Punnagai

Director K.Balachander (KB) has made a mark in tamil cinema by making several offbeat films that were far ahead of its time.

Punnagai is the remake of the Hrishikesh mukherjee directed "Satyakam" which featured dharmendra & sanjeev kumar.

It tells the tale of an young man & the trials & turbulations he faces. KB has extracted the best from his artists - Jayanthi, Muthuraman, V.S Raghavan, MRR Vasu & his favorite Nagesh, but the star perfomer however is the hero Gemini Ganesan.

Gemini was always known as the "Kaadhal Mannan (Romance King)" but here he shows what an actor he is. From the first frame to the last, he simply rules the film. His dialogue delivery & his expressions are awesome.

His reactions, specially when his friend Muthuraman's wife accuses his wife (Jayanthi) of immodesty, is superb.

Gemini is one of the most under rated actors of his generation. His acting was subtle & to the point, at a time when melodrama & over acting ruled the roost.

When we compare with the Hindi original, Dharmendra is nowhere near Geminis' brilliance.

No wonder, KBr ranked this film as no.1 among his favourites.

This film must be watched for Gemini Ganesan's masterly performance & for the direction of KB.

K Balachander handles the theme of man's honesty and integrity under duress with elan, giving us one of his most memorable films. All the characters stand out, and some of the scenes are drama at its best, A film you can go back to again and again.