Review: Pa Paandi Leaves Fast & Furious 8 In The Dust

I’d choose ‘Pa Paandi’ over ‘Fast and Furious8’ any day. Here’s why.

‘Fast And Furious 8’ star Vin Diesel (left), Rajkiran, who plays the titular character in ‘Pa Paandi’ (right). (Photo Courtesy: Twitter/@Pulzo/@dhanushkraja)

I watched ‘Pa Paandi’ and ‘The Fate of the Furious’ yesterday. I chose to watch Dhanush’s directorial debut in the evening, and the eighth installment of the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise at night so that I would stay awake. That didn’t go too well.

In their own way, both movies are larger than life, but here’s why ‘Power Paandi’ leaves the high-octane ‘Fast and Furious 8’ trailing far behind.

Emotion, Only Emotion

Rajkiran plays the titular character of ‘Power Paandi,’ a 64-year-old man who runs away from his family in order to find his first love. He gets both. But his journey, from hurt and hate to hugs and healing, is subtle and endearing. The plot may be predictable at times, but the way the characters (Revathi and Rajkiran) respond to each other is anything but. And it’s beautiful to watch!

At their core, both films are about family. ‘The Fate of The Furious’ sees Vin Diesel use the word family a number of times. He betrays family for family’s sake. He then uses family to get his nuclear family back, while protecting humanity, the larger family, from a nuclear holocaust in the process. What’s more, every single dialogue in the film is predictable. Every. Single. One.

Too Much Cheese For One Night

‘Pa Paandi’ is prone to sudden bursts of cheesiness. The plot also tends to make the geriatric hero appear larger/stranger than life. The movie is a bit like its maker, Dhanush (writer/director/cameo), who is currently juggling between an almost believable ‘Kodi’ and an unsettlingly unrealistic ‘Thodari’. The film yanked me out of a warm and real moment that I emotionally connected with, to a random fistfight.

‘Fast And Furious 8’, on the other hand, is all cheese all the way, right from the opening car chase up until the scene with Vin Diesel saying Grace. It’s a movie I hate to love, like the KFC (Krishnakumar Fraid Chickan) burger sitting on my desk that I’ve just got to eat. At a little over two hours, the film begs the question: how much cheese can your body handle? Watch it to find out.

Logic Rides Pillion in F&F8

So what if a 64-year-old man effortlessly throws punches at younger, bulked-up thugs on the street? I felt almost every barb that Pa Paandi’s son – played brilliantly by Prasanna – threw at his father.

As I relive the story in my head, it isn’t the fights or the dance sequences I remember. Instead, I remember the plot as being a logical sequence of events, one that could happen to anyone. The tropes of geriatric romance, mental distress, and the relationship between adults and their aged parents are all dealt with in a matter of fact manner. “It could happen to anyone,” is what I’m left with.

“I make my own fate,” Vin Diesel emphatically claims in F&F8. And then, logic makes a magical exit. All bets are off. No holds barred. It’s all bald testosterone versus Goldi(dread)locks progesterone. Heroes will rise unscathed out of mangled, burning metal things that were once cars. Cars will outrun heat-seeking missiles. And the death of a loved one will be mourned for a grand total of seven seconds, before everyone moves on.

The Face-Off

Those who don’t understand Tamil will miss out on‘Pa Paandi’, as the film comes without subtitles in most Indian theatres. If you’re watching it abroad, then lucky you.

The film left me feeling warm and fuzzy. I was also pleasantly surprised at Dhanush’s skills as a writer and director, and his ability to highlight the emotions of his characters with nuance.

For those who chose to watch ‘F&F8’ - 3D in India, my deepest sympathies. No theatre in the country seems to have scratch-free glasses. Nothing jumps out of the screen, except for the title, that is. I watched the film without the glasses after the first seven minutes. Parts of it appeared blurred, but I was better off without the bad 3D glasses.

Between the two films, I’d watch an imperfect-yet-engaging ‘Pa Paandi’ over a so-visually-perfect-I-could-spit F&F8 any day. Except the scenes with Charlize Theron and Dame Helen Mirren, that is. Those, I’d definitely watch again.