Santhanam is certainly ambitious. He has been aspiring to turn full-fledged hero for a while but his career hasn’t exactly skyrocketed. And, his latest release, Sakka Podu Podu Raja , doesn’t help things one bit.
The film kickstarts in the most cliched way possible; Santa (Santhanam) has just helped a girl elope with the man she loves. Soon, he spots the girl of his dreams in a sequence shot in the same way it’s been shot in 28,724 previous Tamil films. And that sequence features a number ( Kadhal Devathai ) which sounds like it was recorded by music director Simbu in his bathroom.
Santa’s love faces several stumbling blocks; he has fallen in love with the sister of a dreaded goon, after all. No strike that, she’s the sister of two dreaded goons, we realise in a bit. And he has to win her hand and win the affection of her elder brother, Bhavani (Sampath).
The first half is uninteresting and the second doesn’t help things, with an assortment of characters making pointless appearances. The result isn’t exactly a comedy of errors, as director Sethuraman would have envisioned in his head. This, despite the fact that the film boasts popular names including Vivekh, ‘Powerstar’ Srinivasan and VTV Ganesh.
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Sakka Podu Podu Raja keeps ambling with zero purpose, with Santhanam trying his hand repeatedly at dance and fight sequences. He even tries showing off hero mannerisms, a la Rajinikanth. Nothing works. Maybe he is better off rewinding the clock and going back to playing the role of a hero's friend.