Pidichirukku-Ashok, Visaka, Ganja KaruppuDirection: Kanagu Music: Manu RamesanProduction: Senbagakumar

Pidichirukku
Cast : Ashok, Visaka, Ganja KaruppuDirection: Kanagu Music: Manu RamesanProduction: Senbagakumar
Director Kanagu, erstwhile assistant director to Linguswamy, debuts with Pidichirukku for producer Senbagakumar. Incidentally, Kanagu assisted Lingusamy during the making of the much-delayed Bheema that is now making it to the theaters alongside Pidichirukku. The movie stars Ashok as the hero (in his second film, after the average grosser Muruga) and debutant Visaka as the heroine.
It’s a plot we are all familiar with: boy from a humble background falls in love with a rich girl, and the travails their love takes them through. Kanagu keeps this clichéd plot engaging by the fine little details he works into the script. The story begins with Ashok meeting with an accident when Visaka’s duppatta flies away and falls on him. Ashok happened to be traveling behind her in a bike. He owns a goods transport agency and this accident turns things topsy-turvy. Visaka’s sympathy for him predictably turns to love (in a by-the-numbers manner we’ve become accustomed to) and the ever so reluctant Ashok returns her love. But all the newfound happiness blossoming between the two is short lived when the girl’s father discovers their secret. A desperate attempt by Ashok to win her back leads to chaos. To get Visaka away from Ashok, her father takes voluntary transfer and the family leaves for Pune. By the time Ashok finds out, she is gone, leaving him shell shocked.
His long search for his love, and his toils to find her with the help of his friend (played by Kanja Karuppu) forms the rest of the story. All this leads to a pretty interesting but not entirely unpredictable climax.The events that lead up to the conflict in the screenplay seem well composed and without glitches (barring the aurally intolerable comedy by Ganja Karuppu). The second half is when the screenplay becomes a paradox, contradicting the hypothesis that it so far held and even banked upon. Only Ashok’s struggles to find Visaka are portrayed in detail, while her own pain at being separated is hardly depicted, making the audience second guess if their love is for real or is just one sided. (The script doesn’t make any attempt to explain it at the end either). An over-emphasis on the hero’s quest (while in Pune) for the heroine makes the second half a little disengaging, blotting an otherwise smooth narrative.
Ashok’s performance in the romantic scenes (especially when he is on the verge of losing hope of finding his beloved) shows consummate ease. A promising future lies ahead for this young actor. As for Visaka, there isn’t much to write home about except to note that she breathes life into the romantic scenes. Saranya as the heroine’s mother gives a standout performance, while Kanja Karuppu’s humor isn’t funny and is everything short of aural torture. He needs better writers to pen situations and lines that suit him. Sampath Raj who plays the girl’s father, an ex-service man turned customs officer, brings depth to his character. Though music by Manu Rameshan seems to be in tune with the movie, only two songs really make the cut.

Verdict: A love story purely for young lovers dying to see themselves in love stories about separation and longing.

Pidichirukku - Only first half