Before getting into categorizing Peranmai to one among half-baked or good or very good, one has to praise and thank its makers Ayngaran international to have invested on a script that is singular and gutsy. Praises now to the director SP Jananathan for not making a film for an Action hero and instead, making an action film with a rugged and toned Jayam Ravi. To still keep addressing him Jayam Ravi is gross.He has given better films already than his debut flick Jayam.

Peranmai is all about the unforeseen challenge of ruining the plans of a foreign intrusion to thwart an Indian satellite of pivotal importance to Indian Aerospace growth faced by forest ranger Dhuruvan, along with 5 other NCC trainees and how they succeed is dealt with in the climax.

All that I have said above is covered in the second half of the film in a never-before-seen-in tamil films format. The first half has been used by the director to introduce the characters and with their attitude, he tries to throw light on the travails of someone belonging to a low class stratum in the society- a scheduled tribe to be particular.

SP Jananathan drew attention when his first film Iyarkai got regional film honours from the national award jury.He took up a different premise in his ‘E’ which was slightly different from the mundane and got commercial success with it. In Peranmai he scores for:

1. Giving us a film on a subject untouched.
2. Giving it in a gutsy manner that didn’t look incorrigibly illogical.
3. Showing the hero as a sensible brain/brawn material.
4. Not trying to show him a Superhero although the setup would ve tempted him to do so.
5. Showing the foreign intruders just as they are. Not as people who would have fluency in regional languages.
6. Showing the brutal killings in a not-so-brutal, not so artificial, yet an intelligent way.

On the flip side, he has to bear my brick bats(that is definitely a harsh term to use,I couldn t find the right word) for:

1. Showing too much focus on the caste/status issue that is irrelevant to the subject.
2. Exaggerated sequences to force the above issue. The muted scenes and the scene where Ponvannan evacuates the tribes elucidate the case in point.
3. The sequences showing the mischievous nature of the girls. It got to irritable proportions.

Anyway when I do the plus/minus calculation, I end up getting a big positive number and so all my accolades to him for this film. His dialogues are a big plus to the film-Smart,crisp intelligent dialogues. An example - When the girls apologise to dhruvan,he says “Sorry kekara nerama idhu”.

Ravi,as Dhruvan is simply an epitome of dedication and hardwork.He has improved in every way imaginable. Full marks to him for making full use of this meaty role and not trying to forcibly add heroism into it. His dialog delivery-one of his biggest minuses thus far- is way good in this film. Hope this film breaks the ‘Remake hero’ tag off him.

The five girls,one among them looks familiar(has come in vattaram,jeyamkondaan) irritate with their antics in the first half but when the film gets into the serious mode, they are on par with Ravi and have done some commendable stunts.

Roland Kickinger and his bunch of foreign actors perform effectively. Kickinger,with his rugged facial expressions, Predator Arnold like body and ‘I mean business’ look deserves special praise. He shows ruthlessness when he kills of one of his own men who is in a hapless state and when he directs one of the girls towards him with his ‘ku koo’ signal.

Oorvasi is her usual self while Vadivel s limited role is a relief after his disjoint and failed rib tickling fiasco in Kandhasamy.

The cinematographer is the next big plus for this film. The scene where Ravi and Co spot the intruders on the other side of the lake looks grand. The locations add value to the cinematography. The lake where one girl gets caught in quick sand looks majestic and all the scenes in the rain forests of TN-Kerala border add realism to the proceedings.

Vidhyasagar has given passable songs and an adequate background score that complements the action sequences.

The way the film moves makes me want to shower some praise and no complaints at the editor.

In all, I would call this not a path breaking film.Instead, I would call this a gutsy film with a first half that is a bit irritating and exaggerated.But a kickass second half mends everything and makes me put this in the ‘Good’ category.We must encourage this film, and Jananathan adds himself to my list of promising film makers of this gen.