Poi (film)

Poi
Poi
Soundtrack album by Vidyasagar
Released	10 December 2006
Recorded	Varsha Vallaki Studios
Genre	Feature Film Soundtrack
Label	Eros Music
Producer	Vidyasagar
Vidyasagar chronology

Poi
Poi
	Poster
Tamil	பொய்
Directed by	K. Balachander
Written by	K. Balachander,; Thamira (dialogues)
Produced by	Prakash Raj
Starring	Uday Kiran; Vimala Raman; Geethu Mohandas; Prakash Raj; Adithya Menon; Avinash
Cinematography	Biju Viswanath
Music by	Vidyasagar
Production; company	Duet Movies
Release date	22 December 2006;
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Poi (transl. The Lie) is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by K. Balachander in his 101st and final film as a director. Produced by Prakash Raj, the film starts Uday Kiran (in his Tamil debut) and Vimala Raman (in her acting debut),^[1]^[2] while Geetu Mohandas, Prakash Raj, Adithya Menon, and Avinash play supporting roles along with the director in a guest appearance. The music was composed by Vidyasagar with cinematography by Biju Viswanath. The film released on 22 December 2006.

Plot

Valluvanar (Avinash) is an upright political leader in Tamil Nadu who is much respected for his honesty and uprightness, and he refuses to compromise on this trait, even when his only son Kamban (Uday Kiran) finds himself in jail for no fault of his. The opposition party takes advantage of the situation and bails out Kamban, who joins the party, much to his father's embarrassment. The media laps it up, sensationalizing it further. Kamban decides to leave the country until things cool down. Only his mother Vasuki (Anuradha Krishnamurthy), with whom he is close, is aware of this plan. Kamban arrives at Sri Lanka where he befriends Banerjee (Badava Gopi), a Bengali, and stays with him. One day, he finds a Tamil literary book on the beach, which he traces to Shilpa (Vimala Raman), the owner of the book. Shilpa is a college student preparing for civil services examination. The film juggles between reality and fiction, where Theepori, the fictitious father image of Kamban, advises him to fall in love. That sets in rolling the love story as Kamban persists in wooing Shilpa. She is staying with her brother's family. Shilpa is keen on realizing her ambitions and feels that love and marriage often comes in the way of women's career. The rest of the story is about the emotional conflict between her career and love. After Vasuki's death, Valluvanar reaches Sri Lanka. Kamban is unaware of his mother's death. Shilpa's family meets Valluvanar. Meanwhile, Kamban goes to meet Shilpa to hand over the passport, but due to his friend's lie, he ends up thinking that Shilpa committed suicide. How the lie told to reunite the lovers gives the tragic end is the end of the story.

Cast

Uday Kiran as Kamban a.k.a. Bharati
Vimala Raman as Shilpa
Geetu Mohandas as Ramya
Prakash Raj as Vidhi (Fate)
Adithya Menon as Vishnu
Avinash as Valluvanar
Sridhar as Roshan
Anuradha Krishnamurthy as Vasuki
Renuka as Menaka
Badava Gopi as Banerjee
Bombay Gnanam
K. Balachander (cameo appearance)
Samuthirakani (cameo appearance)

Production

The film was launched in 2005 at the eve of KB's 75th birthday.^[3] There were rumors that Rajini and Kamal would appear in cameo appearances but proved false.^[4] Telugu actor Uday Kiran was selected to play the lead role making his debut in Tamil and Vimala Raman who was brought up in Australia was selected as heroine. Geethu Mohandas who earlier appeared in Nala Damayanthi was selected to appear in this film making "Poi" her second and last film in Tamil. K Balachander and Prakshraj themselves acted in this film. There were rumours that Jayashree of Thendrale Ennai Thodu fame would appear in this film which became false.^[5]

Soundtrack

Music was composed by Vidyasagar.^[6]

No.	Song	Singers	Lyrics
1	"Azhaghana Poigale"	Ranjith	Vairamuthu
2	"Enna Tholaithai"	K. S. Chithra	Kirithaya
3	"Hitler Penne"	Tippu, Sujatha	P. Vijay
4	"Inge Inge Oru Paatu"	Shankar Mahadevan	P. Vijay
5	"Iyakkunare"	Harini, Sriram Parthasarathy	Kabilan
6	"Kandu Pidithen"	K. Narayan	Kirithaya
7	"Kannamoochi"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	Kirithaya
8	"Kutti Kutti Kavithai"	Pop Shalini	P. Vijay
9	"La La La"	S. P. Balasubrahmanyam	P. Vijay

Release

The film was originally scheduled to release on 6 October 2006,^[7] distributors were initially reluctant to take the film as they felt that "subject was outdated" but Aascar films procured the rights.^[8] The film's release was later postponed to Diwali^[9] but finally released in December. The film was dubbed in Telugu as Abaddam.^[10]

Critical reception

Rediff wrote "Poi is a case in point – you expect so much from Balachander, a genuine icon of Tamil filmdom; if you leave adulation aside, though, you have to say that his latest film disappoints".^[11] Nowrunning wrote "Poi lacks the marks of KB's earlier films".^[12] Malini Mannath of Chennai Online wrote "Poi seems more of a self-indulgent trip for the director, crafted without any thought of audience sensibilities."^[13] Lajjavathi of Kalki praised the performances of star cast, music and cinematography and noted though despite some of the scenes feeling dated, he called the film as emotional struggle with true lovers.^[14]

References

^ "Brahma of new wave Indian cinema K Balachander passes away". Deccanchronicle.com. 24 December 2014. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "End of an era: K. Balachander (1930–2014)". Thehindu.com. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Tamil Cinema News – Tamil Movie Reviews – Tamil Movie Trailers". Indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Tamil movies : Balachandar draws distributors to Prakash Raj". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Tamil Cinema News – Tamil Movie Reviews – Tamil Movie Trailers". Indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 14 July 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Poi songs download". JioSaavn. 25 December 2005. Archived from the original on 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^ "Tamil Cinema News – Tamil Movie Reviews – Tamil Movie Trailers". Indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Tamil movies : Prakashraj sour: still no takers for Poi". Behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Tamil Cinema News – Tamil Movie Reviews – Tamil Movie Trailers". Indiaglitz.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Abaddam movie review - the Good, the Bad and the ugly - Telugu cinema - Uday Kiran & Vimala". Idlebrain. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 21 June 2022.
^ "Poi: Disappointing". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ "Poi Review – Tamil Movie Poi Review". Nowrunning.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
^ Mannath, Malini (1 January 2007). "Poi". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 29 June 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
^ லஜ்ஜாவதி (21 January 2007). "பொய்". Kalki (in Tamil). p. 32. Retrieved 14 April 2024.