Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/article/puriyaatha-puthir-movie-review
Vijay Sethupathi is such a star today (I can still hear the whistles from his sensational introduction scene in Vikram Vedha) that it’s hard to believe he was once just a fresh-faced actor. The Vijay Sethupathi from those days — younger, slimmer — is whom we see in the long-in-the-making Puriyaadha Pudhir (A Mystifying Puzzle), where he plays a music director with eclectic tastes. His walls are plastered with pictures of Western Classical composers, Jimi Hendrix and the album cover for Laakhon Mein Ek, K Balachander’s Hindi remake of Ethir Neechal, for which RD Burman scored the music. Kathir seems as offbeat as the actor playing him.
He falls for a music teacher named Meera (Gayathrie), and though these early romantic scenes are pure cliche, Sethupathi is so into them that he makes you wonder what his career might have been like had he chosen a more conventional route like his Vikram Vedha co-star. I smiled at his little pretend-sulk when Meera won’t invite him to her flat for a cup of coffee. Had Gayathrie been into these scenes as much as her co-star (she’s too stiff), they may not have seemed like cliches at all. But slowly, the what-might-have-been questions cease to matter — for the film transforms into a thriller.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
jaga_jaga
September 2, 2017
HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD
Barely watchable! I had sky-high expectations. Although there was no need for the expectation. The concept was decent enough though, and Vijay Sethupati was very fresh! That heroine defined stiffness, and ineffectual acting. Although that face did help in the incredulity, when it was finally revealed that the heroine was behind all these ploys.
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pato
September 2, 2017
Meera developed some crush on Kathir but Kathir didn’t see her or register her in specific way. She was just one of thousand others that he might have seen in that culturals. Even the reveal happened not because of luck or anything like that but because of a particular character’s decision.
I enjoyed the romantic portions in the movie(Loved both the montage songs) and it was delight to watch sethupathi in different light. Hope some other filmmakers also tap into this side of him.
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M_Raghavan
September 3, 2017
I beg to differ. Do you know your classic film noir? The story has to move slow in order for us to build a relationship with the characters.
Of course the heroine is plastic. Remember Norman Bates. Meera is a nutcase, too.
I am growing disappointed with Indian critics. Keep your Arjun Reddy. This film is a helluva lot better.
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"Original" venkatesh
September 3, 2017
Makkal Selvan Sir …..
Isnt he like doing 12 films a year or so some such ridiculous number ?
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Learner
September 4, 2017
Vijay Sethupathy had not met Meera earlier. It was pretty much evident that he waved hands to the people behind Meera at different times. And Meera insisting on Red violin might be because she might hav noticed Vijay sethupathy having one. insisting on door delivery was jus another ploy to make Vijay sethupathy fall for her.
The script seemed to be kinda spin off from a flashback scene from a tamil movie Whistle…This script seemed to be properly bound and the reveal was magnanimous! Dint see it coming. Maybe the Meera character could hav been portrayed by a better known face.
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Jaana Tom
September 4, 2017
Maybe it was the poor pacing, maybe it was the wooden main actress, but this film didn’t really work for me. But being a huge fan of Park Chan-Wook, it was heartening to see some of that influence in this film – but the plot couldn’t quite do the film’s frames justice. The music was ‘meh’ but the montages more than made up for them. In a way, that is what makes this film frustrating – it’s good, but it had the potential to be greater than that.
However, I feel like I would have had a more charitable opinion of this movie – had it been released before Vikram Vedha. After VV, I am now expecting bigger and better from VJS.
As an aside, how does VJS’s popularity work? He isn’t really a conventional Kolly star – not that this is a bad thing.
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pato
September 5, 2017
Even though VJS is not like other like other mass heroes, his movies are always Entertaining maybe not the types we are used to in tamil cinema. He has brought a fresh slice of air to tamil cinema where his movies even when offbeat doesn’t seem alien to the mainstream audience. No one hates him since everyone acknowledges that his movies are not the routine ones. His dialogue delivery is endearing to everyone since its always tossed off casually and he is good with his swagger in movies that had mass scenes like sethupathi and vikram vedha.
After Vikram Vedha’s huge success,its interesting to see how his career going to shape up since everyone loved his ‘mass’ performance in it and maybe a certain section may start expecting him to do more mass movies.
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