Sindhubaadh is Su Arunkumar's 3rd film after 'Pannaiyarum Padminiyum' and 'Sethupathi'. This turns out to be his most 'mass' film but there are a lot of commercial compromises that make this a 2 hour 11 minute 'long' film. Vijay Sethupathi is earnest as Thiru, a person who is hearing impaired at times. To put it in his words, "he can only listen to things that are important." But what is important, and what isn't, is something that the director has failed to demarcate.
On the other hand, Venba (played by Anjali) speaks really loud all the time. Both the leads have their USP's and we really hope that this comes across as an important detail at some point. But these unique traits are only used for a few running gags. The potential they had could have been used well in order to make the film more engaging and entertaining.
Take the example of the recent Hindi film Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, where the protagonist suffers from congenital insensitivity to pain. The whole film banks on that unique trait, which becomes his weakness, as well as his strength. A similar treatment of the plot could have made Sindhubaadh far better than what it is now.
The initial romantic portions between Vijay Sethupathi and Anjali looks a bit overstretched because of less engagement. They share a good chemistry, and are allowed to emote freely, but the story doesn't move forward for a good 15 minutes. It is the antics of the Super (Surya Vijay Sethupathi) that makes those dreary portions watchable.
One of the redeeming elements of the film is the cinematography by Vijay Kartik Kannan. The play with lights inside a specific warehouse is fantastic. Those sequences are well supported by incredible production design. Yuvan Shankar Raja's background score works well in parts and the songs are pictured with montages that push the story forward. There is a certain disconnect between the two halves, and the second half comes across as convenient and artificial.
The film creates a conflict but resolves it within no time, so we don't really invest in the plot. The action sequences that are plenty in number in the second half, could have been better choreographed. They lack creativity barring some scenes. For instance, Thiru and Super are involved in a chase sequence and are stuck on a terrace. The properties used to save Super are clever, but the very next moment, the film takes the lazy, cliched route to help Thiru escape the location. This is also the problem with Sindhubaadh on the whole. It has a few clever moments, a few moments that had the potential to be clever, and a lot of moments lazily written. Sindhubaadh is a reference to the popular fictional character Sindbad, who went on seven adventurous voyages. Even Thiru and Surya travel from one country to another to save his wife, Venba. But if only the adventures and dangers looked real, we could have better connected to the film.
Watch the exclusive video review of the movie by Madhan below: