Payanam (2011) User Reviews

A steady ride!

[gauthamhits08 · 8/10 · 11 February 2011]

Today, when myself and my friend entered the theater, the first few rows were empty but I still had faith in RADHAMOHAN,well he hasn't failed to deliver! A well made movie and the best part is that it doesn't have a single song:)that's something great about the film. It shows that only when a person who loves cinema,produces a film it'll come out well as Prakashraj has done in this film.

Casting was nice and apt! A separate comedy track travels throughout the film mocking nowadays' unrealistic tamil films. For,the very first time in a tamil film the public(hostages)have reacted instead of just sitting and watching the show!So, as far as the acting department is concerned,everybody did their job perfectly!!

Editing was nice except for the title sequence, it made me not to look at the screen. Art work is excellent:)the plane and the Tirupati Airport's set was almost like the original.

Only 8 because of the BGM and bad sound mixing and sound editing and for terrible CG works:(.But still the steady first half and the racy second half makes the movie HOT!!!!

Very good thriller!

[sarathda · 7/10 · 5 August 2020]

This is one of the best Indian thrillers in years. well performed, well written and well shot.

Very good thriller!

[krishtheboss5 · 9/10 · 11 February 2011]

Wow! This is the best Indian thriller I have ever seen. I feel prakash raj productions now has got the "has to be good" look like how Aamir Khan production house has got! This guy makes classy movies and attracts the crowd. And this movie is damn neat. The movie is basically about terrorism and an hijack situation (Actually we have seen many vijaykanth movies where he single handedly tackles the terrorists and saves the people). The movie starts with a lot of characters being introduced. And the beginning of the movie looks like its inspired from "United 93". Well there cannot be much of a difference in hijacking sequences. The passengers belong to all sect of the society. There is a movie star (Prithvi), a retired army officer, a minister, a church father, a Pakistani family and lot of common people. As the movie goes on there are few dialogues which are really good. Like the dialogue where an atheist character tells the reason for problems in India is mainly because of so many divisions thats been caused by religions. The dialogues of the movie is a huge positive. And there are few instances where a common man feels that what ever his star does on screen is true and keeps irritating him to go fight the terrorists. As time goes on, the terrorists terrorize the passengers and place their demands. Here Prakash Raj, Nagarjuna and the rest of the government ppl arrive. They come to know that the demands are too huge like ransom and the release of a dreaded terrorist who has striking resemblances to a real life terrorist. Then unexpectedly the terrorist dies in a freak accident (divine justice) and this puts the team of Prakash Raj and Nagarjuna in a spot of bother. The rest of the movie deals with how they handle the situation and save the passengers. The positives out of the movie are the dialogues, terrific acting from the cast, the bgm and the intensity of the movie. Obvious special references has to be given to Prakash Raj and Nagarjuna. They literally stole the show even though the people in the plane displayed awesomeness in their acting. And its tough to get comedy out of actors in a tough situation but the director has achieved it superbly by giving some very nice enjoyable scenes. This movie rocks and its another gem from the Prakash Raj production house. Don't miss this movie for any reason as the feel can be got only in the theaters as the bgm booms in your ears.

Masterpiece

[harishprakash-12019 · 9/10 · 28 August 2020]

A different story.Excellent thrilling movie. Rare to watch this kind of movie

an arduous journey...!

[sribornagain-394-460163 · 5/10 · 13 June 2012]

Radha Mohan has tried to travel in the unfamiliar terrains for the first time in "Payanam" which is an action thriller whilst his previous 3 movies were feel good family entertainers. It is refreshing that the director has tried to break away from the mould but that he is clearly uncomfortable in handling an action subject with élan shows.

Movie though set in an novel backdrop & managed to do away with the routine hero-heroine pattern as well as songs , the backdrop gets tiring after a while. Agreed it is a very difficult job to sustain the interest of the viewers in such kind of subject , RadhaMohan could have thought something out of the box rather than taking recourse to his trademark comical one-liners which doesn't gel well with the movie of this genre.

Movie has an artificiality writ large all over it & in some places the happening borders on a stage drama like. Though they have tried hard to showcase the production values as high as possible unfortunately the averageness of it comes out . Though the director manages to pump in the adrenaline here & there , they are very few to warrant any significance. Also the recourse to melodrama , contrived nationalistic jingoism & comedy in the most unwarranted of sequences makes "Payanam" a very average travel.

As far as the ensemble cast goes Nagarjuna , Prakashraj , M.S.Baskar , Kumaravel , Chaams shines in their roles . Others in the cast are adequate though those who play the terrorist hams & overacts.

Background score of Praveen Mani hurts the viewers ear drums. It's a very average work by the Musician , may be Radha should have stuck on with Vidhyasagar one more time.

K.V.Guhan's cinematography is good & manages to infuse frenzy into the happenings.

On the whole , "Payanam" is a strictly average offering from the makers of such remarkable movies like "Azhagiya Theeye " , "Mozhi" & "Abhiyum Naanum".

Bottomline: an arduous journey...!