Don't miss it!
Debutant director Saravanan's Engeyum Eppodhum is an interesting tale of the effects of a tragic accident. Accidents have more or less become a part of our day-to-day lives in the age of super-fast cars, bikes and the tendency among the people to live life to the fullest, forgetting the dangers that are associating with riding and driving speedily.
Two buses collide head-on resulting in a gruesome accident. The accident, unexpected as always, throws up many unsolved questions and destroys the dreams of many. The script travels through the travails and the tears of the passengers as we are literally 'made to' travel along with the bus deftly by Saravanan.
Jai and Anjali are in the bus traveling from Tiruchy to Chennai while Ananya and Sharvanand are in different buses bus traveling from Tiruchy to Chennai and from Chennai to Tiruchy respectively. The two buses collide with each other near Villupuram. The rest of the film is about who they are and what happens to their cherished dreams, desires and aspirations.
The film opens with the deadly accident and frequently gets into the flashback mode. Jai's tricks to attract the attention of the neighbourhood girl and their successive encounters are filmed in an interesting manner. Another interesting bit is the meeting between Sharvanand and Ananya; their chance encounter at the bus stop, which continues in the bus, has been shown rather captivating.
The screenplay is pretty interesting as it takes us through the story without us realizing that we are 'travelling' along with it. The love affairs between the pairs of Jai and Anjali and Sharvanand and Ananya have been filmed poetically. The way a college boy meets a girl and falls in love with her during the course of the journey is convincing sans any artificial air.
Small instances such as the case of a husband coming to the bus stand to see off his newly wed wife, the cook's case, the old man belonging to Jai's village, the story of a father who returns from abroad after five long years who is yearning to meet his child, Ananya's sister and the Muslim woman shown to be boarding the bus in-between, make the story rather interesting.
It's to the director's credit that he has shown almost all the songs in 'montage' version except for the song Maasamaa. Though the backdrop – telling the lives of different people assembling in spot with different purposes - isn't something we haven't seen before, it's the director's handling of the script which makes it rather watchable sans any drama.
Jai has put in a very subdued performance. As always, Anjali's acting is upto the mark; the mischievousness in her eyes while teasing Jai and the pride in her face when she says that Jai's her lover are admirable. Anjali's stunning performance culminates in a very moving climax. Sharvanand, playing a typical urban youth with good heart, fits the bill perfectly. Ananya has done her part very well; the director has toiled hard to ensure that the many characters that are shown in the script have done their respective roles fittingly enough.
Velraj's cinematography stands apart: be it the bus accident, the sequences inside the bus and outside the bus, his camera work is awesome, to say the least. Debutant music director Sathya has done a wonderful job with already three songs topping the music charts. Sotta sotta
and Un paera theriyaidhu
are very well scored.
Overall, Saravanan has done an amazing job in narrating how an accident destroys the lives and dreams of the many passengers involved and scores heavily in the climatic sequence. Kudos to him!
