Kaadhalum Kadanthu Poagum - In Nalan We Trust!

After setting the bar high with his debut film "Soodhu Kavvum", Nalan Kumarasamy is back with his rom-com "Kaadhalum Kadanthu Poagum", an official remake of a korean movie. After a brilliant trailer that garnered unanimous praise from the netizens, the expectations for the movie sky-rocketed. With Vijay Sethupathi having back to back releases this year, will Kakagapo be a +1 in the hit list?

A love story of an uneducated rowdy with an IT professional - sounds impractical yet falls into the conventional elements in Tamizh cinema. Hold on. Nalan doesn't present you an unbelieveable love affair. There is a relationship that runs on the thin line between friendship and love, an unconventional romance, an underlying pain, an undeniable practicality and an unanswered question at the end - this sums up the unconventional love story presented by Nalan breaking the stereotypes. It is not a love story where a man chases his lady love till Kerala or USA to impress her. There is no hurry in the sequence of scenes. Nalan gives time for the scenes to evolve and the love story evolves too. 

Vijay Sethupathi as "Kathir" is a gangster and Madona Sebastien is an IT professional.  A very known catastrophe in the IT industry lands her as a neighbour to Vijay Sethupathi. We have seen similar roles from Vijay Sethupathi in his previous movies, but he is at his best when he teams up with Nalan. Madona makes a great impact as the help-seeking, desperate IT professional yearning to fulfil her aspirations. Samudhirakani plays a small supporting role, a cakewalk for him. The movie deals with the reality of IT industry during its run. Right from the "eyewash" interview panel to sexual harassment, everything is dealt with and they form a perfect ambience for the story. The screenplay is seamless - it doesn't test the viewer's patience eventhough the scenes take time to evolve.

Nalan Kumarasamy's attention to details, Santhosh Narayanan's placement of songs and Vijay Sethupathi's entertaining screen presence gives us an exceptional experience. There is romance on screen even when the lead pair don't even see each other. We have seen Vijay Sethupathi walking out of a bank manager's room with the "Soodhu Kavvum" BGM. There is one similar scene where Vijay Sethupathi walks out of an IT company, but there is romance, a sense of gratitude from the lead lady, a sense of relief from the lead pair that engulfs the frame. Kaadhalum Kadanthu Poagum is Vijay Sethupathi show all over and the response he gets from the theatre growing crowd is amazing. His carefree body language and his ease while delivering dialogues makes him the "special one" of Tamizh Cinema.

Nalan redefines "mass appeal" in Tamizh cinema. We have the hero beaten up by rowdies because of his carelessness and stupidity. The audience laugh at the scene that unfolds. In the next frame, he gets up and walks out wearing a cooling glass. We have the deafening screams of the viewers in the cinema hall - Were these scenes inspired from Vadivelu? The immediate thought that came to my mind is Vaigaipuyal teaming up with Nalan Kumarasamy for a laugh riot. We have humour throughout the show that is undisturbing. Santhosh Narayanan's BGM and placement of songs makes the movie a delight to watch. His ability to blend the songs into the narration such that there is no dilution of the script makes him the best in recent times. The songs come in splits and hence the narration has no hiccups.

Bottomline - Kakagapo : A Nalan Show!

Irudhi Suttru - Boxing Its Way To Box Office Success!

We have been seeing sports drama movies in the recent times in Tamizh cinema - Vallinam, Jeeva, Bhoologam to name a few. We have Sudha Kongara's Irudhi Suttru concentrating on issues plaguing Indian Sports industry - Right from political interference to sexual harassment.

Madhavan as an angry, foul mouthed, short tempered boxing coach makes a memorable comeback to Tamizh cinema after 4 years. Prabhu (Madhavan), a boxing coach with allegations of sexual harassment against him goes in search of (is made to go in search of) new boxing trainees. He stumbles upon a "born boxer" (Rithika) in the slums of Chennai. The journey of this born boxer to world championship forms the storyline - a clichéd storyline that differs in the treatment it gets.

How often have we seen screen presence of a woman in Tamizh cinema? Rithvika Singh has delivered aplenty here, especially the "Kannula Gethu" moment. Rithika's portrayal of the bold, defiant and rebellious "Madhi" is definitely laudable. Her lip sync is perfect - the dubbing artist needs a special mention too. She even overshadows Maddy in many scenes.

There is not even a single frame that doesn't belong. A tight screenplay, an honest script, hard hitting dialogues by Arun Madhieswaran makes the movie a must - watch. The film's supporting cast is hand picked and there are no complaints. Kaali Venkat, as Rithika's father provides the humor relief. Nasser, as a boxing coach reiterates that he is one of the best supporting actors Tamizh Cinema has. Radharavi cakewalks his role and no doubt he is Nasser's counterpart in the most sought after supporting actors. The villain gives a performance that makes you hate him, a winner hands down.

Behind the scenes, we have a hero - Santhosh Narayanan. His songs are a huge plus. His background score and placement of lyrics from Muthamizh and Vivek are brilliant. There is a scene where Rithika counters Madhavan after he dictates her to do pushups as a punishment. Santhosh's placement of "Kannula Gethu... Ava kannula gethu... Vaaipilama vechuduvaa vaaiyila kuththu" gives Rithika the best screen presence moment. Be it a foot tapping "Vaa Machaney" or a soul stirring "Ey sandakaara" or an ambitious "Maya Visai", we have typical Santhosh in full form. There are whistles and screams at the start of each of his songs. His background score in the final moments makes your heart race faster - his brilliance in script oriented music revisited. The climax sequence makes you feel as if the moment is live, though we see shades of Chak de India.

Madhavan underplays his role, a much needed performance for the script. Being overshadowed by Rithika's performance in most of the scenes, he makes it even with just one emotional shot in the climax - a knockout performance.

Sudha Kongara delivers an honest script without much fuss and with no compromise. Her detailed research on boxing is clearly evident from the never ending list of boxers in the end credits - a trendsetting lady filmmaker.

Bottomline - Irudhi Suttru, tadoun tadoun tadoun tadoun taaandoun tatatadoun! (Santhosh Narayanan effect)