Tamil Movie Review

Penguin Movie Review


Penguin – Not for the faint-hearted

STORY:

Rhythm (Keerthy Suresh), a pregnant woman, lives with her husband Gautham (Madhampatti Rangaraj). She lives with a bitter past. Already married, Rhythm’s son Ajay goes missing, leading to her split with her first husband Raghu (Linga).

One day, Ajay comes back. But he is not in a position to reveal anything. Rhythm finds a lot of changes in him. In the meantime, a  man dressed as Charlie Chaplin appears now and then in pursuit of Ajay.

The rest is all but how Rhythm unmasks the masked man. The film also gives us answers to questions like where was the boy all these years, and who had kidnapped him.

ANALYSIS:

Penguin has a lot going for it and all of it is very competently headlined by Keerthy Suresh, who stands out. Keerthy shoulders the entire burden in an efficient manner, while Linga and Madhampatti Rangaraj have very little to do in their limited screen space.

Master Advaith has done justice as Ajay. Santhosh Narayanan’s background score is haunting and builds up the creeps, while Kharthik Phalani’s camera exploits the desolate landscape in an interesting manner.

Penguin has its moments and Keerthy Suresh indeed makes the film very watchable. But it is probably time to ask if this pressure to include ‘twists’ isn’t killing a good story only because it seems too simple.

The first half keeps you on the edge, while the second half shakes you up with (un)expected thrills. Too much of blood gore and violence on children make it unfit to watch the film with family. Penguin is engaging in parts.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5