CHAARULATHA MOVIE REVIEW

Artiste Priyamani makes a comeback to Tamizh cinema with a different and peculiarly-themed film. The actress has bagged the role of a conjoined-pair of twin sisters, which can help her to exploit her acting chops even more and the fact that Suriya's big-budgeted 'Maattrraan' also dealing with such a concept, it is favorable for her to handle a hot-for-this-season. Director Ponkumaran, a former assistant of K.S Ravikumar and K.Bhagyaraj, makes his debut in Tamizh cinema through this film. 'Chaarulatha' is the official remake version of the successful Thai-horror film 'Alone' starring popular Thai artist, Marsha Wattanapanich, which was released in 2007. A typical horror genre is not a favored or successful genre in Tamizh cinema and Ponkumaran decided to test his skills with this genre, though its his first release in Tamizh.

As it is, the whole film is based on Priyamani's conjoined-twins role and she carries the whole film on her shoulder. She appears in nearly all the frames and proves that she is an actress with substance and her acting capability should be utilized fully, by directors. Its not only her looks which differentiates between the two sisters, but its the expression, body language and also her excellent voice modulation, which gives color to the characters. Plaudits to her as well, for taking the strain to perform in a difficult and hassle-full role of a conjoined-twins. The rest of the cast such as Saranya Ponvannan, Seetha, Skanda, Ravi Shankar, Aarthi and Master Manjunath are just there to accompany Priyamani and to serve their respective purposes.

There's nothing much to shout about the film's technical crew. Roshini Dindar and Madhu Sharma did their job as costume designers , Sethu's sound designing was not so exceptional, Don Max should be appreciated for keeping the flow of the film smooth and keeping the film short, in the editing department. 'Different' Danny as stunt master would have just helped the team to cope with some minor beating sequences or portions. Jupiter Animation Studio takes care of the graphics work and, though its admirable that they managed to show Priyamani as conjoined-twin with minimal budget, the climax portion was very amateurish and looks fake. Don Max did justice to his work by editing the film short and crisp. Mahen B.Kere's artwork was simple but the house set was not so convincing and looked obviously like a set-work. Maybe no fault of his due to budget constraints, but Mahen could have been better with the designing. M.V Panneerselvan was the man who should be credited for bringing out the conjoined-twins portion well and to make it look authentic and believable. His lighting and angles were good enough to bring out the necessary dark look for the film. Sundar C.Babu's music score was below average. None of the songs were hummable except for the violin theme track. "Ottikitte Azhagu" plays during the opening credits sequence. "Ondraga Mulaithom" shows the growth and upbringing of the conjoined-twins and also serves as a platform to show the differences between their characters. "Idaiyilla Kadavul" is a duet song picturized on the lead couple, dancing and romancing with a couple of dancers backing them up. It has some good shots of picturesque Srinagar. The background score was good in certain portions but as the film travels, it was less interesting and invigorating for the film.

Director Ponkumaran, who makes his debut in Tamizh cinema, gave credits to the original Thai writers of the script, Banjang Pisathanakun and Parkpoom Wangpoom. Sadly, his screenplay writing and direction skills are a little questionable because, the end product was very bland and most importantly, failed to contain the essential factors associated with a horror film - thrills and fear factors ! He thrusted the script with unwanted comedy sequences, song sequences and some romance sequences too, which lacked any sizzle due to the non-existent chemistry between the lead pair. There's no synergy among the sequences and there are obvious plot holes and gaps in the script, which the director fails to correct. The suspense element in the film falls flat and does not shock the viewers as it should do. G.Sabarimuthu's dialogues too were just pedestrian and nothing to note about. Even an average film maker can come up with such script or dialogues !

'Chaarulatha', a bland and non-spooky horror movie. Wonder what the original writers would say after watching this below average product.


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL