In the recent years Kollywood has seen quite a few films highlighting the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils and their lives dwindled due to the ethnic clash in the island nation. Director Sathya Siva’s ‘Sivappu’ speaks about the travails of Sri Lankan Tamils in the refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and how they are used for political gains here.
Konar (Rajkiran) is a building contractor who is in charge of constructing a multistoried building for the local MP (Selva). He discovers a group of Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees who have failed in their attempt to escape to Australia. Konar asks them to stay at the construction site and work as laborers. He also promises to help them escape to Australia soon.
Pandiyan (Naveen Chandra) the trusted aide of Konar and Parvathi (Roopa Manjari) a refugee girl fall in love with each other. Pandiyan attacks the Engineer who misbehaves with Parvathi and the Engineer to avenge him, makes a complaint to the Government about the illegal presence of SL refuges at the construction site. The refugees are taken back to the refugee camp again.
What happens to Pandiyan and Parvathi and what is the role of the MP in it? The answer for these questions are revealed in the rest of the film.
Writer-director Sathya Siva has strongly registered the plight of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu who are forced to escape from the camps by resorting to illegal means. The genuineness of the writer-director’s concern for Sri Lankan Tamils who have lost everything back in their motherland and are suffering here in inhuman conditions is evident throughout the film and that makes ‘Sivappu’ a film that touches deep in the heartstrings of the viewer.
Unlike other films based on Sri Lankan Tamils, Sivappu comes with a good share of commercial ingredients like romance and comedy amid the portrayal of the refugees’ pain in the form of touching dialogues and scenes. More screen time has been allotted to Thambi Ramiyah’s comic antics and the cat and mouse game and the emergence of romance between the lead pair. Thankfully these elements entertain the viewer to a large extent. At the same time these two elements also serve as a dampener as it looks as if more time as been allocated for these sequences than the scenes relating to the main plot.
The role of Sri Lankan Tamil issue in Tamil Nadu and National politics has been portrayed well and the director also dares to show how the selfish politicians use it for their selfish gains. But still the sudden change of the MPs character and how he escapes scot free after committing a crime could have been depicted with more detailing and in a convincing manner.
The film with just two hours running time also makes us feel that it is a little lengthy.
Dialogues are one of the scoring points of the film. The sorry state of Sri Lankan Tamils are mostly conveyed through the dialogues with minimal pictorial representation. Thankfully this does not end up melodramatic. The detailing of the history of Tamils in Sri Lanka at the beginning of the film and the dialogues uttered in the climax Court scene are praiseworthy.
Portraying the role of a man thoroughly good at heart has become a cakewalk for Rajkiran and the veteran proves his acting prowess in the climax scene where he utters the important dialogues with the right mix of emotions. Naveen Chandra is convincing in his role and excels in the scene where he breaks down at the police station. Thambi Ramiyah after a long time has done a neat job as a solo comedian. Rupa Manjari as an innocent Sri Lankan Tamil girl proves that she is an actor of substance and capable of pulling off such performance oriented strong roles. We dearly hope she gets more such roles in Tamil films. Vinodhini, Poo Ramu and Bose Venkat have done their supporting roles neatly while it is refereshing to see Selva in such a underplaying negative role.
National award winning Madhu Ambhat’s camera work and especially the tone he has used to depict the grim subject of the film are commendable. Raghunandhan’s background score makes the desired impact while songs are passable.
Verdict: Sivappu deserves a watch for its genuine portrayal of Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in Tamil Nadu and the politics played around them. And the film also offers neat entertainment.
