The first Digital Tamil Release.

   The digital release of a Tamil film by Amazon Prime Videos is the first of its kind and Suriya's Ponmagal Vandaal takes the credit for enabling home watch of a just released film on the day of its release.Watching a new film from home,on the first day of its release, is of course an exciting experience for film lovers during these tough corona times.But the pleasure of a theater watch with d t s effects along with the large gathering of audience and the loss of income of everyone related to theater maintenance,cannot be undermined.
  The film does not add any freshness to story line,because it is an oft seen and heard tale of kidnap of girl children and their physical abuse.But the freshness lies in its narration and the most convincing role play of the woman protagonist Jyothika and that of other actors like Bagyaraj,Paarthiban, Pandiarajan{all the three  branched out from the school of Bharathiraja,one following the other} Thiagarajan and Pratap Pothan. Usually this type of a story line will call for a crime thriller mode of narration.But here it becomes more and more court bound,with the voice of truth getting choked by the criminally well versed lawyer Partiban and the dedicated struggle of Jyothika to relieve truth from the clutches of continued suppression of  evidence,by the thickness of the criminal cord.
  Though subdued narration of films has at times clicked,as in the case of Malayalam films like Drishyam and Lucifer, Pon Magal Vandhaal seems to suffer from a lukewarm presentation of scenes most of them taking place in the court room.The climax suffers for want of clarity in categorically fixing past events of crime surrounding the vulpine and virulent character of Thiagarajan.Though in the climax scene a witness against Thiagarajan is shown in the court premises by Jyothika and Bagyaraj,its follow up is elusive.In fact it is the passionate and emotional outburst of Jyothika,that seems to vaguely and speedily end the film.
  Similarly just before the climax, the Judge Pratap Pothen is shown as asking for some favour from Thiagarajan and receiving a suitcase from him,following which Pandiarajan is found to be snapping his long term association with Pothen,for breaking his norms of integrity.Later just before the verdict is given Pratap Pothen is heard to be telling Thiagarajan that the latter would achieve his ends,through any means.The climax of the film suffers a lot,on account of this jumbled narration.It is not clear whether Pothen has changed his honest course of life or remains honest.
   Jyothika is the sole strength of the film,with the added  verbal vibes of Parthiban and the earnest portrayal of characters by Bagyaraj and Thiagarajan.Suriya might be right in opting for a digital release of his film,directed by debut film maker J.J.Fredrick.