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The feel-good mood in Paagan makes for good viewing, writes Pavithra Srinivasan.
Comedy is the flavour of the season right now, and Vendhar Movies' Tamil film Paagan seems to have taken advantage of it.
The film is directed by Mohammad Aslam, once an associate of director Ameer.
The beginning is quite intriguing: a cycle that narrates its owner's tale of love, life and many trials. The owner is Subramani (Shrikkanth), who loves his cycle like others love their significant others.
As a baby, he took his first steps with its help and later, he takes the help of his cycle in several get-rich-quick schemes, which he indulges in often with the help of his friends, Velliyangiri (Soori) and Makali (Pandi).
The trio come up with plenty of hare-brained ideas and everyone is ripe for mischief, trying to make a quick buck off gullible parties even as they trade hilarious quips.
As a final coup, they hit upon a so-called brilliant plan: Subramani must fall in love with the local bigwig's daughter Mahalakshmi (Janani Iyer), whose riches he would naturally inherit.
Things don't go according to plan and there are plenty of twists and turns in the plot.
The story takes a u-turn in the second half.
Shrikkanth looks trim and fresh, but hams his way through quite a few scenes. Janani Iyer plays the part of the pretty girl, and fits the bill. But its Soori and Pandi, along with Kovai Sarala, who walk away with the honours with their witty one-liners and natural performance.
James Vasanthan's music may be melodious but it doesn't fit in with the film.
J Laxman's cinematography is neat as is Kevin's editing.
Aslam's dialogues, the village milieu and the feel-good mood make for good viewing. But there are moments when the screenplay turns choppy, and you're not quite sure where everything is going.
The second half seem like it is building up to something exciting, but things fall rather flat.
Rediff Rating: 