Producer: Kalpathi S. Aghoram
Director: Susi Ganesan
Cast: Jeevan, Sonia Agrawal, Malavika, Vivek
Music: Bharathwaj

Director Susi Ganeshan is back with a totally different kind of film after trying his hands in romantic films. ‘Tiruttu Payale’ is a good thriller that will make you sit up all the time. Jeevan has been waiting all this years for a role like this to come his way. He made the right choice. He has got a good role to play in the film.

Manickam (Jeevan) comes to Chennai and stays with his uncle (Vinod), as his parents find hard to tolerate his anger and unruly nature. On the other hand, his uncle, who is a police officer, loves him very much since his childhood. He starts watching rich people playing golf from the terrace of his apartment through his binocular as a means of passing time. His eyes bump into Roopini (Malavika), the wife of a business tycoon who has extra-marital relationship with her husband’s (Manoj.K.Jayan) best friend Santhosh (Abbas).

He captures them having sex in the golf course on his video camera with the idea of making quick and big buck. He gets to know more about Roopini and starts blackmailing her with the help of his video. He stops the blackmailing after she promises to sponsor his entire life including a holiday with his buddies to Australia. But Roopini always tries to trap him. This friction places them at loggerheads, leading to a thrilling climax.

It’s not a kind of film that happens everyday. The character of the hero is negative and the girls too are not free from dark shades. Malavika is great as Roopini. She has done a wonderful job as a women who is torn apart by mental torture caused by the blackmailer and guilt for turning against her loving husband. Sonia Agaewal has done her best and tried to pump in a bit of glamour. Vivek’s comedy track in Australia is fine but the sequences in Chennai are not up to the mark. Manoj.K.Jayan has played the role of a millionaire husband really well.

Above all, Jeevan steals the show as Manickan. It is one of the best roles he has ever played, and getting accolades by doing a negative role in a commercial film is in itself a great achievement. He succeeds by making the character look really bad.

The film is not lagging behind in technical aspects too. Debutant cameraman Ravishankar’s choice of color is good. The locations in Australia are beautiful and the interior of Roopini’s house is cool. Bharadwaj’s music is soothing, especially the number “Poi Sollaporen”.

At the end, it is Susi Ganeshan who deserves all the accolades and praises for moving away from mainstream Tamil films. ‘Tiruttu Payale’ is sure to keep you alert all through. You should not miss this thriller.