Firstly 3 cheers to the Producer and the Director for churning a daring attempt. We have had precedents of such stuffs in the small screen even before this film was made with the likes of Nayyandi Dharbar, Lollu Sabha etc..But watching such stuffs in the big screen could give you a déjà vu feeling. This is where the makers have thought differently I would say. This is film draws a thin line of difference between “Spoofing” and “Satire”. I would say the Director was trying to be rather “Celebrating” Tamil cinema than being merely “Sarcastic”.

Lots of comedies (or spoofs) shown in the film were nothing but the lunch-time gossips we use to have with friends after watching each and every film. This film is totally for those ardent Tamil movie-followers who have both enjoyed and at the same time criticized various daring and run-of-the-mill movies which were taken over the last 10-15 years. Don’t we still enjoy and discuss the electrifying first meeting of Rajini and Raghuvaran in the movie Baasha. Don’t we still wonder and laugh at how no-one was able to recognize Arjun in “Muthalvan” (after he becomes the CM), where he simply wears a turban and escapes from the tight security to meet his Lady Love and no-one in the village was able to recognize him!

Over to the film, well I laughed at almost every scene in the first half, specially the scene where Shiva tries a Barathnatyam (aka. scene from Kadhalan) is a scream all the way. The introduction song takes a dig at Vijay right from the settings, costumes and the special note “Intha Padalai Padiyavar Ungal Shiva..”. The spoof of a scene from the movie Run (shutter scene) and the way Shiva escapes from the thugs shows the astuteness of the Director which is laudable.

The second half of the film (half and hour at least) is where it starts to meander at a leisurely pace. But one thing needs to appreciated, the Director was never trying to be serious, rather he was very particular in maintaining the fun quotient throughout the film. The reason I am saying this is sometimes comedy movies tend to get serious after a point and would again end in a flourish (just to cater for the family audience). Thanks to the Director for choosing to be funny for the entire movie. Climax was bit of a dampener I would say.

Now on to the Hero-Shiva. He is a rocker all the way. Things which people use to criticize about him in his earlier movies like a never-looking-serious face, dialogue delivery etc..have all worked wonders for him in this movie. We have in our hand a very cool comedy Hero seriously in the making. He was sorely missed in the movie “Goa” I would say, which would have otherwise been much better with his presence.

Overall Tamil Padam is Definitely Worth a Watch. If you think you have no place to go this weekend, do not have any second thoughts go for this movie and have a blast!!