4. But what does the writer, director, actor, music director and producer of the film do with this crazy setup? Not much to be honest. This idea for a body-swapping drama doesn’t really push its wackiness far enough and instead settles for a safe space along the lines of a film like Shankar’s Sivaji (2007).
5. Despite the option to develop this idea into a film like Billa (2007), Salman’s Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (2015) or the classic John Woo cop-drama Face-Off (1997), Pichaikkaran turns into a soapy melodrama that deviates too much from its campy genesis.
6. This is partly due to the way it tries to merge the sister sentiment into this one-liner. If the first film benefitted greatly from a son’s undying love for his mother, so much so that he would do anything for her, the new film pushes our buttons a little too much. The result is a film in which the thangachi is invoked so often that we don’t care if she or her brother survives.
7. It is here that the film devolves into another generic story with the last half hour turning into a full-fledged courtroom drama. A biggish deviation into a concept called “anti bikili” takes the film securely into WTF levels of ridiculousness. But because we’ve switched off by then, even this bit of over-the-top goodness fails to connect anymore.
8. Another major annoyance is caused by the severe shortage of co-actors. Actors like Yogi Babu come and go and you can almost feel the makers trying to use him in as many scenes as possible given his limited time. Women have nothing else to do either except to milk the sister sentiment or to remain the annoying girlfriend who does not understand the complicated life of her billionaire lover. The less said about the hammy villains the better.