Papanasam(2015)

Cast :

Kamal Hassan, Gowthami, Aasha Sarath, Nivetha Thomas, Kalabhavan Mani, MSBhaskar, Delhi Ganesh etc

Plot and Story line:

Papanasam is a Tamil Crime thriller written and directed by Jeethu Joseph, a remake from the Malayalam super hit Drishyam.

The film is about Suyambulingam (played by Kamal Hassan) a cable TV network provider for small village- Papanasam, near thenkasi. How he struggles to cover up a accidental murder which his family commits is the basic story line. The film starts in the police station in papanasam, Suyamb is a murder accused and he waits to sign in the police register and the flashback begins

Suyambu is a self made man. He leeds simple but  happy life. The first hour of the film follows the incidents in a common man's life, He has 2 daughter one is a teen - selvi(played by Nivetha Thomas) and the other is a 10 yr old - Pullimenna.  Suyambu is a cinema lover , throughout the film he uses quotes films and draws many ideas from the film he sees. He is also a do gooder in his village. He saves many poor from corrupt police in the town. Hatred develops between suyambu and Perumal(a police constable played by Kalabhavan Mani) because of his helping nature.

Selvi goes on a field trip to Thenkasi which her school organizes. An incident happens in the trip which become the turn-point of suyambu's family. One of the guys in her school shoots a video of selvi bathing and he blackmails her with it. In a turn of events, selvi and her mom Rani  (played by Gowthami) kill Varun accidentally. The rest of the film is how Suyambu handles the situation and do they get away with it ?

The second half of the film is all about how Suyambu covers up the crime and sets up an alibi for the family. He is calm, methodical and he thinks of all possible ways that the police might find out. This is where the film draws its difference from  Drishyam . While Mohanlal is more cool and confident in all Scenes Kamal  is more emotional  in some places when his daughters are afraid of their Crime. 

It is the police commissioner Geetha   (played by Aasha Sarath) who is also the mother of the missing Varun who turn the case around. Though after repeated questioning she refuses to believe that suyambu is innocent. Finally the little one Pullimenna breaks and says he will tell about the location of the body. But after digging the spot they find the dead body of a grazing animal and the case is closed. Aasha 's Character is one of the hard hitting performances in the film which is as equivalent to Kamals which adds to the racy screenplay.

Verdict:

Finally when Rani asks about the location of Varun's body he responds by saying that " that is the secret that will go with me to the grave and you are safe untill you don't know about it". Geetha resigns from her post and asks to meet suyambu one last time not as a commissioner but as parent of a lost child. She asks him one last time about the whereabouts of her son, " can we expect him to return ". Suyambu maintains his composure but tells them that "his family was the most important to him and when a stranger entered their life things needed to be done"

This is not Kamal's best performance , as he told in an interview about the movie " Drishyam is a good shirt to wear", Drishyam could be done by any other actor and it would have become a hit.  Kamal underplayed his role to give what the script needs and ends up giving a flawless performance. Papanasam's success lies in its story and the natural acting by all the caste. Special mentions needs to be given to Gowthami, Kalabhavan Mani and Aasha for their stellar performance. Overall a great thriller film in Tamil after a long time. There is twist waiting at the end which will answer the final question.