Oram Po

The real-life races among the autorickshaw drivers that are common in Chennai and its outskirts form the crux of debutant director duo Pushkar and Gayathri’s Oram Po.

The light-hearted entertainer begins on top gear but loses it energy and ends up flat .
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The movie has only a wafer thin story line but the swift narration of the lives of the auto-drivers in Chennai in a hilarious way makes for all the entertainment. The director duo have tried to lace it with emotions narrating an earthy romance between Arya and Pooja.  Arya is still in the Pattiyal mode. His on-screen chemistry with Pooja in the romantic scenes is worth a mention. As auto racing freak Chandru, he has a major part to play.  Pooja, in a de-galmourised role, as a biriyani seller, is adequate. Playing a character role for the first time in Tamil cinema, Malayalam actor Lal as Arya’s friend Bigle, walks away with a lot of plaudits. But the real scene stealer is John Vijay. As a comical baddie, who calls himself ‘Son of Gun’, he is always at the back of Arya and Lal. His antics bring the house down. The humour, all through the film, is very MTYish, with a touch of irreverence, something that Tamil cinema has not been witness to very often. In that sense, the attempt is novel and the directors deserve a few brownies points indeed for their try (even though they don’t actually pull it off).

The Chennai, its slums and the night life of auto drivers have been etched well by Pushkar and Gayathri. The characters speak typical ‘Chennai’ Tamil. Dialogues are by Kumar Rajan.  He has worked hard to get the lingo of the auto drivers right. However, at places, one wonders how these dialogues managed to escape the scissors of the censor.

Chandru (Arya), is an auto driver, who loves to race. He spends all his time at mechanic Bigle’s (Lal) shed. Chandru and Bigle encounter troubles from a rival gang headed by Son of Gun (John Vijay). The gang often race in the city’s outskirts and settle score for their disputes.

Chandru’s life take a turn after he meets Rani (Pooja), daughter of a biriyani vendor. Caught in between romance and race, he ends up a loser in all his races and even incurs the wrath of Bigle.

The rest is how the friends come together and race their way to victory to teach Son of Gun a lesson.

The first half is witty and humorous.  But the larky feel is not sustained, leaving it limp towards the end.

Nirav Shah has captured the auto races well. G V Prakash has come up with a couple of loud songs, which fail to impress. Nevertheless, Oram Po is a different attempt. The director duo  reach the chequered flag, even though the ride itself is a bumpy ride.