Review: Saamy Square

Film: Saamy Square
Cast: Vikram, Keerthy Suresh, Prabhu, Aishwarya Rajesh, Aishwarya, Soori, Bobby Simhaa, Sudha Chandran and others
Director: Hari
Music: Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography: Priyan, Venkatesh Anguraj

Saamy Square, the sequel to director Hari’s blockbuster, Saamy is a reasonably interesting action thriller that mananges to meet most of the huge expectations that audiences had from it after watching the first film in the franchise.

The sequel, which starts off from where the first part ends, sees Ramasamy (Vikram), the son of Aaruchamy (Vikram’s character in Part I) take on Mahendra Pichai, Devendra Pichai and Ravana Pichai, the three sons of Perumal Pichai (Kota Srinivasa Rao’s character in Part I).

Soon after Perumal Pichai’s death, his three sons, who are in Sri Lanka, are hurt by the news that their father fled for his life and died a coward. To disprove this theory, Ravana Pichai (Bobby Simhaa), the last of the three brothers, on the advice of their mother (Sudha Chandran), arrives in Tirunelveli. He soon sets upon the task of finding out what exactly happened and immediately proclaims that his dad was not a coward but a fighter. He installs a statue in his dad’s honour in the middle of an important intersection in Tirunelveli.

To take revenge for their father’s death, they also plot the death of Aaruchamy and his wife (Aishwarya Rajesh), who is pregnant at the time of her death.

However, Aaruchamy before dying, manages to save his son, Ramasamy, who returns to Tirunelveli 28 years later as an IPS officer. On getting to know about the manner in which his parents were killed by Ravana Pichai and his brothers, he immediately initiates steps, both to bring back orderliness to Tirunelveli and also bring the goondas to book.

Ramasamy, who knows that the three brothers make their money through goondaism and by  transferring black money of big politicians and industrialists from one part of the country to another, gets cracking on it.

Soon, a full-fledged war is fought between Ramasamy, the son of Aaruchamy, and the three sons of Perumal Pichai, who have now grown in stature and power. Who wins and how is what the story is about.

The film has three big strengths. The first of these is the manner in which director Hari narrates the script. The gifted commercial director knows how to narrate a story without making audiences feel bored. The film, by and large, moves at a brisk pace, save the time Soori comes on screen.

Soori’s jokes are sad and seriously fall short of the mark. These so-called funny sequences unnecessarily apply the brakes on the story, everytime it looks to gather pace.

The next big strength of the film is Vikram’s portrayal of Ramasamy. Despite being 15 years older (The first part of the Saamy franchise released in 2003) from the time he played the hero in the first part, Vikram sports the same impressive physique and more or less manages to deliver the same impactful performance he delivered in Saamy 1. He carries the film on his shoulders effortlessly and his performance is one of the reasons the film shines.

The third big strength is the romantic portions between Dia (Keerthy Suresh), the daughter of Union Minister Viswanathan (Prabhu),  and Ramasamy, with whom she is madly in love with. Some of the romantic sequences are really cute but some of it is exaggerated and seems a little far-fetched, affecting the authenticity of the plot.

The film has its fair share of drawbacks as well. The first of these is the manner in which the director exaggerates certain incidents.

For instance, Ramasamy choosing IPS over IAS in the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Administration in Mussorie after a chance collision with an IPS officer there is laughter-inducing. Another instance where the director seems to have let his imagination run wild is a sequence in which Ramasamy, as the SP of the district, takes on the District Collector, an IAS officer. Then, there is also an instance, when Dia, who wants to wish Ramasamy a happy birthday, takes a helicopter to meet him at Mussorie. She offers him a bouquet of roses even as he is in the middle of a class. All of these make the film lose its seriousness.

One other drawback is that Bobby Simhaa, who speaks in Sri Lankan Tamil initially, is seen talking Tirunelveli Tamil on certain occasions and even Madras Tamil on others. The inconsistency is glaring and cannot be missed.

While Saamy had scintillating hits, Saamy Square has only one song that really makes the cut. Athiroobaney is probably the only one number that is hummable. Director Hari seems to be aware of the impact his powerful punch lines in Saamy had on the audiences and looks to use most of them again in Saamy Square as well.

In short, if you expect Saamy Square to be like the Saamy that Hari and Vikram made, 15 years ago, you are likely to end up getting a little disappointed but if you go with an open mind, without looking to compare Saamy Square with that of Saamy, you are likely to rate it as a decent entertainer. In other words, Saamy Square might not be as thrilling as Saamy but it certainly makes the cut.