R ARIVANANTHAM
Thinking out-of-the-box has helped the debutant director M Selvakumar, former associate of director Muthaiya, to hit jackpot with ‘Bumper’ movie. With brilliant weaving of honesty, integrity and humanity in equal measure along with his own life experiences, the director has shown that in this materialistic world, despite poverty people still live with integrity.
Sharing his ideation of ‘Bumper,’ Selvakumar says, “My father was a scrap dealer who had won a lottery in Kerala. I had many apprehensions when I went to collect the money, and I have weaved those experiences into the film. I developed a story based on the lottery system in Kerala, and how Tamils travel to Kerala only to buy lotteries. This film does not promote lottery but sends a strong message that ‘money is not everything but honesty is.”
- The director has deftly conveyed his message to the society at large on the importance and prevalence of honesty through two characters – a thug and a lottery-ticket seller
- This film does not promote lottery but sends a strong message that ‘money is not everything but honesty is.’
The director has deftly conveyed his message to the society at large on the importance and prevalence of honesty through two characters – a thug and a lottery-ticket seller. Other characters have brilliantly portrayed their supporting roles.
‘Bumper’ revolves around Vetri’s Puli Paandi, who goes to Sabarimalai, and buys a lottery ticket from Ismail (Hareesh Peradi) worth Rs 10 crores, but leaves it there itself by mistake. When it becomes the winning ticket, a noble Ismail embarks upon a journey to return what is rightfully Puli Paandi’s Bumper prize.
The film picks up the momentum in the second half. For example, when Ismail is shown to be virtuous and with integrity, we already know that his family suffers from poverty. Similarly, Anandhi’s (Shivani Narayanan) father – Puli’s uncle – agrees to give his daughter’s hand in marriage to Puli once he wins the lottery.
Trailer:
Although Bumper has its negatives, the film has quite a few valuable messages. For instance, Puli mends his ways after adorning the Ayappa Mala. Ismail is a religious man who sticks to his principles. We see how religion can be an important binding factor that helps in the transformation of people. However, it isn’t like Selvakumar resorts to cliches either as there is an equally strong commentary on how humanity is not defined by religion, and what matters even more is personal integrity.
Hareesh Peradi’s Ismail seems like a character who is too good to be true. A man, who doesn’t want one penny from a 10 crore bumper prize, even though he has all the rights to take all of it. Yet, his character seems pertinent in cinema as we need more good characters on screen to reiterate the importance of humanity off it. As usual, a wonderful Hareesh Peradi pulls off the role with ease.
In the end, Pulipandi turns a new leaf but his loving mother was no more to cherish this transformation in her son’s life.
Cast
Vetri, Hareesh Peradi, Shivani Narayanan, Kavitha Bharathi, GP Muthu, Aruvi Madhan, Aathira, Thangadurai, and Tito Wilson
Crew
Director: M Selvakumar, Music: Govind Vasantha and Producers: S Thiagaraja, and T Anandajothi
