Sivakarthikeyan, Soori, and director Ponram have already delivered 2 Super hit films in the form of Varuthapadatha Vaalibar Sangam and Rajini Murugan, and the combination has returned back for the third time with Seemaraja, which has hit the screens today. The film has an interesting star cast that also includes Samantha, Simran, Napoleon, Lal, and others.
The film primarily deals with the tussle between two royal families from two different villages, Singampatti and Puliyampatti. This tussle affects the life of Seemaraja (Sivakarthikeyan), his love interest Selvi (Samantha), and the innocent farmers of the village. How Seemaraja overcomes all these problems and defends the antagonists, forms the rest of the plot.
Sivakarthikeyan’s screen presence is a major trump card for Seemaraja and he holds the audience with his casual performance. His character makeover in the historical portions represent the entire team’s hard work and SK stands tall as the King Kadambavel. Soori makes a good impression with his one-liners that make the audience laugh out. His six pack scene gets elevated well with a surprise theme score, but the audience gets to see that only for a very limited time frame. Comedy is one of the major highlights in a Ponram film and he has delivered it again, but however, there are few cliched template comedies that do not work at places.
Samantha delivers a neat job and her chemistry with SK looks fresh on the big screen. Not to miss, her excellent Silambam skills, that has a special surprise in the climax. Simran showcases the evilness just with her eyes and her addition in the cast is indeed a valuable one. However, the director could have utilised the actor inside her to a larger extent. Keerthy gets to score with some intense dialogues through her interesting cameo. Napoleon and Lal bring out their expertise with the given roles.
Right from the title credits, the makers clearly indicate that Seemaraja has an important backstory, and that is revealed in the second half. A commendable amount of effort is seen and special credits to the VFX team, importantly for executing the war sequences in a convincing manner. Seemaraja, of course, scores well with its comedies in many instances, but it could have been better to deliver that essence completely throughout the film. Ponram's dialogues touch upon various social issues infused with a subtle humour.
A section of the audience might feel that the heroism is overdone to an extent. Also, Seemaraja falls into the commercial template on many occasions, as we have seen similar scenes from the same SK - Ponram combination already. Due to this, the engagement and the overall impact of the film gets reduced.
Balasubramaniem’s rich and colorful visuals add a good flavour to Seemaraja, helping in setting up of the festive celebratory mood. D Imman’s songs and background score are grand, thereby extending ample support. Due credits to the noteworthy costume designing and the artwork department as their work go hand in hand supplementing the backdrop of the film.
Director Ponram is known for delivering engaging comedy entertainers through his first two films. He has delivered his third film with a difference in spite of the similar rural backdrop of his earlier films.
The grandeur production value, especially in the historical portions involving major VFX works, needs a special mention. Kudos to producer RD Raja to deliver something different from the usual. Seemaraja could have worked a lot better if the screenplay was more interesting, but from a general audience perspective, these things might not be a bigger concern.