Ponmagal Vandhal Movie Review: Jyotika’s film encourages rape survivors to speak up

Debutant director JJ Fredrick’s Ponmagal Vandhal starring Jyotika delivers a strong message about the judicial system, sexual abuse and the trauma that survivors go through. Apart from a few flaws in the screenplay, the film touches upon a sensitive topic that the country doesn’t quite pay heed to.

Movie Name: Ponmagal Vandhal
Director: JJ Fredrick

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ponmagal Vandhal is streaming on Amazon Prime Video from May 29.
• The Jyotika-starrer is about child trafficking, sexual abuse and rape.
• Ponmagal Vandhal is produced by Jyotika’s actor-husband Suriya.

Spoilers ahead...

We hear or read the word ‘rape’ on news channels and newspapers every day. It doesn’t even make you gasp anymore. We, as a society have normalised rape. We fail to bring justice to the survivors, let alone listening to them and enabling them to share their story to the world. We even victimise them.

This is the crux of JJ Fredrick’s Ponmagal Vandhal starring Jyotika. As the title suggests, her character Venba (Jyotika) is indeed a ponmagal (precious girl in English). Her dad Petition Pethuraj (K Bhagyaraj) reopens a 15-year-old case about Jothi, who is framed as a psycho killer for murdering children. It is Venba’s first case and the truth behind Jothi and her intentions unravel over the two hours of the film's runtime.

Ponmagal Vandhal is an important film in the history of Tamil cinema. It doesn’t shy away from showcasing the survivors and the trauma they go through. Even when the police officials unearth the bodies of young children, we don’t get to see their faces. We get to see bloodstained frocks and that imagery that is ought to linger in the minds of the people.

It is a film that gets its emotion perfectly right and tugs at your heartstrings. Some films will push you to overlook the flaws if it has a well-intentioned message in place. Ponmagal Vandhal is that film. The messaging makes up for the lack of inventiveness in the second half.

While the film is important, the craft and technicalities in the script take a severe beating in the second half. Ponmagal Vandhal, which was marketed as a courtroom drama, failed to make the courtroom proceedings intriguing.

The evidence and the testimonies are more of narrations. Either Jyotika’s Venba brings forth the evidence or a news anchor on the TV reads it out for you. Post interval, the director takes a convenient route which makes us predict the happenings beforehand.

Ponmagal Vandhal heavily relies on Jyotika and with profound sadness in her eyes, she does the job well too. The darkness in Jyotika’s character is something that will shake you. When she finds out that her child is raped, she wails. But, acts quickly. She rescues her and tends to her. She is still in her bloodstained saree, even as she pats her kid to sleep.

As a prosecutor, Parthiban with his quick wit and wordplay delivers a neat act. But, it is K Bhagyaraj’s Petition Pethuraj that steals the show. As a supportive father and an ally to a sexual abuse survivor, he is the person who you want by your side. Always.

Govind Vasantha’s music, however, failed to create the impact that it was supposed to. In other words, Ponmagal Vandhal trusts its cast and their performance to get the message across.

Keeping away the negatives, Ponmagal Vandhal is a film to be treasured, just for its messaging. It isn’t the first film to speak about child sexual abuse. The way the filmmaker provided a platform for the survivor to speak up and made people listen to her deserves much appreciation. For this sole reason, the film should be celebrated.

3 out of 5 stars in Ponmagal Vandhal.