Movie : Krishnaveni Panjaalai
Director : Dhanapalan Padmanabhan
Music : NR Raghunathan
Cast : Hemachandran, Nandita, Rajiv Krishna, Shanmuga Raja
The story is set in 1980’s where Kadir (Hemachandran) and Poonkathai (Nandana) work in cotton mill in udumalpet in south Tamilnadu.
The muthalali (Rajiv Krishna) is a do-gooder who fails to realize that by showing extra generosity and giving the workers 40 percent bonus, will backfire, when the mill goes through tough times.
They refuse to understand the plight of the poor old man who is in debts and when they go on indefinite strike, he is forced to shut down the factory.
Director Dhanapalan Padmanabhan has made the film with noble intentions but it ends up like a documentary with characters like Rajiv Krishna and Renuka the mother of Poo obsessed by caste factor, looking like caricatures. The silver lining however is the lead pair, their chemistry and the romance which is cute and the songs by NR Raghunathan is melodious.
Suesh Bhargav’s camera is good. Shanmuga Raja who normally plays villain is a treat to watch as mill supervisor who tries to impress girls with a 5-star chocolate and is madly in love with Poonkothai. On the whole, Krishnaveni Panjaalai is an average watch.