One of the top movies of 2021, ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’ is a labor of love directed by Pa. Ranjith, who also co-wrote the script with Tamizh Prabha. Set in the boxing world of North Madras in the 1970s Tamil Nadu, ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’ is a thrilling and inspiring sports saga. The period is captured effectively using sound, transportation, hairstyles, and clothing. We become aware of the politics of the time through the background noise of radio broadcasts and speeches. The focus of boxing rivalry is between the Sarpatta clan and the Idiyappan clan. In recent years, the Idiyappan clan’s coach has developed a talented and powerful boxer named Vembuli (John Kokken). Vembuli will go on to beat and demoralize the Sarpatta clan’s only hope, Meeran (Sai Tamil). Sarpatta’s Coach Rangan (Pasupathy) is well-respected and eager to win the next match and uphold the honor of his clan.
A meeting is called to find Sarpatta’s next contender. Coach Rangan is considering two. Vetri (Kalaiyarasan), his own hot-tempered son, is a fierce fighter, but he lacks discipline. He idolizes his father but when Rangan rejects him for the Vembuli match, he becomes deeply wounded, conflicted and resentful. The coach picks Raman (Santhosh Pratap), a young fighter whom he has trained to represent the clan. Raman, under the influence of his evil uncle Thaniga (Vettai Muthukumar), rejects Rangan’s training and takes another coach. Kabilan (Arya), our hero, always quick to defend Coach Rangan, challenges Raman to a sparring match. When Raman takes Kaliban’s offer, Rangan sees that Kaliban is the boxer he is looking for. Coach Rangan starts training Kaliban for the Vembuli match.
But Vembuli will not fight with the newcomer. It is decided that a well-respected retired boxer from the Idiyappan clan, Dancing Rose, will fight Kabilan first. Rose is a unique boxer. He dances and goofs his way through the match to the wild appreciation of the audience. In the style of his idol, Muhammad Ali, Kabilan predicts Rose will be knocked out in the second round.
Our hero, Kabilan, is a simple working-class young man whose one passion is boxing. His father was champion boxer who fell into drink and rowdy behavior. Surrounded by his enemies, he was killed in front of his wife and this son. After that, Kabilan’s mother, Bakkiyam (Anupama Kumar), was terrified that if he became a boxer, he would meet the same fate as his father. Kabilan loves his mother dearly, so he keeps his love of boxing hidden from her. Daddy, aka Kevin (John Vijay), his father’s Anglo-Indian friend and neighbor also dreams of Kabilan’s boxing future. He presents Kabilan with boxing gloves, takes him to matches and encourages him to train with the revered Coach Rangan.
The women of Sarpatta are fleshed out and satisfying to watch. When Bakkiyam sees Kaliban being drawn into boxing, she gets him married to Mariyamma (Dushara Vijayan). She hopes he will settle down and forget boxing. Mariyamma is excited to marry Kabilan, but she soon becomes tired of being ignored while Kaliban focuses on training. When her patience runs out, Mariyamma scolds Kabilan, telling him she only wants a small part of his attention. Mariyamma becomes his strongest support. Vetri’s wife, Lakshmi (Sanchana Natarajan), resents her father-in-law’s treatment of his son and boldly says it.
The most wonderful thing about Sarpatta are its’ characters. There are many and most are written with such color and vibrance that you will remember them for a long time. The underdog makes good story is elevated by several surprises and by the actors who worked hard developing their boxing skills. Praise must also go to the editor Selva R. K., the cinematographer Murali G. and the music man Santhosh Narayanan.
