Review of Poovellam Un Vaasam

Introduction

While Hindi cinema have been churning out blockbuster family entertainers like Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham (2001), and Ek Rishtaa-The Bond of Love (2001), Tamil cinema have been providing their own blockbuster family films such as Anandam (2001), and Vanthapolaa (2000). Poovellam Un Vaasam is also a film that fits within this genre, but fails where the films mentioned above have succeed.

Poovellam Un Vaasam looks at how two families, who have been happy together for three generations, suddenly break up due to a misunderstand. This for me is where the fault in the film lies. Would such love between two families for so many years just break up over a misunderstanding? The way the film handled it didn’t seem to justify its points although the misunderstanding created by the villain is well thought of. What follows after the break up is the usual over-the-top scenes of the elder generation of each family missing each other. In a scene when each of the elderly grandfather cry over the other family’s laundry was too silly and trying to evoke too much sentiments from audiences. Yet comments from others about the break up situation are clever, and place the film back in viewing mode.

The first half of the film looks at both families lovingly by creating a real joyful and colourful atmosphere, similar to the massive blockbuster Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994). So when the break up occurs at interval point it is supposed to have an effect on audience. Sadly I wasn’t one of them as I felt the film to be too persuasive in its manner of conveying feelings and family sentiments. Despite the films shortcomings it does have some good moments, the romance between the main leads Ajith Kumar and Jyothika are cute and funny. If the film solely concentrated on this aspect it could have made for better viewing. But I feel the director was trying to repeat his family film Poove Unakkaaga.

The appearance of Yukhta Mookhey (former Miss World) helped to make this film dive further downwards, as the song she appeared in wasn’t that good and her dancing was quite embarrassing (I’d hate to image what kind of a performance she is going to give in her forthcoming Hindi film Pyaasa). The comedy track by Vivek is forgettable, but the humour found in the main characters romance did make me chuckle a few times. The one fight sequence is well executed and has some good editing techniques seen in many Hong Kong films.

Other parts of the film I did enjoy were the production values that are high. The cinematography is excellent, and with tight editing it further helps to enjoy the whole film on a more professional basis. Also good was the art direction, music score by Vidyasagaar (except for the Yuktha Muookhey song) and costume designs. Performance wise I thought only Ajith Kumar and Jyothika was good as their expressions helped us to feel for the characters. Other cast members didn’t leave any mark on my mind. Overall the film isn’t the best family entertainment, despite a large budget and big star cast. Watch Vanthapolaa (2000), which was produced by the same company Oscar Films Ltd, and then you’ll understand what is mean by a great family film…

Video

The DVD is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.20:1, in an anamorphic transfer. While cropped from its original aspect ratio of 2.45:1, cropping is never an issue. Much of the frame is covered. The picture quality is excellent. Compression artefacts and film grain is not evident, making the picture detail look extremely well encoded. Sharpness is conveyed with precision to help the picture information provide audience with clean and precise images.

Colour saturation is very vivid and bold as the film was shot in Technicolor, and thankfully the colours never distort on this disc. Dark details are good, while contrast details are well balanced. Wear and tear is evident in some scenes but they aren’t as distracting since they arrive in forms in tiny white dots. Strangely the DVD manages to look fresh despite the little film dirt.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 Tamil track from made from the original DTS audio steams and as a result sounds really good. No sound distortion is heard. The soundtrack is predominantly dialogue-driven. However it has been well recorded and features impressive fidelity. Sound effects are subtly spread around the 5.1 speaker set-up for a compelling sense of activity in the surrounds.

Features

Another bones disc from Ayngaran, this DVD only features moving menus that are average and of easy navigation. Optional English subtitles are also provided but the grammar and translation used is poor. Ayngaran must use another translator who actually understands English as well as Tamil as since the viewing experience suffers when English Subtitles is used.

The packaging of the DVD is quite nice, this is the first Indian DVD to be released in a digipak format. The stills from the film provided on the digipak packaging are nice. But the cardboard is susceptible to damage if this disc is to be constantly used.

Conclusion

I loved the 5.1 sound and the fresh picture quality. EROS should take tips on how to do a disc. If there was an award for Indian DVDs then I would put the soundtrack on this disc as a nominee for best Dolby 5.1 sound. The film wasn’t as good as others made it out to be, but I would recommend this DVD if interested in the title or just a good 5.1 experience.