Kathakali - A Pandiraj Experimentation!

After his recent hit "Pasanga-2", the kids specialist comes out of his comfort zone for the first time with a thriller, a whodunit one, a rarity in Tamizh cinema. Pandiraj, known for his movies with the "humour" tag ventures into the action platform for the first time with a perfect action hero on board. With a well-trimmed trailer of Kathakali releasing a few weeks back, has Pandiraj lived up to the expectations in the longer version? 

Kathakali starts with Balasubramaniem's brilliant top-angle shot of the sea, a sample of the technical brilliance behind the scenes. After the voice-over introduction of the principal character "Thamba", the film takes a dip featuring an intro song with the usual carnival backdrop. The first half of the film takes a fairly long time establishing the plot, often disturbed by the romance portions. Catherine Tresa as Meenukutty gets a very weak role and poor dubbing, a movie to forget after her much-acclaimed performance as a North Madras girl in Madras. Vishal fails to impress in the first half, as he tries to woo Meenukutty most of the time. Karunas, as Vishal's friend provides a few lighter moments. Samudhirakani's voice-over for Thamba is worth mentioning for the intensity it adds to the character. With a weak screenplay, first half tests your patience. With a lot of compromise made in the first half, the film rope-walks on a thin line suspense - "Who killed Thamba?"

Thamba, a local bigwig in Cuddalore gets killed and Vishal is finger-pointed for the murder. There are streaks of flashback scenes peeping in, involving Vishal's family and Thamba, hinting at some kind of enmity. Vishal has a motive, so does a bunch of others around him. Close to the intermission, you realise that Pandiraj has set up a brilliant plot with a lot of knots to be unravelled later, in spite of the fairly large share of compromises made. Vishal's much needed transformation comes and from then on, the movie picks up pace. Pandiraj begins the guessing game and keeps the audience engaged.

Pandiraj's Kathakali transforms into a dark thriller in the second half with the guessing game still on. Vishal's role with the portrayal of his close bonding with his family reminds us of his Pandiya Naadu and Paayum Puli. Hip-hop Tamizha's Kathakali whistle elevates the scenes and enlarges Vishal's action hero image. The selfie-scene post the action sequence with the local thugs provides the much needed mass-appeal. The question marked face of the killer justifies the title "Kathakali" -  a dance form involving masked faces. The flow of the movie is unadulterated in the second half and is free-flowing. With tightly knitted scenes, the movie is catapulted into an intriguing suspense. A lot of underplaying moments gives a whole new experience. The unexpected twists towards the fag end of the movie gives a decent finish to the movie. The second half of the movie makes it a one-time watch, it would have been a well etched thriller if not for the disturbing first half.

Bottomline - An experimental film from Pandiraj with a fresh genre and novel-like treatment let down by compromise on the commercial elements!

Thani Oruvan - A winner, hands down

From the jaws of evil, good always prevails. This has been a TM of tamizh cinema for decades. Thani Oruvan has been stamped with this genre but at the end evil has the upper hand here. Mohan Raja comes out of his comfort level to make an original script as against his previous remake hits. Like his previous films, this film also boasts a huge starcast - Jeyam ravi, arvind swami, nayanthara, ganesh venkataram, thambi ramaiah and many others.

The opening scene gives an unusual introduction of the antagonist. The director starts scoring right from the first scene. A baby is born in a car with placards wrapped around it saying "naalaya vidiveliyae". The film moves at a brisk pace as the sequence of scenes is flawless and seamless. A typical Ram - Ravana story delivered new and afresh. Jeyam Ravi and his group of aspiring police officers take on crimes happening in the society from the days of their training. In due course, Jayam Ravi finds his villain, tailor-made for him. From then on, there is tension between the two, one overtakes the another and finally it ends with dharmam marubadi vellum.

Jayam Ravi gives 100% to his role, a perfect rival for his enemy. But, jayam ravi as Mr.Perfect is again a cliche of 'be-good do-good' heroism in tamizh cinema. Nayantara has no strong scene in the first half, but she scores in the typical motivation-to-hero scene in the second half. She has got a performance-oriented role after raja rani and makes no mistakes. Thambi Ramaiah is a bundle of talent, he evokes laughter just with his mind voice. Whenever the film gets high on seriousness, thambi ramaiah brings it back on track with humour that doesn't disturb the movie. He makes an impact even when he is in a frame with arvind swamy.

Enough said about the "other" members of the starcast, there is one man who steals the show - Arvind swamy. He is pure evil. He plays a role  contrasting to his chocolate boy image and still manages it with ease. He conveys everything with just his eyes and his smile. There are places where he uses words like "incorrigible". A sophisticated villain. One might get reminded of kanaa kanden prithviraj, but arvind swamy is the trendsetter now thanks to the gripping screenplay. Yes, arvind swamy wins hands down over jeyam ravi - evil prevails over good, but only in the audience's heart.

