In the bare bones of it all, PT Sir , starring Hiphop Tamizha Adhi , seems like just another templated hero-centric commercial entertainer — an underdog star vehicle packaged around a social message, complete with a romance track, a stock Tamil cinema villain, several heroic fight sequences, punchlines, and what not. But a first-time viewer, around 20 minutes into the film, might wonder if director Karthik Venugopal’s sophomore film might be a solid attempt at infusing fresher ideas into this stock formula. There’s a lot of colour, charm and cutesy whimsicality in how we are introduced to Kanagavelu a.
k.a Velu, a physical training teacher at the GP Matriculation School. The visuals and lyrics of ‘Nakkal Pudichavan da Kanagavelu’ tell you all you need to know about Kanagavelu, and at least initially, it’s hard not to like Adhi as this unassertive man-child of a PT master, dancing with school children as he makes a statement against teachers stealing PT periods.
You begin to see promise in how this plot might shape up when told of a ‘Magic Wall’ in the school, on which students write their wishes that somehow get fulfilled. Except for a few embarrassing attempts at comedy - like ones that show Velu competing with a student on who gets to romance Vaanathi (Kashmira Pardeshi), a fellow teacher - there’s a lot that works in these portions. There’s also an effort to explain why Velu is the way he is.
As per an astrologer’s prophecy, Velu should not find himsel.
