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.
Vaaren Vaaren Seemaraja
Vocals: Diwakar and Kavitha Gopi
Lyrics: Yugabharathi
Vaaren Vaaren Seemaraja is the perfect introductory track for Sivakarthikeyan's rising mass image! The song is powerful in all senses of the word. A rejuvenating track with lyrics that describe the protagonist. The beats are ecstatic and they don't have the idea of slowing down. Diwakar's rendition is on point. He sounds robust and is the strength behind the song. The theme score looks like a sure-shot gallery favorite!
Onnavitta Yaarum Yenakilla
Vocals: Sean Roldan and Shreya Ghoshal
Lyrics: Yugabharathi
The typical Imman melody that follows his usual pattern. A tight rhythm neatly accompanies the vocalists all along, making it a foot-tapping melody. The orchestration is great and the string solos are lovely. Shreya Ghoshal often finds a spot in Imman's albums and she never forgets to show off that she is one of the finest singers in the country. Sean Roldan has also proven his prowess before, and this song is no villain to that.
Varum Aana Varaathu
Vocals: D Imman and Vandana Srinivasan
Lyrics: Yugabharathi
An Imman album demands that song that is titled after a popular comical phrase. Here we have Varum Aana Varaathu. Imman surrounds the quirky lyrics with folk beats and tunes that are aimed right at the B&C centers. He is known for his deep voice and it sounds functional in this track. There isn't too much space for Vandana to express.
Paraak Paraak
Vocals: Senthil Ganesh
Lyrics: Yugabharathi
There is a lot of grandeur possessed by the song. Starts off with the paraak paraak for a king (Seema'raja'). From there on it is a beat dominated song that is super-swift! Senthil Ganesh carries his fame forward with an excellent rendition. Right from the beats, to the chorus, to the lead vocal and lyric, this song sounds majestic! It promises to be a crowd favorite.
Machakanni
Vocals: D Imman
Lyrics: Yugabharathi
Yet another Imman-esque song. The song lacks a certain amount of freshness. It is a typical romantic number with the rhythm of commendable instrumentation adding value to the output.
Onnavitta Yaarum Yenakilla
Vocals: Sathyaprakash and Shreya Ghoshal
Lyrics: Yugabharathi
Sathyaprakash replaces Sean Roldan. But nothing apart from this differentiates this song from the other song in the album with the same name. Sathyaprakash admirably does his job well, and his voice adds a special flavour to the song.
Seemaraja Swag
Vocals: Shenbagaraj and Vignesh Narayanan
Lyrics: Yugabharathi
Another likable theme for Sivakarthikeyan alias Seemaraja. This swag theme compromises of the whistle, synths and some power. This sounds like a guitar-powered theme for an exciting fight sequence. Suits SK's image pretty well. This music will definitely elevate the mass level of an action sequence in the film.
A Late Night Walk with Veena
Veena: Punya Srinivas
Imman seems to be in love with Onnavitta Yaarum Yenakilla. He has two male-singer versions of the track and apart from that, here is a dub-step synth fused with the carnatic version of the same song. Punya Srinivas on the Veena is excellent. It sounds divine, and it somehow seems to fuse well with the synthetic backing. A different kind of a treat for music lovers.