Poraali’ is a movie in which cinema industry associates Sasikumar and Samuthira Kani have combined.  There is much expectation to the movie particularly because the combination which worked out in ‘Naadodigal’ has combined again for this venture.  Also, the movie title is one of the reasons for the expectation aroused.

Sasi and Naresh travel a long distance and come to Chennai.  They stay in the room of ‘Ganja’ Karuppu.  They fend for themselves by working in a petrol bunk.  They go into paid service profession as a part time job.   As things are such, Naresh falls in love with a girl working with him. Dancer Swathi who is in the opposite house eyes Sasikumar.
 
The part time profession turns out to be a success, and ‘Ganja’ Karuppu advertises in the paper.  A gang who sees the paper comes in search of Sasi to Chennai.  Everybody is taken aback at the revelation of Sasi’s identity. 

Sasi’s stepmother discontinues Sasi from education by the fifth standard, in spite of the fact that he is a brainy chap.    Sasi’s stepmother and relatives connive together to usurp the properties of his uncle, and the plight is that Sasi just roams about the town of no use to anybody. A gang negotiates a huge amount when it is found that there is huge uranium deposit in their land.  Only then Sasi’s relatives come to know that his uncle had written the whole property in the name of Sasi, and the rest of the family has just the right to enjoy.  They come to corner Sasi..

What Sasi did… Did he heed their compulsion… and how he tackles them when they come in search of him to Chennai is the rest of story.  The director seems to have decided to move the first half of the film in comedy track.  The whole compound shakes with laughter.  The identity every character bears is the punch dialogue.  The characters as house owner Gnana Sambandan who always sticks to arriving at decisions, and Gopi who always melts down at the sight of his wife Santra, and she who bullies him at the very start of conversation, the bachelor man who is always in a tipsy and smooches people coming across, and the glum Swathi are very unique.  But the turn of events is very predictable and the roles are stereotyped.  There is a dramatized tinge to the movie due to this.

The movie has been taken with the background resembling Balachander’s.  Tthe commercial strategy is that of Vikraman’s.  The style of the story is such that just via one song the character becomes a wealthy person.  But since the difficulties of becoming affluent have been mentioned, it is laudable.  Since this is the track till the interval the story is not boring.  When the knot regarding Sasi’s identity is released, that gives an unexpected turn to the story.

The story is very slow moving particularly when depicting the happenings in a rural area.  This could have been told a bit swiftly. Even though the story is much drawn out, confusions that arise regarding the relations could have been clarified more.  One could easily guess the climax.

Beyond all these the scenes portraying ‘Ganja’ Karuppu have the typical ‘Nadodigal’ punch.  One can definitely say that Samuthirakani’s directorial venture is a success.

Hero Sasikumar flounders a bit in emotional scenes, but manages in comedy.  He astonishes the fans through different getups and gives a hair raising performance in swift action scenes.
 
Everybody else in the story comes in and goes out. But there is the feel of them retaining themselves through the story. That’s a laudable effort by the director.

Kadhir’s cinematography sticks to the story.  More than the songs, Sundar C Babu’s effort in the playback is laudable.  But there is a tinge of ‘Nadodigal’ to the movie.

Even though the dialogues in the former half are interesting, philosophical delivery by Sasi is the odd one out. The questions in latter half about why Sasi is abandoned, and why his uncle does not come to a concrete decision remain unanswered. There could have been more clarity at this juncture.

Seeing beyond all these hassles in the story, one could conclude that none could avoid sleepiness at certain junctures in the story.

Overall, the PoraaLi will win