Pothanur Thabal Nilayam is a film written and directed by Praveen, and produced by Passion Studios in association with Bicycle Cinemas. The film has Praveen and Anjali Rao in the lead roles while Jagan Krish, Venkat Sundar, Seetharaman and others play supporting roles. The film has music by Tenma and cinematography by Sukumaran Sundar. It is streaming on Aha Tamil OTT platform.

Praveen has just returned from the US to start a computer business, and is seeking loans from various banks. Set in 1990, most of them do not know what a computer is and are skeptical about giving the loan. Meanwhile, Praveen's father is a postmaster at Pothanur post office that does not have any proper security guard. While trying to safeguard the money, someone steals it and Praveen's father is distraught. Praveen then decides to retrieve the money back and whether he is successful or not forms the rest of the story.

We have seen so many heist thrillers in the past few years of Tamil Cinema. But it is a valid question to ask, if there has been any heist thriller that has been as rooted as Pothanur Thabal Nilayam. The film pleasantly reminds you of Soodhu Kavvum that came out 9 years ago, in more ways than one. A team of young, upcoming actors, at the helm of a director who has his signature all over the film, an extremely talented music composer who is just 2-3 films old in the industry, all coming together to create a memorable film.

It is difficult to decide where to start talking about this film. You have solid performances from the relatively unknown cast consisting of Praveen, Anjali Rao, Venkat Sundar and Jagan Krish and many more. This casting decision itself works well for the film as none of the actors have a stereotyped image. You just see them as Praveen, Mridhula, Sanga and Venkataraman respectively. The actors also add a lot of value to the script through their performances.

But the actual hero is Praveen's writing and screenplay which is organic and crisp. There are no unwanted scenes or commercial compromises at any point. The songs too appear as montages, and don't disturb the flow of the film. If there is something to nitpick about this film, it wouldn't blow your mind at any point, nor does it have any extraordinary twist that you didn't see coming, but it has enough stuff to keep you invested till the end. Will it appeal to all sections of audiences is a question as the period setup, the dialogues and the pace might be a concern for a set of audiences.

The film has been shot and edited well, and the colorist deserves special appreciation for the tone that has been used throughout. It adds more authenticity to the period the film is set in, and the production design is on point as well. Tenma, like his previous work Irandam Ulagaporin Kadaisi Gundu, has created a unique soundscape for this film. The songs have the vibe of a classic indie song, while the background score supports the film well.

Overall, Pothanur Thabal Nilayam is an honest heist thriller that has got most of the elements right. With the performances, music and the visuals adding great strength to Praveen's writing, the film has very few moments where it drops. The freshness and the innovativeness in the making is felt throughout and the film is something that definitely should not be missed. It ends with a lead to the second part, which seems interesting as well!