Dignity marks the portrayal of Satyaraj, who has sensibly shifted to character roles. But even his commendable performance doesn't lift Gowravargal (U) from its levels of mediocrity. You do witness spurts of intelligent story-telling, but again they don't help matters. For all this Sanjay Ram isn't a novice — he has directed a couple of films, including the hit, Thoothukudi .
Thondaiman (Satyaraj) is considered the guardian angel of the village because he goes all out to help those in need. Rights and wrongs mean little — the happiness of the villagers matters more. This don with a golden heart is a dwarfed version of Kamal Haasan in Nayakan . Ganesan (Vignesh) comes into his fold and the bonding leads to quite a few riotous situations. The end is unexpected all right but not very sensible, because Thondaiman's final act isn't as astute as you anticipate.
Scenes that go on relentlessly prove a bane. Naturally the viewer gets fidgety. The other negating aspect is the melodrama. Portrayals are often artificial — the Yuvarani-Satyaraj sequence just before the climax, in particular. But Ranjith as an avaricious, smoothly-operating policeman impresses. Incidentally, among the villains, Banuchandar who plays Bhagavan makes you want to scream, especially in the protracted jeering scene that stops only after he's shot at! It's a reasonably solid role for Vignesh who has been hovering in the wings for long. But somehow his crude, moustache-meeting-sideburns look takes away the sympathy you would otherwise feel for the character.
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Re-recording is an ear-sore. The harmony that is woven into the background every now and then only makes the serious and sentimental sequences funny! Composer Dhina could have made things less strident.
Lack of consistency in narration mars the film. Gowravargal could have been a gripping fare if protractions had been avoided — they haven't.
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Genre: Action
Director: Sanjay Ram
Cast: Satyaraj, Vignesh, Monika
Storyline: A man who lived for others and his Man Friday who is willing to give up his life for him. Naturally, there are villains.
Bottomline: Unless Tamil screenplay writing undergoes a sea change more Gowravargals are bound to come your way.