Tamil Film Review : "Natpukkaga"
FARGOES
Film Review: Natpukkaga
A deep camaraderie between a rich man and his servant (Vijaya Kumar and Sarath
Kumar) and the enmity between father and son (Sarath in dual role) have been
delectably structured by seasoned director K. S. Ravikumar in Sri Surya Movies:
``Natpukkaga''. The director's penchant for comedy, too, flows along until the
drama thickens. The story of A. M. Jyothikrishna revives visions of old films
like ``Padikatha Methai'', ``Uyarntha Manithan'' to Ravi Kumar-directed
``Cheran Pandiyan.'' The element of a murder which prolongs the friction
between an affluent landlord and his daughter, has been brought about by
matching situations by the director.
The opulent lifestyle of the landlord (Vijaya Kumar) is best seen when he
travels to Chennai with his trusted servant and ``son'' Chinnaiah (Sarath) to
buy a car, carrying a big bundle of money in a sack and giving a trying time to
the auto driver (Krishnan). Another example is when he sends a team of cars in
different directions to receive his second daughter, Prabha (Simran) from the
U.S., her arrival being bungled by `temporary' servant Kunnan (Senthil) and
Prabha coming in a taxi. The element of disputes between the landlord Periaiya
and his married daughter Gowri (Sithara), the latter now and then pleading with
her father to accept her husband Mansoor Ali Khan and their daughter but being
stoutly rejected by the richman, is all good drama. The acceptance of Chinnaiah
into the family of the landlord, the latter maintaining his status as a dutiful
servants displays the mutual respect between the two.
Gowri's family hates Chinniah because his father Muthaiah (Sarath in dual
role), the much respected servant of Periaiya was deemed to have caused the
death of Periaiya's wife Lakshmi (Sujatha) on the wedding day of Gowri. These
are the sentiment-filled portions of the film. The director goes one step
further when the reunion takes place between Periaiya, Muthaiah, who has
returned from prison, and Chinnaiah, who hates the very presence of his father.
Meaningful dialogue and emotion-filled scenes are triggered off by Manorama,
the mother of Muthaiah. These pave the way for a blood shedding climax with the
entry of Mansoor Ali Khan's mistress Pallavi, with her grown-up son.
The overtures by Prabha to entice Chinnaiah and later presenting it as his
attempt to outrage her modesty and her decision to wed Ranjith to bring about a
union between the two warring families do not go well with the rest of the
proceedings, Simran, too, is found wanting in these emotion-filled segments.
Sarath Kumar portrays both the roles with maturity it. He looks very convincing
in the father's role hogging the acting honours when he meets his son after
returning from prison. For Vijaya Kumar it is all fun and merry time at the
beginning and his authoratative voice lends weight to the character. The others
in the cast extend the wanted support. Director Manobala playing the sidekick
of Mansoor Ali Khan adds to the lighter moments of the film.
Kalidasan's lyrics find good vent in the music of Deva like ``Ayya Seri
Neenga'' (Sarath, Vijaya Kumar, Mano and Malaysia Vasudevan), ``Meesakara
Nanba'' (Deva), ``Garuda Garuda'' (Krishnaraj and Sujatha) and ``Adikkara Kai'
(Harini). Ashok Rajan's cinematography and K. Thanikachalam's editing lend
weight to the production.
--D.S. RAMANUJAM