Sarpatta Parambarai Review: A Painstaking Watch!

Director Pa. Ranjith, last seen directing a film with Superstar Rajinikanth three years ago, returns to the director seat with Sarpatta Parambarai. Pa. Ranjith has been vocal about the social inequality prevailing in society, and he structures all his films around the same. With Sarpatta Parambarai, the director forays into the life of working-class Boxers in the North Madras and delves deep into the clan conflict between two revered boxing groups.

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Sarpatta Parambarai has Arya in the lead as Kabilan, a boxing enthusiast, whom his mother forbids from playing the sport. Despite strong objections from his mother, Kabilan never misses a chance to watch and learn from his Guru, Rangan Vathiyar (played by Pasupathi), like Eklavya from the Hindu-epic Mahabaratham and associates himself to the Sarpatta Parambarai clan. Just like every sport, Sarpatta Parambarai has an intense rivalry with Idiyappa Parambarai. The rest of the film discusses the fierce combat between the boxers from the two clans.

Tamil Cinema has consistently produced sports genre films, and there are a handful of movies representing boxing. Director Pa. Ranjith’s Sarpatta Parambarai wins over its peers with his presentation, storytelling skills and the variety of characters the film offers. The movie had some interesting characters like Dancing Rose, played by Shabeer Kallarakkal, who showcased his unique boxing skills and moves, and is probably one of the well-written characters from Pa. Ranjith’s film.

The setup of the character, the hype around him and face-off scenes, and not forgetting to show his ethics and sportsmanship. Another worthy mention would be John Vijay in the role of Kevin, called Daddy, an Anglo-Indian boxer who is supportive of Kabilan’s boxing interest. Such characters kept the film going and also has an ensemble list of actors in the supporting role.

The positive of Sarpatta Parambarai lies in Pa. Ranjith’s execution-style. He never compromises on missing details and makes sure that he offers a complete package to the audience. However, this movie suffers from the hands of a customary story path, which every sporting genre movie takes, and the road to the final fight between the two clan members was a dreary ride. It had several subplots, focuses on not-so-important characters, drifts from the initial plan, and extends the runtime extensively.

Every other thing about Sarpatta Parambarai, except the intriguing characters, falls into a conventional template which movies of this genre religiously follow. There is a protagonist, an antagonist, and a dispute between them, and the hero wins in the final battle. What distinguishes a “Good” film from the “run-of-the-mill” mainstream film is how the Director chooses to present it.

With Sarpatta Parambarai, director Pa. Ranjith, like he always does, represents boxing as the sport of the working-class people. He attempts to break the stereotype surrounding that the sport turns the player into a disorderly person, one of the reasons why Kabilan’s mother Bakkiyam (played by Anupama Kumar) withhold him from playing. But unlike his previous films, which had strong vocal against discrimination and social injustice, everything was kept subtle in this film.

Also, since the film is set in the 1970s, Pa. Ranjith incorporates former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s infamous Emergency Period into Sarpatta Parambarai. Throughout the movie, there are several references to the now-ruling party of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and their “Thalaivar,” referring to former Chief Minister and father of the present Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi, is a do-gooder.

So, is Pa. Ranjith now associating himself with the DMK party? I long thought he was a member of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi. Maybe the barely perceptible depiction of Pa. Ranjith’s socio-political ideology might be since DMK was the ruling party during the period in which the film is set.

To talk about the performances, the lead actor Arya has undergone a complete changeover to be a well-built boxer in Sarpatta Parambarai. His physique puts my pot-belly to shame, and I had the sudden urge to reduce my weight, and I went to the extent of looking at the prices of Home gym equipment on Amazon’s e-commerce website. Pasupathi, as Rangan Vathiyar, fascinates through and through. John Kokken, portraying the character of Vembuli from the Idiyappa Parambarai, looked like a worthy competitor to Arya in terms of power, physique and strength.

What did not work well for Sarpatta Parambarai is, like I mentioned earlier, the films runtime and how long the Director Pa. Ranjith prolongs the inevitable. When you realize where the film is heading too but does not conclude, it is plain agony to go through all the drama twirling around. Even when you extend the film, there should be a convincing story to narrate during the extension. But what Director Pa. Ranjith offered was nothing new and the same age-old subplots involving the family and the protagonist leaving the sport and resurging into it.

To sum it up, Sarpatta Parambarai is a painstaking watch, particularly in the second half of the movie. Director Pa. Ranjith’s intention to make a well-balanced film conclude as a neverending saga. Though the film offered intense boxing scenes, face-offs, and intense rivalry between the two clans, the conventional story and the sub storylines used to cover it were unsurprising, uninteresting and lacklustre to watch. However, it is backed by Santhosh Narayanan’s scintillating music despite its long haul. Watch the movie on Prime Video here.

‘Sarpatta Parambarai’ Rating – 2/5

Images via Amazon Prime Video