The story of tamizh cinema in 5mins, that's the title track of masala
padam. Establishing the plot and storyline of the movie at the 20th min
is an age-old standard for tamizh cinema. This film establishes the
storyline and clearly states what the audience is going to witness, 5
min post the title track. Critics vs film producers. Commercial cinema
vs realistic cinema. The most happening in the recent days (Keep in
mind, an FB meme page was banned in FB few days back as it was
reported to be posting memes and videos against a recent big budget
movie). This real connect with the audience and the current day
situation is a perfect plot and it happens in the first few frames.
A bunch of film reviewers and a producer come face to face
in a reality show. The producer is accused of making the audience dumb
with clichéd commercial cinema. The reviewers are challenged to make a
commercial movie sans the clichés in 6 months. The show ends on a
"Mudhalvan interview" note. Will the critics win? Editor richard cuts.
The bunch of reviewers stand before the producers losing the challenge
and the frame reads "6 months later" - brilliant scene sequence from the
editor!
The six month sequence unravels aftermath as a flashback.
The reviewers run behind 3 characters with different shades for their
story (shiva for comedy, bobby simha for action and gaurav for romance).
They connect these three characters with a woman. The first half is
just 50 min and is lightning speed. Intermission comes at the right
place where these 3 characters and the woman meet in a single scene. So
far, so good!
Director Laxman makes an impressive first half but the
movie loses its plot in the 2nd half. Peeking too much into the lives of
the 3 characters dilutes the storyline and leaves the film on thin ice.
The film solely rests on shiva from then on. Shiva provides the much
needed comical relief and keeps the movie alive. Karthik Acharya
provides a script oriented music and there is no songs that disturb the
story.
Bobby simha retains a single expression on his face
throughout the movie. Action sequences doesn't suit him. He has nothing
new to offer except for dialogue delivery at a few places. Gaurav has a
small role and he is a typical "saettu veetu paiyan" material. His
romance portions were much of a drag, a portion eligible for trimming
(no chance, the movie's run time is lesser than 2 hours).
The cast doesn't end there. I have reserved this stanza for
the solo entertainer in this movie. Shiva is at his best and makes us
wait for him to appear on screen. His timed dialogue delivery comes with
comfortable ease and he single-handedly carries the movie forward. His
innocence and his blank expression makes the comedy even more
entertaining. There is no rib tickling comedy here but the light hearted
comedy makes the atmosphere delightful. His role has a connect with
each one of the male audience. He delivers one dialogue on a serious
note, which reflects the reality of any middle-class man. He speaks
about how they tag a "fear" along with their ambitions. He depicts the
common man, much like a Kamal haasan in Unnaipol oruvan (no drawing
comparisons please, just the common man connect).
The movie has a lot of famous scenes from yesteryear movies
played throughout. "Ayyaa.. En paeru maanickam" sends the audience into
a frenzy mode. There is equal share of ajithism and vijayism. The film
ends with MGR's songs and his CV reads "Death : Still living..."
The last ten min sequence in the movie makes you believe
that there is realism behind every commercial movie that's made. The
statement about commercial cinema translating audience's dream into
reels is so true and makes you agree hands down. Though it is business,
it provides satisfaction to crores of people. The climax - that's the
stamp of realism in this commercial movie. A realistic movie is sans
commercial elements, a commercial movie is never sans realistic
elements.
Bottomline - Makes you revisit your take on commercial cinema.
Bottomline of bottomline - A must watch for cinema lovers except for the clichés. Proud to be a fan of commercial cinema!
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