| Directed by | N. S. Ponkumar |
|---|---|
| Written by | N. S. Ponkumar |
| Produced by | A. R. Murugadoss Om Prakash Bhatt Narsiram Choudhary Vakil Khan |
| Starring | Gautham Karthik Jason Shah Pugazh |
| Cinematography | Selvakumar S. K. |
| Edited by | R. Sudharsan |
| Music by | Sean Roldan |
Gist of the Story
Unaware that India will gain independence in three days, a community in the South is currently enslaved by a dreadful British superior general and his rapist son. The core of the story is how the defenceless people were ultimately rescued from peril.
Detailed Plot
The imaginary village of Singaad, located in Madras right before the nation gained independence, is ignorant that British citizens are emigrating. Few residents of the small village serve as slaves to Major Robert, the village’s dictator, and his son Justin, a serial rapist. The story takes place a few days before independence, when Param (Gautham Karthik), Robert’s guerilla fighter, made the risky decision to rally the locals against the British. The key to the story is how the innocent people were finally rescued from danger.
Artistes’ Performances
Very convincing as Param is Gautham Karthik. He hasn’t overdone the emotional passages, which lightens the weight of a disturbingly intense film. Revathy Kumar portrays Deepali, a perhaps too naïve woman, in an honest manner. Although giving strong performances, their scenes together don’t particularly stand out because there isn’t much connection between them. And Pugazh, who follows Ayothi in a clever part, also puts on a strong performance here. The remaining cast members do admirably, but the movie features a few poor foreign performers who don’t contribute as much as they should.
Direction / Technical Side
Pon Kumar, a longtime collaborator of A.R. Murugadoss, made his directorial debut with the historical fantasy “August 16 1947,” a challenging genre. He has demonstrated his mastery of the craft by deftly building up the narrative for the subsequent events and by realistically incorporating a romantic drama into a colonial drama. The movie’s first half is incredibly captivating and full of scenes that are really well written, have a great deal of emotion in them, and are eloquently spoken. There are a few scenes that work well, and the first half of the movie emotionally connects with us in just the right ways. Yet, it loses some of its momentum in the second half due to numerous tedious passages and overly theatrical sequences which might have been handled better.
The weak writing, which lacks noteworthy moments and a compelling setup, falls short of the ambitious subject. On paper, some of the concepts are brilliant, but the execution in a few situations falls short, disappointing the spectator. The climax sequence delivers an exhilarating ride despite being predictable, but the filmmakers squander the chance. The technical team has worked very hard to create a movie that fits the specified timetable. Sean Roldan’s New album is satisfactory, with a love song standing out. The cinematographer did a commendable job, especially with the way he graded the film in the beginning. He managed to find the ideal shades for the 1940s. Art director Santhanam (late), who did amazing set design and production design, has brought a lot of life to the pictures.
Verdict; The first half of the film is highly engrossing and filled with a lot of passion. But because of so many pointless sections and unnecessarily dramatic scenes that could have been handled better, it loses some of its impetus in the second half. Several of the ideas are fantastic on paper, but the execution in a few instances falls well short. Overall; A fairly engaging period drama!