281. Vellai Pookkal; movie review

VELLAI POOKKAL
Cert 15
122 mins
BBFC advice: Contains child sex abuse theme, strong violence, bloody images, drug misuse

All hail, Amazon Prime!
I have been waiting for years for a platform to host subtitled Indian movies that I have missed in the same year that they are released.
Itunes has put its toe into the water but is unreliable and Netflix entered the arena but doesn't seem to have many of 2019's releases.
Now I have discovered that Amazon Prime is leading the way with exclusive rights to many regional Indian movies.
Vivek Elangovan's Vellai Pookkal was the latest I have watched through Amazon and I enjoyed a film which has had a very interesting route to big-screen distribution.
Vivek stars as a retired police officer who has gone to Seattle to see his son (Dev) who, much to his dismay, has shacked up with a local girl (Paige Henderson).
Anyway, just as the movie seems to be veering in the direction of miserable father-in-law versus frustrated daughter-in-law, crime abounds and the detective's nose proves that it still has a scent for the bad guys.
Of course, there are many twists and false leads before Vivek arrives at his prey.
I have read that Vellai Pokkal, which is set in Seattle was put together by folk from. the city's Indian-ex-pat tech community.
Indus Creations is a performing arts group composed of primarily software engineers and tech leaders who work at companies including Microsoft, Amazon and Google.
And they have made a rather good job of creating a movie with a Sherlock Holmes edge.
Their trump card was Vivek, a comedian who splendidly handles a straight role, consistently frustrated by what he sees as the flaws of those around him.
They have also created a riveting storyline which is, at times cruel and violent.
The key minus for me was that the American actors struggled to synch their words in post-recording (I still don't understand why Indian movies don't record dialogue live).
Nevertheless, I found Vellai Pookkal intriguing enough to have me on tenterhooks waiting to see if the ex-cop could find a resolution to the case.

Reasons to watch: Intriguing police thriller
Reasons to avoid: Too many stereotypes

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Did you know? There are estimated to be 240,000 Americans who are of Tamil ethnic origin, mostly from India and Sri Lanka and other diasporic centers such as Malaysia, Singapore, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The final word. Vivekh: "Initially, I wasn’t keen on doing this film because the whole crew is in the US. I felt distant and didn’t know if I was doing the right thing. Slowly, I got convinced. I went there, and they treated me like a family member." Indian Express

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