Cast: Dhanush, Sneha, Mehreen Pirzada, KPY Sathish, Munishkanth, Naveen Chandra, Nasser
Director: RS Durai Senthilkumar
Music Director: Vivek Shiva–Mervin J Solomon
So when the trailer of Pattas came out pretty much all of us guessed what this film was going to be about. I thought my guess would turn out wrong because usually makers have a habit of giving you something different, at least a small portion, that you didn’t expect. But I was proved wrong. Pattas is nothing but a mainstream revenge drama that’s entertaining to an extent. If not for the novelty of the forgotten martial art form ‘Adimurai’, the movie would’ve been a colossal waste of time.
Pattas a.k.a Shakthi (Dhanush) is an ‘audio thief’ (a thief who loots but also leaves something in return along with an audio recording) with his friend Puncture (KPY Sathish). Kanyakumari (Sneha) who is in search of a kick-boxing coach Nilan (Naveen Chandra) to avenge him for killing her family and people, encounters Pattas who tries to rob her, only to realise that he’s her son. The audio thief concept seemed very interesting for an introduction but somehow was never put to use after the very first scene in the film. It could’ve helped connect the film in a better way instead of the regular narrative elements.
The first half works well solely because of the Pattas-Puncture combo. Sathish hits the bulls-eye with his tone and timing even in serious situations. He is at ease with his one-liners and to top it, his fun countenance makes it all the better. A few minutes into the film, I was made to believe that Sadhana (Mehreen) would be of some use to the plot and was actually surprised. But deep down, I had confidence in the trailer. I knew it wouldn’t betray me, and it stayed true. It smacked me on the face and asked me how I managed to expect otherwise from a Tamil film every time.
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Apart from the matches with the foreigners, the flashback sequences aren’t interesting enough either, with the length tiring you completely. To justify the angst and purpose of Sneha, I wish they had stuck to a concise format. Post-flashback, I was left wondering about so many points in the narrative. A consecutive winner of the championship and one who carries the tag of being undefeatable — Nilan’s son, Richard, walks over just because his father asks him to do unethical things in the boxing ring. Why couldn’t he just fight him ethically, if that was what was stopping him?
Dhanush is good as both Thiraviyam and Shakthi, but is definitely not at his best. Naveen Chandra performs well but fails to convince as a villain. He is present throughout the film but makes little impact even in the most horrific scenes.
At a time when veteran heroines are carefully picking worthless scripts, be it films or web series’, Sneha makes the right choice of taking up Pattas. Her excellent performance is on par with Dhanush right through the film. We don’t find her delving into the life of Shakthi, his profession or romantic interest, but yet her affection is felt.
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Vivek and Mervin deserve all the praise for this fantastic album with earworms from all genres. Their strong background score uplifts the mood of the entire film, especially during the slow second half.
Beyond all shortcomings, I’m very happy the film merely stuck to the revenge drama genre and did not take the path of a quasi ‘sports-drama’. Within the genre, Durai has managed to bring back to life a powerful martial art easily forgotten.
Also Read,
Chhapaak Movie Review: A Well-Intentioned Film That Only Scratches The Surface
Anjaam Pathira Movie Review: This Crime Drama Tries Too Hard
The Pattas review is a Silverscreen.in original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.
