Sandamarudham Review: Epic Slaughter

Sandamarudham sings Sarath Kumar’s glory. He’s a tough cop, and a tougher villain who just cannot be slain. But A Venkatesh and Tamil crime novelist Rajesh Kumar know it isn’t that easy. Their protagonist and antagonist must have a few atypical traits. So, Sarath Kumar the cop – an undercover one nonetheless, who preys on terrorists and thieves alike – is someone who is mortally scared of taking a shower. So frightened that in an adorable scene, his whole family tries to pin him down for a bath. He’s Surya, by the way; with a bigger, extended vamsam (Radha Ravi is here as well) who regard him with worshipful fascination.

On the other hand, the villainous Sarath Kumar – Sarveswaran – is gravelly. He’s a more sophisticated version of the cop; with several bracelets, a range of plaid scarves, and a badass cigar. This villain has a striking trait, too. He has a penchant for lollipops, and buys all his henchmen one when he’s feeling particularly vengeful. Sarveswaran (he also owns a fleet of trucks, his name looking quite at home on one) aka Sandamarudham is that quirky. His henchmen aren’t any less strange either; one of them does all his cold-blooded killing with a nursery rhyme on his lips.

*****

The tale of Sandamarudham is quite straightforward. It’s a newer version of Sarath Kumar vs Sarath Kumar; laced with some really obscure science (the third this year after I and Anegan, all of which have been notably penned by Tamil novelists). There are one too many nudges to explain the plot, heavy gunfire during a chase sequence in the forest – the kind that chips off trees instead of the target, sending forth an artistic tumble of wooden splinters in the process; a woman cop who does anything but cop duties, and a couple of duets.

But no modern duet can beat this one from an earlier movie of the actor (also starring Simran), the introduction of which I have to attribute to a bus ride with a Sarath Kumar fan at the wheel, who took particular pleasure in replaying the number over and over again.

*****

Sandamarudham can be forgiven, though. This close to three hour song about Sarath Kumar – all heroics and villainy – served to be a nice little reminder of where we’d once begun.

But what cannot be forgotten easily is a reference to the Mahabharata in a few scenes; this artistic depiction of a crucial scene involving Krishna and Arjuna is wrongly referred to as the Chakravyuha that killed Abhimanyu.

That’s some serious epic slaughter.

*****

And coming back to Surya, if you were ever wondering who finally managed to pin him down for his shower, it was his …moraponnu.

*****

The Sandamarudham Review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have an advertising relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.