'Sivappu Manjal Pachai' Film Review: Commercial potboiler elevated by strong leads

The protagonists in the film comprise a reckless street racer, Madhan (GV Prakash) and a straightforward traffic cop Rajasekar (Siddharth). Divided not just by the line of duty, even their personalities are poles apart. This sets the tone for an interesting cat-and-mouse game.

Madhan and his sister Raji (Lijumol Jose), orphaned at a young age, have each other’s back. Madhan grows up to become a street racer. Upon confrontation, Rajasekar goes on to humiliate him in public and posts a video that goes viral. To make things complicated, Madhan’s aunt goes ahead and pitches Rajasekar as a suitable groom for Raji. This makes for an interesting first half, which is backed by Sasi’s quality writing, where he seems to have done proper leg work.

The lead performances are the saving grace of the film. GV Prakash and Siddharth are apt in their roles. A battle of wits between GV and Siddharth is the lifeline of the plot. GV as a bike racer has put in a lot of hard work and is a career-best for him. Siddharth on the other hand, looks dapper as a cop with his hard-hitting dialogues, delivered in his own style. They make us smile and offer food for thought at the same time. Both actors have played roles younger than themselves (GV is 32 and he plays Madhan, a 19-year-old, while Siddharth turned 40 and plays Rajasekar, a 25-year-old). And they are convincing to a tee.

Sasi’s portrayal of heroines is always empathetic. Lijumol Jose and Kashmira are not heroines who romance their heroes, only to be relegated to the back seat, pre-climax. The film marks their debut and the duo, which puts its best foot forward, is here to stay. The characters of GV and that of Raji’s aunt stand out as two of the most well-defined roles in recent Tamil films. Her performance resonates with the audience immediately.

Siddhu Kumar’s background score, especially during the bike racing scenes, adds value to the film. Prasanna Kumar, the DOP, has managed to block and light up the frames in an elegant fashion. The shot in the coffee shop where Raji puts up a balancing act between Rajasekar and Madhan is one of the standouts in the film. Madhusudhanan’s portions and shoddy VFX in a couple of racing sequences are some of the jarring flaws in the film. The second half picks up in an uptempo way. But, it gets a tad too melodramatic down the middle and begins lagging. Despite a predictable ending, Sasi offers a satisfying build up to the climax. Overall, Sivappu Manjal Pachai is a decent attempt that is worth a watch.