Pancharaaksharam Movie Review
Balaji Vairamuthu’s mysterious thriller is a worth a watch at the cinemas this weekend. Below goes our Pancharaaksharam Movie Review.
Pancharaaksharam Movie Review
A punchy, interesting thriller.
Performances
Story & Narration
Technical Aspects & Music
Supernatural thrillers in Tamil cinema are rare, and even when they have come by, they have bit more than what they can chew or have turned too loud. Staying away from most of the clichés associated with the genre, debutant director Balaji Vairamuthu comes up with Pancharaaksharam, which is an interesting film that has shades of intelligent writing spaced out throughout.
Pancharaaksharam is based on five friends and their encounter with a mysterious book that changes their life, testing their bond. The good thing about the film is its even pace, which is neither stagnant nor rapid, managing to keep you engaged with some nice plot points.
Balaji’s classy approach to the script makes the incidents onscreen interesting as they happen, and credit must go to him for setting up the first half superbly.
With real good clarity, the director introduces us to the concept and goes all guns blazing with the long sequence at the halfway mark, which is indeed the best scene of the film. Post interval, Pancharaaksharam takes a turn towards a slightly usual path with a jaded climax, but still does throw in a few surprises overall.
The cast is made up of the five friends – Santhosh Prathap, Gokul, Ashwin Jerome, Madhu Shalini and Sana Althaf, all of who come up with fair performances that don’t look out of place. In particular, Madhu Shalini and Santhosh have the best of the roles and do it to good levels.
KS Sundaramurthy’s music for the film is a fabulous value addition – the songs in Theeradhae and Destiny are pleasant while the background score ups the ante in various situations, especially the interval block. The cinematography adds to the classy feel of the film, while the editing is neat.
On the whole, Pancharaaksharam works as an enticing supernatural thriller that stays away from the usual gimmicks such as romance and comedy, and only sticks to the core plot throughout. It sure does come off as a good debut from Balaji Vairamuthu, who has taken up a fresh concept and spun around an engaging film. Pancharaaksharam Movie Review by Siddarth Srinivas