The dialogue writer duo SuBa come up with their best after ayan and ko. "Nallatha mattumae seiya, kadavulaala kooda mudiyathu, nammellam enna?", "Nee kodutha vaazhkaiya naan aethukala, nee kaeta vaazhkaiya naan kuduthutaen", "Love at first sight, kill at first betrayal" are "just" samples, there are plenty. Everyone is in praise of arvind swamy and Raja after the release. Hiphop tamizha is a silent winner. His "theemai thaan vellum" for arvind swamy is haunting, though it is repetitive. The lyrics written by Hiphop Tamizha himself deserves a special mention. His songs are chartbusters already. "Kannaala" song rings in your ears though it comes at a place to disturb the pace of the movie.

Mohan Raja makes a debut after 5 films, as an original script writer. He hasn't compromised to take in commercial elements, every scene is much needed for the plot and the story. There are few scenes which thrill you in an unusual, unexpected way - jeyam ravi checking out the silencers of the parked bikes to trace the enemy, the bug tracker scene, the first scene at the chief minister's office, the first encounter of arvind swamy with jeyam ravi with the gun case. After all, there is the proposal scene with no words. Audience unanimously acknowledged with thunderous applause for each of these scenes. Hip hop tamizha's bg score elevated all these scenes to give a mass appeal.

Mohan Raja has bounced back and no stopping from here!

Bottomline - a perfect masala movie, a must watch.

Indru Netru Naalai

We have seen sci-fi films in tamizh. But, how many have succeeded in entertaining people? Many have failed to reach the masses either because of poor visuals or too much of science-talk which common people have no idea about. I am pretty sure dasavatharam tasted success because of the gripping screenplay and kamal haasan's attention to details while portraying 10 different characters and not because of the sci-fi genre. Enthiran was an instant hit because of the larger than life image which rajinikanth enjoys in tamizhnadu and shankar's portrayal of scientific advancements in robotics in layman terms. Many films like villa (pizza-2) have failed to reach all sections because of lack of connect with the audience as they justify each scene with science. Yes, one has to compromise. That's the tragic truth tamizh cinema faces while making sci-fi films. Which category does "Indru netru naalai" falls into? 
 

The film is realistic as it starts in 2065 unlike many other films where scientific advancements are always made by the protagonist and he spends 10 years without even shaving his beard in a closed lab. The director scores in the very first scene which is portrayed to be in 2065. The intro of the protagonist is innovative as the scenes unfold as recited by an astrologer-friend of his. Later the intro is justified by the astrologer-friend himself which also justifies the superstition behind astrology. The lead characters in the movie portrayed by vishnu and karunakaran get access to a time machine in the current day as the experiment of a 2065 scientist fails. Initially, they find a way to make money with it. But, in the process, they make a mistake which chases them and drives them into the biggest nightmare of their life. Their access to the past helps them to undo their mistake but everything comes with a price. The rest of the film is how these two come out of danger.
 

Vishnu plays his role to perfection. His choice of scripts has been amazing of late with mundasupatti and jeeva both turning out to be well appreciated by the critics. INN would be no exception. Karunakaran is a bundle of talent and this is a comeback for him after soodhu kaavum and yaamiruka bayamae. He is one comedian who can make you laugh with just a blank expression in his face. His timing sense works big time as the crowd erupts for his dialogues at few places. Mia George is okay looks-wise but plays her role aptly. There is always a mad scientist in every sci-fi film and the trademark follows in INN also. All the characters portrayed are apt except for the villain who goes overboard with his villainous expressions at few places. Hip-hop tamizha aadhi's music is a big plus and does disturb the narration in no way. His songs are mediocre but the different tempos of "indru netru naalai" song adds weightage to the visuals. Editing would be challenging in any time travel movie and this film has the best time travel between scenes.

The scene sequence for the time travel can be confusing as there are too many frames travelling between past and the present. But, the director stays on top of his narration and doesn't deviate much from the storyline. INN entertains in all aspects. The CG work for a low budget movie can't be any better than this - e.g. dog chasing a holographic bone in the first scene adds more sense to the ambience. Coming back to the compromise factor, the film does make some compromises to suit the tamizh audience. Dialogues receive applause at many places. The crowd roars for the mention of rajini as Hollywood actor. "Rajini ah? Yaar avar? Aangila nadigaro?"

Innovative scenes make the film gripping though the first half is one and half hours.

Producer CV Kumar's selection of scripts has made him the most promising producer in the recent times. His production house has handled a great variety of scripts with pizza and  soodhu kavvum going big reaching Bollywood. This film is a first of its kind in tamizh cinema and hasn't disappointed the viewers.
 

Indru nadanthathu netru varai nadakaathathu, naalai paesum indrai. Yes, this film is going to be talked about in the future. A must watch in theatres.