Chennai
Seema Raja is the third-time collaboration of Ponram and Sivakarthikeyan after Varuthapadadha Valibar Singam and Rajini Murugan. The film opened to a lot of hype after their previous ventures struck a chord with the family audience and were commercialy viable. However, this film fails to live up to expectations and ends up being one of those Tamil films that projects hero as larger-than-life but does little else.
Seema Raja (Sivakarthikeyan), the heir prince of Singampatti is a jobless youth, like the protagonists of other Ponram films (which is also Sivakarthikeyan mostly).
Post Kaala, Seema Raja is the other Tamil film that opens with a gully cricket scene, and we see the hero making a mass entry followed by a dog. He is soon joined by his accountant Aasaramarakkayar (Soori), doesn’t have much of a role. Soori’s only high-point in the film is the six-pack scene, which is short-lived as the director gets back to focus on the hero worship.
Seema Raja in the first half meets the love of his life, Suthanthira Devi (Samantha), who plays a Physical Education teacher. Her silambam scenes lives up to the expectations. However, her character is stereotypical as the hero stalks her and in one of the scenes he says that guys are like the phoenix, who bounce back even when they are snubbed and follow the girls they love.
Moreover, there are instances where we realise that the film is a mishmash of Rajini’s hit films like Muthu and Padayappa with sun glasses and punch dialogues. The villains of the film, Kaathaadi Kannan (Lal) and his wife Kaaleswari (Simran) don’t do much justice with their predictable evil acts. They threaten the hero and lock up their daughter to show their disapproval. Simran reminds us of Neelambari in Padayappa. However, weak writing lets her character down. With a few humourous one-liners from Soori evoking a laugh, the first half of the film is watchable.
The second-half is a complete letdown. While the flashback portion of the film in which Sivakarthikeyan plays a king named Kadambavel Raja is penned well, but the VFX is too amateur. With a predictable climax, the audience leaves the theatre even before the credits. There is hardly any scope for the actors to perform. A film that has been promoted with target audience as kids has a dialogue that has a references to condoms. Seema Raja is nothing but a mere extension of Ponram-Sivakarthikeyan’s previous films.
Imman’s music has definitely done a world of good to Seema Raja. Balasubramaniem’s cinematography looks a little out of place in Onnavitta Yaarum Enakilla song, where a shot that has been zoomed is distorted. Overall, the film is for the audience who like punch dialogues and are not too bothered about logic.
Seema Raja
Director: Ponram
Cast: Sivakarthikeyan, Samantha Akkineni, Soori, Simran, Napoleon and Rajendhiran
Music Director: D Imman
Synopsis: The happy-go-lucky heir prince of Singampatti fights land mafias and saves the farmers’ life in the village
Rating: 2/5
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