IRUMBU KUTHIRAI MOVIE REVIEW

'Irumbhu Kuthirai' is the comeback film for Atharvaa Murali, after the critically acclaimed 'Paradesi'. Directed by debutante Yuvaraj Bose, a former associate of Arivazhagan, the film's USP is the script being based on motorcycle race backdrop and super-bikes. Produced on a generous budget by AGS Entertainment, can Yuvaraj race into Tamizh cinema as another young prodigy ?

After the hard struggle and excruciating pain in 'Paradesi', Atharvaa Murali dons a conventional hero role and it looks like he has been working out on his physique. He looks better and has improved his dialogue delivery and timing but his character lacks the zing and energy needed. Unfortunately, this film lets him down, on acting performance aspect. Priya Anand, looks gorgeous and is the regular Tamizh cinema heroine (friend turned damsel-in-distress turned lover !). The lead pair looks compatible on screen, but their chemistry fails to sizzle. Johnny Tri Nguyen is a surprise casting and fits the role of a really mean baddie, but somehow his character becomes unintentionally funny (especially with the Tamizh dialogues !). Among the character artistes, its Devadarshini who's role as the protagonist's mother, is an interesting choice. We are seeing some serious performances from her, and hope she continues to showcase her acting skills. The rest of the cast includes Raai Laxmi & Jagan (both looking out-of-sync with the film), Manobala, Mayilsamy, Joe Malloori, Anupama Kumar, Swaminathan, Sachu and Joshna. Alisha Abdullah (India's first female national racing champion & only female biker racer) has a cameo, which the needs of it can only be comprehended by the director.

Thanks to AGS Entertainment, the films has rich production values and slick technical outputs. Muruganandam takes care of the costume designing and Priya was given the most attention, as she was simply cute and lovely in he simple and casual clothing. He could have worked it out better for Raai Laxmi and Jagan, who looked completely weird and unflattering. Art direction is by Sakthee Venkatraj.M and though most of the film was shot outdoors, the set work and properties for the homes of the lead pair, the bike sales gallery and the warehouse like set-up for the pre-climax fight sequence, looks good. Action choreography is by 'Kanal' Kannan and he has made good use of Johnny Tri Nguyen's martial arts skill. Though the execution was okay, the choreography did not really match Atharvaa's personality and it was a little over-the-top, especially with the ropes. William Ong, takes care of the bike action sequences, and being an expert in it, there are no complaints with his work. T.S Suresh must be commended for the crisp running time of the film and for his work in the action scenes, but the film has a very jarring pace and the continuity takes severe beating due to this. Cinematography is by R.B Gurudhev and Gopi Amarnath and both of them have given good visuals, be it Pondicherry or the Italian countryside and Venice city. They have tried to match the visuals of Italy with Pondicherry and they have managed to work it out in bits and pieces, though the cover up is pretty obvious.

G.V Prakash Kumar's music is decent but the songs fail to create any impact due to the bad timing and placement in the screenplay. "Hello Brother" is the introductory song of Raai Laxmi and was shot in a bar like set-up, which incorporated plenty of color lighting. "Ange Ippo Enna" is a melody between the lead pair and has many cut-shots of the lead pair, texting each other in which grand and majestic buildings in Venice becomes a backdrop for this song. "Alai Paayum" is almost a similarly shot song, but this time it's a dance number and has more coastal and cliff side locations in the song, which was also shot in Italy. "Penne Penne" is a pathos song, shot on the lead pair and has Pondicherry's colonial and colorful buildings as its backdrop, with many cut-shots, in it too. "Pondicherry" was visually the best shot song, which is an item number featuring the tall, dusky and hot Akshara Gowda. Johnny Tri Nguyen and Alisha Abdullah makes appearance in the song as well, which had a ringside like set-work and good lighting, which complemented the song very well. G.V Prakash Kumar's background score, especially for the climax race sequence is adept. His signature scores for the love portions, are highlights of the background score, too !

A Tamizh film on superbike racing is certainly a refreshing and unique idea, but ideas alone will not make films, watchable. Yuvaraj Bose's plot for the script is so simple, which an adolescent teenager can come up with ! His screenplay lets you down terribly and the film lacks the great energy needed, especially since its about super-bikes. As said earlier, the placement of songs irks us even more and the unwarranted comedy and sentimental portions are a big bore. The love portions lack the sizzle needed and is pretty ordinary. But Yuvaraj's sequence setting doesn't go overboard and he comes up with casual scenes, pertaining to the characters' dilemmas and stature. But for such scenes to hold up on its own, you need strong and interesting dialogues, which Narsim fails to deliver. The dialogues are just pretty much conventional and sufficed the needs of the script. Yuvaraj does spring a surprise, in late second half, but its way too late to save the film and the audience's attention. Instead of tweaking the script and closing down the gaping loopholes in the screenplay, Yuvaraj succumbs to the contemporary Tamizh cinema pressure and fills his film with unwanted elements. Weak characterization further dampens the mood of the film and by the end of the film, you wouldn't have felt like you have watched a film !

'Irumbu Kuthirai - Instead of galloping, it stuttered !


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL