MOODAR KOODAM MOVIE REVIEW

Among the onslaught of comedy movies being released week in, week out in Tamizh cinema, 'Moodar Koodam' stands apart for its dark humor/black comedy genre and also incorporating styles, one would associate with the pulp fiction genre. Produced by the maker himself, Naveen, a former protege of Pandiraj and Chimbudevan, the film was released under the banner of Pasanga Productions, which belongs to the former. The promos were promising and promised a quirky but fun element throughout the film. Did 'Moodar Koodam' avoid making us end up as a fool for watching it ?

The main leads are new and Naveen, the producer and director, leads the way for the "Gang of Idiots". He maintains a stoic and brooding persona throughout the film and his dialogue deliveries were sharp and well delivered. His timing was perfect, especially for his counter-dialogues with Sentrayan. As for the latter, he was the second best performer among the lot. His facial reactions and bodily language complemented the actual caricature-like image of his character. The elements helped him to literally, "stand out" among his peers. (No pun intended !) As for Rajaj and Kuberan, the performances were decent and neat enough, but there were lots of room for improvement, in terms of screen presence and timing for dialogue deliveries. The rest of the cast were pretty much in their comfort zone and dished out good performances. Jayaprakash and Anupama Kumar were spotless, though Oviya had a lesser screen timing and impact on the script. Manasa and Rinthiya were a scream with their antics ! Sindhu Reddy, Sabesh, Wingco Prakash, Bobby Tejai, Sathish Swaminathan, Pollachi Manoj, Udhayabanu Maheswaran, Manmohit and etc contributed aptly for the necessity of the script. 

Production designer Prem Navas had little work throughout the film, as the locations were very restricted, and centered only on a house for 70% duration of the film. The props were neatly done, though. Athiyappan Siva's editing was creative, especially with the way he handled all those mini-episodes, each different from the other, with some zany ideas. The length of the film could have trimmed though, since the pacing of the film tests the patience of viewers, after a certain point of time. Tony Chan's cinematography was dark and brooding as well, complementing the mood and theme of the script. Though not impressive collectively, some episodes were definitely shot well, especially with Sentrayan's.

Natarajan Sankaran's musical score was exciting and unique, as he experimented with various types of genres and styles for each characters and episodes. "Velai Vetti" was the opening song, played during the credits, which present the cast and crew akin to a Guy Ritchie's graphic novel, style. "Idhu Nalla Naai" was well edited and shot, and was a fun mini-episode featuring the flashback of the Great Dane, credited in the film. "Oru Oorule" is the flashback of Kuberan and was done in an animation format by Hybrid Studios and Icon Studios. "ABCD Ungappan" meanwhile, was the flashback of Sentrayan and had plenty of montages interspersing with self-shots. "Auto Kumaru" is a bit-song played as a background score for "Auto" Kumar's character introduction. "Achamillai Achamillai" was shot indoors and is played in the background during a mini-boxing episode of the film. "Kannodu" is Rajaj's flashback which was shot in montages and had him and Sindhu Reddy depicted as lovers. "Nila Nila" was a slow-motion bit song, which happens to be Naveen's flashback. The pick of the lot, "Neeyum Bommai" sang by the legendary singer K.J Yesudas for the second time, was the flashback of an all-important doll of the film ! The background score too was interesting and well-scored. Good work, Natarajan !

What sets 'Moodar Koodam' apart from the glut of recent comedy film release, are its intelligent dialogues and a very stylish presentation and sequencing from Naveen. The director in Naveen had loads of ideas and he has tried to implement as much as he can and want in this script, and its pretty obvious that he has been inspired by Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino's style of film-making. Though the ideas give different variations and colors to the script, the line-up of ideas prolongs the length of the film further. Moreover, a good deal of the length covers the episodes played between the host of characters, locked up in a single house, slowly creeps in boredom. The barrage of wacky characters, though amusing was unnecessary and Naveen loses the grip he had on his script. Though the film has dark humor as its theme, the adult content in the gags are bound to be expected by the viewers. The makers could have taken the bold step of not sacrificing these adult contents just for the sake of a "U" certificate. (Or it could be the fault of the Censor Board members, whose narrow-mindedness is legendary). The biggest turn-off for Tamizh film buffs could be the hidden revelation behind the writing of the script. Naveen has ripped off a successful 1999 Korean crime-comedy, 'Attack the Gas Station' and it could have been encouraging to see Naveen at least giving credits to the original makers. But still, Naveen has adapted the script very well with the necessary changes.

Nevertheless, 'Moodar Koodam' is a good attempt in producing different films in Tamizh cinema. Looking more from Naveen, and looking for an original attempt from him !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL