Sarpatta Parambarai Review: A story about an underdog becoming a hope to his people is presented to us in the finest form

Cast: Arya, Pasupathy, Kalaiyarasan, John Vijay, John Kokken, Dushara Vijayan
Music: Santhosh Narayanan
Direction: Pa. Ranjith

In his previous featue, Kaala, Pa. Ranjith uses a narration of Ramayana during the climax fight to subvert the evil perception associated with Ravana (where the protagonist Kaala is the Ravana). Now in his latest feature, Sarpatta Parambarai, he subverts the famous Ekalaivan story from Mahabaratha. Ekalaivan is the tribe who secretly learns archery from Drona while the latter was teaching Pandavas and Gouravas. When Drona finds out about Ekalaivan, he cunningly asks for his right thumb as an offering. By offering the right thumb, Ekalaivan couldn’t be the best archer in the world.

In Sarpatta Parabarai, the story which is set in 1975 (though it’s never explicitly mentioned anywhere) is about the boxing clans (Parambarai). Kabilan (Arya) is from the Black town who is shown as someone who secretly learns boxing from Rangan Vaathiyar (terrifically played by Pasupathy) while the latter was teaching his students and the two upcoming star boxers, Vetriselvan (Kalaiyarasan) and Raman (Santhosh Prathap). They all belong to Sarpatta Parabarai. When Rangan Vaathiyar has to choose one boxer for the next which would decide the clan’s life, he identifies Kabilan’s boxing talent. As opposed to Mahabaratha, he embraces Kabilan and makes him a boxer.

Pa. Ranjith is instrumental in bringing a cultural revolution in Tamil cinema. Sadly, he has been criticized for being a casteist. People who criticize fails to look at his films closely which will tell his togetherness and humanist philosophy. There is a brilliant example in this film. When the whole film is about clan and their pride, there is a dialogue, “Why do you associate pride with clans? You will win the match, if you play well.”

When Kabilan decides to fight in the ring, there are a number of people and problems that could deviate him from becoming a boxer. He is from Black town and some people like Raman, Thaniga, Vembuli doesn’t want a person from that town to enter the ring. Then there is violence/ rowdism which many boxers choose and moves away from the ring. In boxing culture, the one who fights inside the ring must not fight outside. Finally, there is an increase in production of alcohol which can make him an alcoholic.

The screenplay beautifully ties all these issues and many characters together. The film runs for close to 3 hours and I never had to move out of my seat (as this an OTT release). More than an interesting screenplay, its about creating memorable characters and perfectly casting the right actors for them. Rangan Vaathiyar, Dancing Rose (a delightful surprising character played by Shabeer), Kevin Daddy (John Vijay), Vembuli and many more characters are going to stay rent free in my head. The women characters too are well-written. I loved the scene where Mariamma (Dushara Vijayan) scolds Arya for not talking to her. Kabilan’s mother is quite a stereotypical character, but adds some depth to this film.

The film is a sports drama. The central character is going to win in the climax. That’s inevitable in most films in this genre. But what makes a really good film is how the drama is built. Here the drama is well built with clan rivalry, discrimination and greed. The boxing matches are brilliantly shot by Murali G, and with Santhosh Narayanan’s music adding the tension, and Selva RK’s editing with reaction shots made me come to the edge of my seat. Pa. Ranjith is in full command over his language.

A few other things that make this film now just another sports drama is how the film is not hero-centric one. The film captures the life at 1975 Madras. The set-design, costumes and dialogues are amazing. It’s interesting how Ranjith and Tamil Prabha (co-writer) uses the 1975 Emergency into the story telling. Kudos to them to portray the real party names and people which makes us transport to that period and live this damn amazing film.

Verdict: A story about an underdog becoming a hope to his people is presented to us in the finest form