Paappaa, dubbed from the Telugu movie Devi Putrudu, is definitely not the kind of movie we come across in Tamil. It is a fantasy, with a baby at its heart, that involves the heavenly and the divine. The concept is new and though the graphics and special effects are not upto the mark, the technical faults in execution can be overlooked because what we see is something different and the director has definitely attempted something grand. But the weaknesses in the movie are deeper than merely technical. A lacklustre romance hampers the initial portions while the violence in the second half is surprisingly overdone(considering the apparent target audience).

Krishna(Venkatesh) is a petty thief who thinks he has hit the big time when he latches onto a couple of diamond smugglers. But the two are in reality a grandfather and his granddaughter(Anjala), who are travelling to Dwaraka in search of the woman's sister. Krishna tries to walk out once he learns the truth but destiny makes sure he ends up in Dwaraka. There he meets a small girl(Baby Cherry) who introduces herself as Paappaa. He learns that an archaeologist Balram(Venkatesh), who believed more in science than in God had extracted a mysterious box from the ocean bed. But once confronted with its power and importance, he wished to restore it to its original spot. But the villains, who plan to use it for nefarious purposes, kill him. So now its upto Krishna to complete his unfinished task.

The movie is grand in scope and mounted on a lavish scale. Graphics and special effects play an important part throughout the movie and while they're not world class, they are definitely much better than what we've been exposed to so far in the recent string of devotional movies from Rama. Narayanan and co. The initial destruction of Dwaraka sets the stage nicely with some realistic depiction of the devastation. Commendable effort has gone into setting up the underwater sequence where Venkatesh comes across the ruins of the original city. But the shark encounter here is cheesy and amateurish and could have been avoided. The turmoil caused in the sea by the mystery box and the actions of the villainous magician in the climax also lead to some passable special effects.

There is hardly any cuteness in the budding romance between Venkatesh and Anjala. The situations that force them to ride together almost upto Dwaraka are contrived and the fact that none of the attempted comedy works makes it difficult to overlook the contrivances. The same goes for the song sequences. Venkatesh, as the archaeologist and his wife Soundarya make a much more mature and believable couple. His acceptance of her requests, though they go against his own beliefs, is sweet.

The way Venkatesh is forced to go to Dwaraka and not Mumbai is nice apart from giving us the hint that we are stepping into fantasy territory. The suspense as to what is behind it all is maintained well. Baby Cherry is cute and her segments with Venkatesh are fun. Her real identity comes as a real shock and the way it is revealed is very poignant and touching. The flashback succeeds in answering the questions nicely. But the way pregnant Soundarya is tortured is difficult to watch and goes on for much longer than necessary. The graphics in this scene, which show us her embryo, are effective but in this case, this only makes the scene tougher to watch.

Venkatesh, apparently on a winning streak in Andhra, slips easily into both the roles. Soundarya plays the doting wife to perfection while Anjala, who was seen recently in Ullam Kollai Poguthey, is along just for providing Venkatesh a chance to do some romancing. A beefed up Suresh plays the archaeologist's friend. Songs are quite a disappointment with none managing to make a mark.