In one of the comical sequences in Sathya Sothanai, a crooked and lazy police constable, months away from retirement, opens the CCTV footage of his station and exclaims,"Oh idhu velai seiyuma?" But this light-heartedness is shortlived as we get reminded about the same character unleashing brutal custodial violence on a rather innocent man and cussing him in the previous sequences. Well, one can argue saying that a character can belong to any shade of grey and a story need not stick to a single tonality or even genre. But the issue here is something bigger. Both the writing and staging of Suresh Sangaiah lack direction and are consistent. As a result, the supposed dark comedy only ends up feeling like a grim crime drama in most places.

Director: Suresh Sangaiah
Cast: Premgi Amaren, KG Mohan, Selva Murugan, Swayam Siddha, Reshma Pasupuleti

Pradeep is a naive youngster who gets himself trapped in a rural police station for handing over the belongings of a dead person he spots on the way. The police beat him to a pulp for several days demanding to return the rest of the missing jewellery of the gold-obsessed deceased. Unable to bear the torture, Pradeep flees from the station along with a walkie talkie putting all the cops in a tough spot. 'What happened to Pradeep and the missing jewels?' is the rest of Sathya Sothanai. With such a wafer-thin storyline, filmmakers are expected to engage the audience either with an unorthodox screenplay or fill it with intriguing elements in the case of a conventional narrative. But, alas, the film has an extremely predictable story told in a rather unamusing manner. 

The final nail in the coffin is the lack of a worthy protagonist that we can root for. Premgi Amaren's Pradeep was probably conceived as a noble and innocent guy who gets entangled in a crime because of the corrupt system. But the version we see projects him as a trouble-seeking loafer, who has hints of both goodness and roguery. The erratic range of the character doesn't stop there. Pradeep is shown to be a laughingstock in one scene and a helpless sufferer in the next. 

Making things even worse, the fundamental logic goes for a toss. We are shown a picture of the corpse with all pieces of jewellery on, but there is no explanation of who captured it. Similarly, the killers hint at a rather shameful reason for murdering the person but go on to share something contrasting in the court, giving no proper closure. 

Aside from the handful of effective gags, the one factor that works majorly in favour of the film is the realistic portrayal of the supporting characters, especially the kleptomaniac old lady. The criminal mastermind uses her age as a cover-up for her crimes. Giving her more screenspace in the initial half of the film would have perhaps worked in favour of the narrative. But nevertheless, the actor and the role leave an unforgettable impression. 

Had director Suresh come up with a taut screenplay with scenes exploring the psyche and world of these characters Sathya Sothanai would have been as memorable and loveable as his debut Oru Kidayin Karunai Manu. If only.