Serndhu Polama

Shot entirely in New Zealand, Serndhu Polama is the kind of film that exists because 'Hey, it's shot in a foreign country!' Filled with incredulous scenes (a young woman calls a stranger she has met a just few minutes earlier into her room to zip up her dress) and fake performances, this is such an uninvolving film. The plot revolves around Abhishek (a sleepwalking Vinay), who decides to go to South Island to stop the wedding of his lover Julie, who, he believes, is being forced to marry another guy. En route, he meets Sherin (Madhurima, who is as comfortable as a deer caught in the headlights), his childhood friend, and they decide to travel together. But Sherin's presence is no accident. She is there because she wants to take revenge on Abhi, who, she thinks, has murdered her brother Thomas. Then, there is Thambi Ramaiah without whom it seems movies cannot be made in Tamil these days. He plays a married man who cheats on his wife two days a month by finding women online. We are expected to find his scenes funny while they are the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. The dialogue is clunky and we see characters who have probably been born and brought up in New Zealand use words like ullam kavar kalvan, munnorgal and kanniyasthri in casual conversation. There is so much imagination here that a hideout is actually called 'Secret Place'! The writing is even worse, with characters shifting their stand at their whim. This is illustrated best with Sherin. Abhi is her childhood friend — whom she is also secretly in love with — but she instantly jumps to the conclusion that he is the one who had killed Thomas because he had gone to meet her brother at the Secret Place, and so plans to murder him! Julie is no better. She is shown to be in love with Abhi but then when we see her later, she says the only thing she cares for is money. And, the motive of actual murderer is also unconvincing. Even at two hours, the film proves to be a tiresome watch that numbs our sense that we start wishing it was titled Sorndhu Ponome!