‘Kathir’ (Hemachandran) and ‘Poongothai’ (Nandana) work together in a cotton mill. The two are in love with each other. Kathir helps Poongothai's elder sister get married to her lover, despite her mother (Renuka) opposing the wedding.
Problems begin to crop up as the two belong to different castes. Subsequently, the mill is shut down following a dispute between the workers and management. What happens next forms the crux of the film.
Hemachandran, Nandana, Shanmugaraja, Renuka, M.S. Bhaskar, Ajayan Bala, Bala Singh, Thennavan, Rajeev Krishna
Directed by:
Dhanapal Padmanabhan
Music:
Raghunandan
Cinematography:
Suresh Bhargav and Adhisayaraj
The past few years Tamil Cinema has seen a lot of what are called ‘different genre’ of films and directors have not thought twice before making movies set in a different era.
Krishnaveni Panjalai directed by newbie Dhanapal Padmanabhan, has also joined the list. The movie begins in 1950s and traces the problems faced by mill workers all the way till the year 2007.
Lead actors, Hemachandran and Nandana measure up rather well, while veterans Bala Singh, Thennavan and M S Bhaskar do what is expected of them. Rajeev Krishna of Aaha fame has performed exceptional well in his role.
Music by Raghunandan is worth mentioning as is the camera work by Suresh Bhargav and Adhisayaraj.
Overall, Dhanapal Padmanabhan has made a decent debut as a director and it must be said the movie would have been a lot better, had he focused a little more on the screenplay.