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A story (out) of nothing

Seema Raja (2018)

Genre : Drama/Romcom
Cast : Sivakarthikeyan, Samantha Akkineni, Soori, Simran

Director : Ponram

Synopsis : Sivakarthikeyan stars as Seema Raja, a young prince of a small town who falls for a
                 school teacher played by Samantha Akkineni.

Rating : ★☆☆☆☆


"Drearily dull "

Ponram dons the hat of a director yet again after his much-loved blockbusters Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam (2013) and  Rajini Murugan (2015). We enter the theater in high spirits as this film looked promising, after all.

We were let down in the very first scene, when our minds started echoing an alert of a plotless commercial film . Ponram as well as Sivakarthikeyan hit rock bottom in our hearts, crushing our hopes. Ponram introduces unnecessary shallow characters for a film that goes about aimlessly. The kabaddi match sequence, poor screenplay, unwanted dialogues on controversies and whirlwind of flashbacks trivialize the first half and fails to persuade the audience to take the film seriously.

At some point in the film, the heroine wails "Ennakku inga irrukave pudikala". We also feel the same way while getting through the pathetic film. Samantha hardly catches our eye and was much of a blink-and-miss appearance.

Though most characters are poorly fleshed out, Simran definitely makes an prominent impression flawlessly and effortlessly and does justice to her character that demands a whole lot of talent and flair.

Being the music director, Imman whips up one melody after another which sounds a bit cliched and too Imman-ish and has us groaning every time a duet comes up. Maybe the music could have been a bit different and out of the "Imman" shell.

 Sivakarthikeyan and Soori really make an amazing duo with their signature slapstick comedy and give the much-needed punch and kick the film had ought to have. The laughs were rather necessary than of an extra fitting to get through the hopeless film.

It really doesn't matter how much you like royal-lineage stories or Sivakarthikeyan. At the end, Ponram keeps hovering over his period drama and the stereotypical commercial film and can't decide which one he wants his film to be.


Watching the flick was more like a bunch of scenes thrown into together that make no sense, let alone a film. Seema Raja is merely another masala flick with no plot or screenplay and makes you wonder what you watched through those confusing, stray two-and-a-half hours.

A disappointing one. Definitely not worth your time.



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