Sinam Movie Review

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Actor Arun Vijay seems to have taken a liking to play cop roles. After playing a cop in Tamil Rockerz he has yet again picked a cop drama in Sinam. The film is about a sub inspector who loses his wife to a heinous crime, and sets up on a quest to avenge her death. Actor Arun Vijay who was last seen on screens in the action drama Yaanai is back on screens with his action thriller film Sinam. Actress Pallak Lalwani has essayed the female lead in the movie. Director G N R Kumaravelan has directed the flick. So, how has the action thriller movie Sinam come out? Is it solid enough to hand actor Arun Vijay a decent commercial success he is craving for and reinforce his image as a saleable lead hero? To know that let us get into the movie review. 

The film follows the life of Paari Venkat (Arun Vijay), an upright cop (the ones we witness only on screens) with an unwavering sense of duty. Sinam opens to Paari Venkat thrashing and roasting (literally) a henchman’s face in a pub. Later, he is tasked to present a murder suspect in the court. Hours before taking him to the court, things get heated between the two, and Paari Venkat acutely mortifies him. In the parallel plot, we are presented with a love tale of Paari Venkat and Madhangi (Pallak Lalwani). Paari Venkat’s orphan status, and his profession draws displeasure from Madhangi’s parents. But she defies her parents and takes Paari Venkat’s hand in marriage. This causes friction in the family. Days roll by. The couple have a beautiful daughter (Baby Desina). Things flow smoothly, and they lead a happy life as a family. But Paari Venkat is upset over his strained relationship with his in-laws. He desires to have a functional relationship with them. An opportunity presents. But unfortunately, his wife goes missing, and a dreadful tragedy turns his life topsy turvy. What happened to his wife, will he be able to deal with his personal tragedy and keep his head straight to solve the case, is what makes the rest of the flick. 

With the construction of the opening scene, storyteller G N R Kumaravelan paints a clear image of the cop that we are going to endure throughout. The character arc does not undulate a tad from that point. Blind rage against injustice and non-pragmatic solutions or methods to handle the issue are the favorite recipe of filmmakers in Tamil cinema. Director G N R Kumaravelan has no expectations. Seems like director G N R Kumaravelan had first made up his mind as to what message, and how it should be delivered to the audience. Then borrowed scenes from similar movies and patched them together to make a full-length movie. It is, in every sense, quite fair, to ask whether he put pen to paper, or just shot the film straight off his mind. The movie conveniently travels all over the places without having any relevance to the plot merely dragging the run time. 

Since the film is dearth of interesting conflicts and events to have the audience invested, director G N R Kumaravelan resorts to displaying the callous crime repeatedly in an attempt to milk our emotions. To put it bluntly, Sinam is not something we have not experienced beforehand. So, the whole ‘having the heart at the right place’ thing does not click. To top it, the exertion to ennoble the lead character only achieves the contrary effect in us. Not because of the ennobling itself, but due to the stereotypical manner in which it is done. On one hand, the lead character is equally problematic as offenders. On the other side, he is this poor orphan who is kind and generous to orphan children. Come on, aren’t directors themselves tired of this characterization? Is it really that difficult to come up with more nuanced ways to portray the goodness in characters?

Paari Venkat seems like a tailor-made part for actor Arun Vijay. His muscular physique further compliments him in the role. He looks quite comfortable playing a cop, and sells Paari Venkat convincingly without shedding a sweat. Actress Pallak Lalwani in a heroine filler role that does not hold much space for her to perform. Nonetheless, she has done complete justice to her part. Actor Kaali Venkat as usual scores with his fantastic expressions, and provides the much necessary occasional comical relief. Actor R N R Manohar serves the purpose for being on screen. Child artist Baby Desina lights up the screen with her cuteness even in a short screen time. Actor K S G Venkatesh is functional. Actress Rekha Suresh lives up to her role. Actor Marumalarchi Bharathi is operational. The rest of the cast has delivered what was asked of them. 

On the technical front, music director Shabir’s songs are decent but not playlist worthy. However, he adds value to the film with his excellent background score. Cinematographer S Gopinath’s frames are splendid. His lighting is a treat to the eyes. Editor Raja Mohammad has put his scissors to fine work, and has trimmed out flaws in the visuals.  

On the whole, actor Arun Vijay’s Sinam is straight out of the ‘cop turning into a vigilante justice seeker’ playbook that fizzles out even before the half time.