‘Sinthanai Sei’ - interesting story, too many twists (Tamil Film Review)

Film: “Sinthanai Sei”; Director: Yuvan; Cast: Yuvan, Sashanth, Bala, Madhu Sharma, Madhu Priya and Kadhal Dhandapani; Music: Thaman; Rating: ***

The theme of “Sinthanai Sei”, directed and enacted by newcomer Yuvan, is like a bolt from the blue. But the amateur handling of the screenplay mars its overall impact.

What begins as an emotional tale slowly settles down to an action-flick about a bank robbery. The humiliation caused by failures of five youths manifests into violence and forces them to chart a different path in their lives.

Adhi (Yuvan), who is considered useless by his parents, comes to the city to eke out a livelihood. But to his surprise Gayathri (Madhu Priya), a rich girl falls in love with him and they get married within a month. But they get separated in a matter of days.

Yuvan, humiliated and shattered, goes in search of his lost life and meets his four friends who studied with him in school. All of them are sailing in the same boat as all are struggling to make both ends meet.

Ethics and morality are the last thing on their mind as they struggle to make a living and so they have no qualms in indulging in criminal activities as well.

Aiming big, one fine day these petty thieves plan to rob a bank. They execute the plan well, leaving the police clueless and confused. They decide to share Rs.5 crore (Rs.50 million) they stole from the bank and here begins all the troubles.

Mistrust crops up between them. Friends get killed one after another and a blame game follows. Yuvan finally manages to survive and the climax tells you what he did with the money.

Debutant director Yuvan has to be commended for his efforts to build a story based on the psychological aspect of one’s life. He has effectively shown how humiliation caused by failures gets manifested in youth taking to crime and violence.

He has presented the movie with a brisk pace till the intermission. But the second half, with some predictable turns, is relatively slow. Moreover, the director takes too much of time to reach the climax, which lacks punch despite the many twists and turns.

Thaman, a member of the group Shankar’s Boys, scores the music for the film. A couple of songs are racy and foot-tapping.

Yuvan is impressive in the acting department too as he brings out the right emotions at the right time. The rest of the cast, including Sashanth, Bala, Madhu Sharma and Kadhal Dhandapani, do the job entrusted to them well.

On the whole, the movie begins with a promise but fails to maintain the momentum in the second half.