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Poojai backdrop

Poojai

24 October 2014Tamil2h 34m

What critics are saying

Critical reception for Poojai is mixed-to-moderate, with most reviewers acknowledging it as a functional, watchable masala entertainer suited to festive occasions and fan audiences.

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Hari DirectorHari WriterShashank Vennelakanti WriterYuvan Shankar Raja MusicPriyan Cinematography

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Poojai is a 2014 Tamil action-masala film directed by Hari and produced by Vishal, who himself plays the lead role alongside an ensemble cast featuring Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj, Raadhika Sarathkumar and Mukesh Tiwari.

Critic Consensus

Critical reception for Poojai is mixed-to-moderate, with most reviewers acknowledging it as a functional, watchable masala entertainer suited to festive occasions and fan audiences. The film's action sequences and occasional humour drew mild praise, with critics recognising Hari's competence within the commercial masala format. However, the most common criticisms centre on poor writing, a lack of cohesion between scenes and genres, excessive runtime padded by songs and comedy, and a failure to go beyond familiar template filmmaking. Several critics noted it falls short of Hari's stronger earlier work.

7 rated reviews · 2 positive · 5 mixed

Praised: Functional commercial masala entertainmentCriticised: Weak writing and excessive runtime

AI-generated summary of 10 critic reviews · may contain errors

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Critic Reviews (10)

Updated
M. Suganth· Times Of India
6.0
Poojai is quite lengthy. Much of the fluff is songs and comedy sequences, which, if removed, could easily have reduced the running time by at least 30 minutes but Hari is not after a thriller but a masala movie. And Poojai is commercial masala done well. There is action (punchy), sentiment (effective but not affecting), humour (silly but funny once in a while), romance (ludicrous and strictly functional), and the director manages to keep things ticking —the action is often relentless, and the nondescript songs and the comedy scenes (Soori and Pandi doing a pale imitation of Goundamani and Senthil) are breathers for us.
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On the whole it is a typical Hari mass entertainer, though this time he has not got the mix in the right proposition.
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5.0
All said and done, Poojai is still a watchable entertainer to spend time on, with your family on a festive day.
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Raisa Nasreen· BookMyShow
5.0
Overall the film is a treat for those who are looking to watch a masala movie. Vishal fans will certainly have an enjoyable Diwali.
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Anupama Subramanian· Deccan Chronicle
5.0
Thus with an ensemble cast and a solid production team, the end product of Poojai is firm in its standing and assured in its functionality. But some aspects of the initial architecture could have used with a bit of innovation.
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IndiaGlitz· India Glitz
5.0
'Poojai' is a mix of a lot of genres, but they seem disproportionate for the times and taste of this day. However, it is an entertaining three hours of festivity, to chill out on. Most importantly, thanks to Hari for a thoroughbred masala movie after a long time in Kollywood.
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5.0
"Poojai" is a pure commercial movie and watched by all section of audience.
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PipingHotViews Reviewer· PipingHotViews
Not rated
Poojai is a template masala action film from Hari with smatterings of love, comedy & family sentiment set in a well-designed plot. While it is not compelling, it certainly is a watchable festival entertainer.
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Zeenews Bureau· Zee News
Not rated
"Poojai" should've been more than just the hero flexing his muscles and fighting.
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Sudhir Srinivasan· The Hindu
Not rated
Poojai, despite not being Hari's best, could still be successful in the B and C centres, and affirm his bankability. The writing is generally not well thought out though. It seems almost like groups of imperfect scenes were put together in the hope that they'd somehow come together to form a riveting, entertaining whole. Poojai then is a refutation of Aristotle's adage that states that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
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Cast & Crew

Details

Release Date
24 October 2014
Runtime
2h 34m
Language
Tamil

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