At the start of the New Year comes a film for children titled Pizhai. Directed by debutant Rajavel Krishna, Pizhai stars noted child actors Kaaka Muttai Ramesh, Appa Nasath and new comer Gokul alongside other actors like Charlie, Mime Gopi, George Maryan and Kallori Vinoth.
Pizhai is about three notorious school children who doesn’t have interest in studies. Their parents (Mime Gopi, Charlie and George Maryan) are daily wage labourers and toil hard in a granite quarry, breaking stones. They live at a village and while they want their kids to study well and come up in life, the three boys studying class eight at a government school, fail in exams and due to their mischief brings home one problem after the other that infuriates the parents who beat them up for their wrongdoings.
One day, a young man who ran away from the village during his school days returns after starting a hotel business in the city. He receives a rousing reception from the villagers. The three boys befriends him and gets to know that he had a very bad image at the village during his school days and he decided to run away from the village and return only after becoming rich. They also hear him saying that since he has money now, he is being respected in the village.
Hearing this, the boys also decide to make money by going to a city. One night they run away and starts working at a hotel by saying that they are orphans. They encounter several troubles after that and whether they realise their mistake and come back to their village, forms the rest of the story.
The director, despite having a good storyline with a sole motive to show that education is a tool that helps one be successful in life, fails to make the cut when it comes to executing it on the screen. While the first half of the film sets the tone, the second half is a big letdown. The story here suddenly takes a brief diversion here touching upon the issue of inter-caste marriage. It comes as a deterrent to the flow of the film.
All the three fathers have acted well and especially Charlie’s acting at the climax stands out. Among the boys, Appa Nasath impresses. However had the director focussed more on the film’s main plot, Pizhai could have been an effective film especially for school children.