Pookie

Pookie Movie Synopsis: A couple's messy public breakup sends them down separate spirals before the inevitable pull kicks in.

Pookie Movie Review: Every generation thinks their breakups are uniquely devastating. Pookie banks on this conviction, packaging the post-breakup experience as a series of relatable set pieces aimed squarely at the Instagram generation, and for the most part, it works. Kailash (Ajay Dhishan) and Aazhi (RK Dhanusha) are six years in when a road rage incident blows everything up. He chases down a driver who clips his mirror, brawls in the street while Aazhi begs him to stop, she slaps him in front of a gathering crowd, and he slaps her right back. Someone films it, the video goes viral, and suddenly they're "that couple." They split. What follows are two parallel timelines of coping badly.

The film operates as a sequence of vignettes, each built around a recognizable post-breakup experience. The hyper-fixation on distractions. The new relationship that can't take root because the old one still occupies too much headspace. The bickering over small things that now feels enormous in hindsight. When these individual pieces click, they carry a genuine sting of recognition. Vijay Antony's music, sharp as always, holds the mood together, and director Ganesh Chandra (who doubles up as cinematographer) keeps things moving at a clip that doesn't let any one segment drag.

The problem is what sits between the vignettes: not much. Pookie plays like a well-curated collection rather than a story that accumulates weight. You're entertained in the moment and that’s about it. There's also the relentless trendiness. Bro this, boomer that, Instagram references piled on like hashtags. Topicality has a short shelf life, and when every other scene reminds you how current it is, you're already watching it age. A lighter touch would have gone further.

More troubling is the film's insistence on false equivalence. Kailash's road rage is violent and frightening, and a stray line of dialogue hints he may have hit Aazhi before. His coping? Lifting weights and bro talk. Hers? Getting scammed and humiliated at an ashram. The film frames these as two sides of the same coin, which only ends up making her look foolish while letting him off with a gym membership. For a film this aware of modern relationship dynamics, it's a strange blind spot.

Both leads carry their tracks with warmth. Ajay Dhishan, returning after Maargan, brings an easy screen presence. RK Dhanusha matches him well. The supporting actors, including Shiyara and Vivek Prasanna, bring some texture. You'll get a good laugh out of street dogs having inner voices that tell jokes.

Pookie knows its audience and plays to them with a polished hand. It connects in pieces. Whether those pieces add up to a whole is another question.

Written By: Abhinav Subramanian