After Pichaikkaran, director Sasi is back with Sivappu Manjal Pachai starring Siddharth and GV Prakash Kumar along with Lijomol Jose and Kashmira Pardeshi, making their Tamil debut. Dealing with human relationships in films is Sasi’s forte and this film is no exception as after dealing with Mother – Son sentiment in Pichaikkaran, where he deals with Akka – Thambi and Mama – Machan sentiment in an effective manner.
The film starts with Rajalakshmi (Lijomol Jose) and Madhan (GV Prakash) growing up without their parents and is under the care of their aunt. Madhan develops a liking for bikes and soon becomes part of a local gang and takes part in illegal bike races in the city.
Once during a race, he gets arrested by Traffic cop Rajaekhar (Siddharth), who publicly humiliates him. This incident makes Madhan hate Rajsekhar but within a few days Rajsekhar becomes his brother in law and this makes him hate his sister as well. What happens to the relationship between the brother and sister and the brother in laws forms the rest of the story.
The chemistry between Siddharth and GV Prakash is a big strength to the film. Both their roles, GV as a bike racer and Siddharth as a police, for the first time in his career, gives a tinge of freshness. GV as Madhan, a 19-year-old boy suits the role perfectly and he also emotes the body language of being a young racer well. Siddharth also balances between being a strict cop and a doting husband quite effectively.
But special applause to director Sasi for sketching the role of Rajalakshmi as the central character in the film. Lijomol Jose just gets into the character and her despite good performances from Siddharth and GV it is her acting that stands out in the film. Kashmira, as Kavin in the film does not have much to do. The film also has sharp dialogues that glorifies the job of a traffic police, tells the importance of relationship between brother-in-laws and also speaks about how the men always shows authority over women that connects the audience somewhere.
Debutant music director Siddhu Kumar’s songs and BGM are fresh and especially the songs Usure and Mayilangiye lingers in the mind. The visual effects during the racing scenes are however a big letdown as the CGI isn’t great making it very artificial. Also, the usual story of the lead fighting a common villain towards the end of the film makes it very redundant. Despite the small flaws, the film moves at a good pace and Sasi deserves applause, for telling the importance of family through this film.