Por Movie Review: All is not fair in this war of alphas

In Por, Arjun Das (Prabhu) is the super senior in college. He puts the T on the thought before he fights, he chooses them and makes sure he succeeds in them. Kalidas Jayaram (Yuvaraj) is a newbie who drinks Red Bull and adrenaline for breakfast, chews his seniors with his loose-lipped language and beats them to a pulp at the snap of his finger. Both of them can’t get a grip on their life but are trying to. Everything is great until now, but when the story takes over, it is a literal ‘Por’ - chaotic and all over the place.

Cast: Arjun Das, Kalidas Jayaram, Sanchana Natarajan, TJ Bhanu, Amrutha Srinivasan, Mervyn Rozario

Director: Bejoy Nambiar

Por marks Bejoy Nambiar’s long-pending dream to enter the Tamil industry with a story that is inspired by true incidents. Set in Puducherry, the title is synonymous with the war that brews between Prabhu and Yuva from their first encounter together. Every time they come on screen, there’s palpable tension between the duo, enough to stab each other, because of a dark past that Yuva had endured. Kalidas is exceptional in his avatar as an angry young man, while Arjun carries himself effortlessly in his safe zone.

It is easy to spot the Mani Ratnam fan in Bejoy Nambiar. Kalidas’ name is Yuva, there’s Alai Payuthey running in the open-air theatre, Mervyn says the famous train sequence dialogue to a girl, and so on, but Bejoy’s originality and his love for the craft is often the highlight in his films. However, Por is a missed opportunity and despite the star-studded cast, this film fails to conjure up the satisfaction of having witnessed a battlefield and gaining something from it.

Gayathri (TJ Bhanu) plays an alumnus of the university who has become an activist to stand up for the rights of students, but all that she keeps muttering is the importance of engaging in student politics. The murkiness of student politics is as vast as the sea but here, only the feet dipped in the waters which doesn’t pay justice to the gravity of the issue. Surya’s (Amrutha Srinivasan) girlfriend belongs to an oppressed caste and she, as expected, becomes a victim of a crime, to stop her from contesting as the student leader. Their story is only available in pieces, and the power and caste struggle that forms a major part of college life has been majorly ignored and only tip-toed upon. Mervyn Rozario, who makes his acting debut, plays a standard template friend ‘sidekick’ who adds no value to the story.

In a crucial scene just before the screen cuts to intermission, Prabhu meets Yuvaraj to resolve their conflict. Or at least trying to. Prabhu sits across Yuva and waits for him to wake up. He gets up wanting to fight, but Prabhu tries to extend an olive branch, urging him to 'forget whatever happened'. He gets enraged like a chilli thrown on hot oil. In parallel, we see Bala (Bala Suresh Babu) and Arjun (Dev Ramnath) in a boxing ring trying to settle an issue after Bala’s girlfriend walked out of an abusive relationship. One of them takes several hits on his body until the time-out after which he gives it back to the other, mirroring the shift in power dynamics, power and frustration that is boiling inside them. The scene cuts to Prabhu-Yuva’s conversation where the latter says, “Nee sattaya kazhattitu sandaiku vaada nu solra varaikum naan push panuven,” seemingly setting the stage for another bloody fight. The creativity shows, but that stops just there.

When the reason behind the conflict is revealed, for a long time, you don’t really buy into it. The protagonists’ roles feel they are only there for the war to brew.

In the scene that sets up the final climactic action sequence after a vibrant college fest, both parties are up in arms to do whatever it takes to plot their revenge. It is one long continuous shot and the camera is on psychedelics every minute. And with each blink, the scene pulsates with intensity, blurring reality and hallucination. Along with euphoric tracks and background scores, it's a cinematic rollercoaster ride, and you would want to stand up and applaud for its technical brilliance. Yet amidst the exhilarating ride, there's a lingering sense of disappointment as the narrative fails to rise to the occasion. How I wish the story matched the grandeur of a presentation!