Paava Kadhaigal Review – Old wine in new bottle.

Paava Kadhaigal is Netflix’s maiden original in Tamil and they roped in top directors, Sudha Kongara, Vetrimaaran, Gautam Vasudev Menon, and Vignesh Shivan for this anthology. Anjali, Sai Pallavi, Simran, Prakash Raj, Gautam Menon, and Kalidas played key roles in the same. Scroll on to read our review of the anthology.

Story:

This anthology consists of four independent parts.

Thangam: This part has Sudha Kongara at the helm and it deals with a transgender person (Kalidas) who is in love with Thangam(Shanthanu) and has to cope with heartbreak after knowing the latter is in love with his own sister.

Love Panna Vutranum: Vignesh Shivan directs this story and it is about a politician who supports intercaste marriages in public but takes a stern decision when it comes to his own kids.

Vaanmagal: Gautam Vasudev Menon directs this story and it portrays the way in which a family of five react when a 12-year-old is raped.

Oor Iruvu: Sai Pallavi elopes with her boyfriend and she is found in pregnancy by her father Raman(Prakash Raj) and what follows later forms the remaining story.

What about on-screen performances?

Seasoned and proven actors have been roped in for this anthology and all of them deliver astounding performances. They carry the vibe and essence of each and every independent story with great conviction. Anjali surprises in a bold and steamy scenes. Sai Pallavi and Prakash Raj evoke great father-daughter emotions. The rest of the star cast do complete justice to their roles as well.

What about off-screen talents?

Four prominent and mainstream directors came on board for this anthology and they picks stories based on caste, status, gender inequality, and humane emotions. The emotional connect is bang on point in all four stories but none of them are overwhelmingly new. The stories were narrated with good emotions in place but the lack of surprise elements make them a slow watch. Of the four, Sudha and Vetrimaaran’s stories are particularly good. Gautam, and Vignesh’s stories are okayish.

What’s Hot?

Performances of the lead cast
Cinematography
Background music
Emotional connect

What’s Not?

Routine storylines
No surprising elements
Slow narrative
Weak climax portions

Verdict:

All the four stories have identical set-ups and were directed by top filmmakers. Also, proven actors were roped in for all of them. But the tried and tested storylines and slow narrative take a toll on the anthology, as a whole. Most of the scenes feel repetitive as well.

Watch or Not?: Only for those love emotional dramas.

TeluguBulletin.com Rating: 2/5