Movie Review : Por
The story set in a scenic, sprawling university campus, where Prabhu (Arjun Das) is a senior medical student. He is happy in this world surrounded by close friends like Gayatri ( TJ Bhanu) an activist and Rishika ( Sanchana Natarajan) and several others.
Into his world comes fresher student Yuvraj (Kalidas Jairam) who has a painful history with him, of when the duo were in boarding school, and who now is thirsting for revenge.
Surya is a politico's daughter who is owner of the university. She wants to win the university elections at any cost, even if it means removing her ex- lover Vennila from the way to the goal post.
What happens when Yuvraj finally gets an opportunity to wreak havoc in Prabhu's life? Does he get his revenge? How are all these friends' and students' lives impacted?
Bejoy Nambiar has based his story on a real incident. The film has a basic storyline but the manner in which the sceenplay moves and the narration of events ( set as chapters), makes the movie interrsting.
The director takes his time to give us a peek into the lives of all the major characters before he moves in to the revenge saga that is at the core of the story. This helps in connecting with them and keeping us invested in what's going on with them.
He also give the messags of how the thirst for revenge can consume someone and make an ordinary person into a bloodthirsty machine. The ill effects of nurturing stubborn egos which can destroy lives, also comes through.
There is much drama, action and romance in Por, which al touches upon many issues right from casteism and socio-political issues, to the portrayal of a drug dependant student lifestyle, the effect of unbridled political ambition and ego clashes, all of which are shown in the microcosm of college life.
The camerawork is superb as are the songs and bgm. The action blocks are impactful. The film is full of emotional highs, color and chaos in the midst of love, despair guilt and hope.
All the artists uphold the vision of Bejoy with noteworthy performances, that etch the characters into memory.
Arjun Das is impressive as always as he slips into Prabhu's role with seemingly effortless ease. Kalidas displays the fluidity of emotions superbly with his eyes and body language. The face -off scenes of the duo together and especially the climax, are to watch out for.
Sanchana ( superbly emotive as caught on camera, in close- up shorts) and TJ Bhanu are aptly cast and do a credible job of bringing their characters to life.
At times, the film seems to be meandering and repetitive. Some actors seem miscast. Lots of screen time is devoted showing a dependance and ease of use of drugs. Many a time, it takes forever to connect with characters and their emotions due to the meandering screenplay, and there are moments where things don't seem to be moving forward.
But the pace does pick up in the second half leading to a massy climax portion.
Por, with its peek into contemporary campus life probing their fears , ambitions, mistakes and learnings, makes for a differently presented, rugged yet stylish revenge college drama that proves to be a thrilling ride.
In theatres from March 1st.
Rating 3.5/ 5
POR Cast & Crew Details:
Cast:
Arjundas
Kalidas Jayaram
T.J.Banu
Sanchana Natarajan
Amrutha Srinivasan
Mervyn Rozario
Crew:
Written & Direction by: Bejoy Nambiar
Music: Sanjith Hegde ,Dhruv Visvanath, Gaurav Godkhindi
Original Background Score Modern Tape Scores (Harish Venkat & Sachidanand Sankaranarayanan), Gaurav Godkhindi
Dop: Jimshi Khalid & Presley Oscar D'souza
Executive Producer: Lakshay Kumar
Editor: Priyank Prem Kumar
Art Director: ManiMozhiyan Ramadurai
Singers: Sanjith Hegde,V.M. Mahalingam,Varsha S Krishnan, Kapil Kapilan
Lyrics: Krithika Nelson, Vignesh Srikanth, Mohan Rajan
Action Director: Riyaz And Habib
Creative Producer: Balakumaran
PRO: Sathish Kumar
Sound Design: Dawn Vincent
Production house : T series, Getaway pictures, Roox media
Producer: T-Series, Bejoy Nambiar, Prabhu Antony, Madhu Alexander
