I heard many good things about this movie. Thus, there was an air of anticipation when I finally caught this on VCD. After nearly 3 hours, one thing came to my mind: what goes around, comes around.

The director, Ameer, has given a great movie (Raam) before and didn’t disappoint much.

The movie begins with a verse from Thirumurai 49:13, something about God creating man and woman, allowing them to procreate, leading to different race and culture, and for humans to interact with the different cultures.

The story is quite straightforward – a love story set amidst caste problems in a village called Paruthioor. Paruthiveeran (Kartik) saved his relative’s daughter Muttalaghi (Priyamani) when they were both young. The young girl felt indebted to him and promised to be with him till death. As time goes by, we find Paruthiveeran grow up to be one violent man, with the sole intention of appearing in TV by committing crimes and planning to stay in different jails while he is still alive. His parents were murdered by Muttalaghi’s father and clansmen. He was raised by his uncle (Saravanan, making a comeback). Their lives are embroiled with violence, village justice, tit-for-tat fights, and crime.

Muttalaghi still harbours dream of living together with Paruthiveeran, but Paruthiveeran has been living a life of crime and does not take her seriously. However, he changes heart and decides to chart his life with Muttalaghi. Unfortunately, Muttalaghi’s father fiercely opposes this relationship. The scene where after he beats up Muttalaghi, she decides to have a hearty meal shows her will of steel.

Things get worse and Muttalaghi’s father gets a bunch of hired killers to get rid of Paruthiveeran and his uncle. At night, Muttalaghi defies her parents and move into Paruthiveeran’s house. After being advised by his grandmother and his uncle, the young couple decide to elope. At this point, news comes through about Muttalaghi’s father dastardly plans, thus the family separates and escape into the dark.

Paruthiveeran asks Muttalaghi to hide at one of the stop areas while he tries to clear up things. Unfortunately, a bad deed that he did before comes back in the form of lorry drivers. They set upon Muttalaghi. Paruthiveeran returns to the shack, only to find his love badly brutalized and in her death throes. The touching scene, where Muttualaghi cries out to Paruthiveeran is sure to melt even a cold heart. As he was about to leave with Muttalaghi’s body, the father and his gang arrive. Not wanting to allow the shame that fell upon Muttalaghi to be known to her father and the village, Paruthiveeran does the unbelievable and hacks her into pieces. The others view with horror through the window as the hacking sound continues. They managed to break down the door and enter the shack, while Paruthiveeran walks out saying that if he can’t get her, no one can. The gang, enraged with his act, attack him and ends his life.

Acting wise, I felt Priyamani stood out compared to the debutant hero and others. Kartik as the anti-hero, conveyed his acting through his action and eyes, since his beard hides his face well.

The movie has many moments of flashback (sensibly done in black and white) which if not carefully followed, will cause the audience to lose track and interest. Some scenes dragged and I feel could have been better edited. The movie celebrated life in villages. One gets to see how festivals were celebrated in rural areas; how problems arise and get solved; basically how things went in the rural backwaters. A bit like Veyyil.

Songs are by Yuvan Shankar Raja. His dad, maestro Illayaraja sang a beautiful song “Ariyadhe Vayasu”, while the sentimental and melodious “Ayyayo” is sure to be in our minds for some time. “Oororam Puliyamaram” was a classic village song.

Comedy is provided by Ganja Karuppu who tries to eke out a living but always failed due to Paruthiveeran and his uncle’s actions.

Overall, a good try, but message may be lost between the gore and violence.