Paramporul Movie Review: A decent crime drama with lots of potential

It is easy to play safe with template films that offer minimum guaranteed results. The trick lies in taking this template and elevating it with nuances and subversions. Earlier this year, we saw this elevation happen in Por Thozhil, which had the proverbial twist in the tale, but one that wasn't showy to a fault. While Paramporul, a film that also has a senior cop and a rookie at the centre of things, does make some smart choices, it gets riddled by its ambition to go after a showy twist that pulls the film down a few notches. 

Cast: Amithash, Sarathkumar, Kashmira Pardeshi, Balaji Sakthivel  and others

Director: C Aravind Raj

Paramporul features Sarathkumar donning the khaki once again as corrupt officer Maithreyan, who after years of being a straight arrow decides to go on the other side of the law to earn everything honesty cost him. Now he wants a lifetime settlement that will enable him to enjoy the rest of his life doing organic farming and running a resort. On the personal front, he is pining for his now-estranged wife. Now, this is an interesting character arc, shouldered by an effortless Sarathkumar. But the film gives him a raw deal by asking him to spout inane lines, and even give him a song highlighting his greediness, and taking all seriousness out of the role. Even while venturing into some dark spaces, Paramporul does try its best but does not always deliver. Apart from Maithreyan, Paramporul's world also has Aadhi (Amithash), who is struggling to save his sister from a deadly disease that warrants a costly operation. Of course, these two characters cross paths, and they are now on the run to sell one of the rarest pieces of idols to a smuggling racket for a good bargain. With idol smuggling at the centre of it, Paramporul relies majorly on trying to show the world of crime, idol replications, and its gruesomeness. In one scene, we see a sleek example of this through a single shot scene where a man who finds an idol and bargains with smugglers is shown meeting an untimely death. With this scene coming right at the very beginning of Paramporul, the film teased a haunting and unapologetic crime drama. But soon, it spirals down to a predictable path of half-hearted stretches.

With strong content at the heart of things, Paramporul chooses to overdo the package with songs that are just distractions. What’s the need for a romantic number in a sequence that is all about the duo’s race to finish a task that could only save them from Damocles’ sword hanging over them? In another case, Paramporul introduces a slew of characters, an ailing sister, a wife tired of her husband’s antics, sly and smart art dealers, a red herring, and more. This is a testament to the serious effort evident in the writing, but the screenplay tests the audience's patience. And I say serious effort because, despite dark comedy not being its genre, one particular scene involving the duo and a third party builds an unexpected piece of slow-burn and dead-pan scene that unexpectedly works. However, it soon dissolves into nothingness. And finally, there is an “expect the unexpected twist” that puts a lot of things into perspective. It was a decent turn of events, but it just wasn't enough. 

Probably, it’s time for filmmakers to understand that the recipe for crime thrillers lies in not just explaining the crime, but also designing a strategy on how to tell the story. Paramporul gets it half right, with its decision on where to play its story and the character arcs,  but misses the point with its perfunctory stretches and its ambition to raise the stakes without cementing the basics.