'Sarpatta Parambarai' review: Pa Ranjith and Arya's sports film is a knock-out , the movie have been leaked out in black web
Sports films are now dime a dozen in Indian cinema, and you can doze through most of them and safely wake up when the mean opponent is sneering at the protagonist only to be defeated in the final game. However, Sarpatta Parambarai directed by Pa Ranjith who has co-written the film with Tamil Prabha, is like watching a live match ― it brings the heat of the sport, the excitement of each move, and most of all, the glorious unpredictability of sport. Set in 1970s North Madras, at the time when Indira Gandhi announced the Emergency, Sarpatta revolves around boxing clans and the intense competition between them. Arya plays Kabilan, a worker at the harbour whose father was once a champion in the sport. But, his mother Bakkiyam (Anupama Kumar) will not have him go anywhere near the boxing ring because she believes it will lead him to a life of violence, much like his father. But Kabilan cannot stay away from the matches, his body moving in rhythm with the punches thrown in the ring as he looks on, entranced.
This is a tailormade role for Arya, and the first half of the film is a thrilling documentation of Kabilan's rise as a boxer. Pasupathy plays Rangan, the exacting coach of the Sarpatta Parambarai clan and a DMK man, while GM Sundar plays Durai Kannu, the coach of Idiyappa Parambarai, their main opponent. Durai Kannu's best fighter Vembuli (John Kokken) is yet to be defeated by any of the Sarpatta boxers and when a challenge is thrown into the air… well, you already know who will take it. But though the viewer can guess what's going to happen, there is not a moment when you lose interest in the journey. Murali G's camera makes you feel like you're a spectator at the ring, watching the nimble footwork of the boxers and feeling every punch in the gut.
