributing significantly to the growing up years of the boys. 
 

Most important among them is the ‘love’ track of the kids, and the ensuing fights. The girl who plays ‘Lollypop’ (Varshini) is real cute. The second love portion that involves another girl (Agalya) is also pure bliss. 
 

There is also a cartoon stretch about how a simple thing such as painting the horns of a bull is so blown out of proportion, and results in a riot.
 

And, the scenes in which the boys realize about what maleness can do are so well depicted. To depict such scenes impeccably, by a lady, speaks volumes of the director’s craft. However, standing at two and a half hours, the movie could have been trimmed a little more.
 

Performance wise, all the characters – right from the kids to the villains - have justified their roles. The villains – Magudi (Kaali Venkat ), RS Shanmugam (Sai Hari), Manjunathan (Sundar), and Muniyan (Karthik) – play their characters to perfection. Kaali seems to improve with every movie. He delivers lines with a precision of a trained artist, and strikes gold every time.
 

The camera work of Manoj Paramahamsa, who has also co-produced the movie, deserves special mention. In particular, the rain scenes, and the ones involving the windmill are breathtaking. Aruldev’s songs are apt - the ‘Angry Birds’ number stands out. 
 

The entire twists are broken by interval, leaving the audience wondering about what will happen in the second half. But, the second half only becomes better. There are scenes on how to and how not to use our information resources. 

 

Towards the end, we have director Samuthirakani, who appears in an impressive cameo.  

 

Do the kids achieve what they intended to do? For the answer, watch the movie in theaters.

 

Finally, big cheers to director, Halitha Shameem! She uses both the information sources and her voice to the fullest. In a name like RSS, in a character like the kid who rents his toy, in a scene where the villain falls in a pothole – she announces that she is here to stay.