After an unsuccessful attempt at returning to the 'message movie' with the self-indulgent, preachy Maayakkannaadi, Pokkisham sees Cheran going back to romance, the genre that has given him his biggest success so far in Autograph. While it isn't as realistic as Autograph or as emotional as Thavamaai Thavamirundhu, it is a solid, effective romance that starts off nicely, slows down a bit in the middle and finishes strongly.

A young man(Aryan Rajesh) in Chennai stumbles upon some letters exchanged between his dad and a woman, in the 70s. With the help of his dad's diary and the letters, he pieces together the story. His dad Lenin(Cheran) was a marine engineer based in Calcutta. On a visit to Madras to visit his ailing father in the hospital, he met Nadhira(Padmapriya), a Muslim woman, whose mother had also been admitted in the hospital. After Lenin went back in Calcutta, the two continued their friendship through letters and soon realized that the friendship had blossomed into love.

Pokkisham proceeds for a while like a combination of Kaadhal Koattai and Bombay. While the growth and transformation of the relationship between Cheran and Padmapriya reminds us strongly of the long-distance love between Ajith and Devayani, the Hindu-Muslim aspect of the romance mirrors the situation in Manirathnam's love story. But the fact that Cheran and Padmapriya have met before their correspondence, gives the relationship more depth here and the progression in their feelings from friendhip to love is believable considering their initial conversations and mutual interests. And though religion plays an important part in this romance, it is handled with a lot less drama than expected.

Today, technology allows us to instantly get in touch with someone, whichever corner of the globe they may be in and brief, abbreviation-laden messages on email and cellphone have become the chief means of communication. While the conveniences brought about by the advancements of technology are inarguable, Pokkisham does make us nostalgic for those times when letter-writing was the primary method of keeping in touch. And the aspects of this kind of communication, whether in the length of the letters(that allows Cheran and Padmapriya to fully express what they feel), the delay between missives(which leads to questions about whether the letter reached safely and misgivings about its content and the receiver's reactions) and the lack of privacy(that allows Padmapriya's family to know of the correspondence) are all exploited to imbue the relationship with drama and even suspense and tension. The letters themselves are nicely worded, allowing us to enjoy their content.

As Aryan delves into the past, he is constantly in touch with his girlfriend in the present and this serves as a contrast to the romance he is discovering through the letters. His nagging girlfriend and frequent spats and patch-ups with her seem a little overdone in order to highlight the contrast but serve the purpose of making Aryan realize the depth of his dad's love since eventually, it is this realization that drives him to bring true closure to his dad's love affair.

While lovers encountering problems is pretty much a given in a romance, Cheran is stuck in a rather unique situation here. We do sympathize with him but the movie risks losing that sympathy by beginning to drag. But the film makes sure that we feel for the characters by the time it ends. Aryan's need for closure gives us closure too and the emotions feel real during that time. The dialogs are heatfelt and manage to invoke respect and admiration for all the characters involved, whether living or dead.

Cheran plays the nice guy well enough but his acting limitations are clear when it comes to the heavier scenes. Whether its expressing happiness at his feelings being reciprocated or dejection at the turn of events later, he comes up short and that dilutes the impact of some key scenes. No such problems with Padmapriya though. She fits the role of the Muslim girl perfectly and emotes really well. The movie's strong finish is in no small part due to her. Vijayakumar is subdued and effective and the actor playing Padmapriya's dad makes a good impression also. Sabesh-Murali's melody-filled soundtrack fits the mood of the film perfectly. Anjal Petti... and Nilaa Nee... are picturized well. The art direction is fabulous and transports us to Calcutta in the 70s.