People may say that this approach prevents the audience from empathising with the protagonist at any point of time, but it seems to be a conscious effort on the part of the director to do the same.
The detached, passive observer type of story telling really works wonders in the movie and succeeds in portraying gangsters as they are rather than unnecessarily romanticising their lives and projecting them as victims of the ills plaguing society. Selvaraghavan tries to delve deep into the real psyche of a gangster and expose his strengths, frailties and fears and this he does using ample doses of surrealistic encounters, dramatic situations, countless fallen heads, sensuous songs, a haunting background score and a no-nonsense approach in depicting the various shades of the protagonist. And one cannot expect any more realism from a film that is made within the commercial format.
Though far from being realistic to the core, I'd say that it is far more realistic than films like Pattiyal et al. For the most part, the tale is gripping and racy and if at all it slackens pace, it is during the last 30 minutes or so. Pudhupettai chronicles the rise of 'Kokki' Kumar(Dhanush) from rags to riches, from a carefree teenager to a heinous criminal, from a small time drug peddler to a scheming politician and does so with style. So where in this spectrum does Pudhupettai fit in? Is it really different and if so, how different from the so called realistic gangster movies like Pattiyal that have flooded our screens in the recent times? The answer is not a simple yes or no. Yet others are fretting that movies of real quality (what does that mean?) are not being made at all or atleast not coming into the public domain.
We hear that films like 'Thiruttu Payale' and 'Pachakuthira' that fall even below mediocrity are 'offbeat' and an above-average RDB or Pattiyal becomes a trend setter. Now in the realm of Indian cinema, what exactly is meant by 'different' is a million dollar question. But this one had some aura around it that hinted of it being something 'different'. I've never considered the last two movies of his as spectacular and in fact felt they were so contrived and hyped. And it marks the maturation of Selvaraghavan into a director of some substance. While we are still kept in the dark about when VV will release, Pudhupettai has come in as a relief after the fearsome foursome that released for the new year. F inally the really big releases of this summer have started.