MEGHA MOVIE REVIEW

Touted as an 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's "musical festival", 'Megha' is the first film for Ashwin Kakumanu and Srushti Dange, to don the role of a lead pair. Directed by debutante Karthick Rishi, 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's songs have been giving the film the needed publicity but will that transform into a successful venture for all parties ?

Ashwin Kakumanu has proved his mettle in playing character roles of lesser proportions, but for the first time, he carries the entire film on his shoulders. His smart and presentable appearance helps him to fit the character well and he has tried his best in delivering an earnest performance but he falters in those heavy-duty scenes and really needs to buck up in those areas. As for Srushti Dange, she passes of as the atypical innocent and naive Tamizh cinema heroine, and she too needs plenty of improvement from her side, in order to succeed as an artiste. Jayaprakash has the best role among the character artistes and the veteran is dependable as always, but there's something not right with his characterization, though. The rest such as Angana Roy, Naren, Vijayakumar, Meera Krishnan, Y.Gee Mahendran, Ravi Prakasam, Nithya Ravinder, Sasikumar, Sai Prashanth, S.Selvakumar and etc did their roles well, although the necessity for some of the respective artistes' characters, is a big question mark.

Sathya N.J's costume designing sufficed the needs of the script, and each character were realistically attired. Action choreography is handled by 'Action' Prakash and though the scope is minimal, his work was decent and fitted the film's nature. Mani Karthick is in charge of art direction and his work was good, considering the limitations of the film's medium budget. The laboratory and office scenes, as well as the wedding hall set-up was well put up. Ramsudharsan's editing could have been slicker, since the film's duration is a tad too long, and he could have avoided some abrupt cuts, which is unacceptable for today's standards. Cinematography plays a big role in the film's look and R.B Gurudhev has given a nice look throughout the film and the way he portrayed the rain sequences, needs special mention. Also, his lighting and color tone for each sequence tracks, brings out the right mood and feel. 

What adds soul to the film, is definitely the musical score of 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja. Though the excessive number of songs is a hindrance to the screenplay, the fit the scenes really well. "Mugilo Megamo" sung by Yuvan Shankar Raja, plays during the opening credits, which had lovely CG portions of the blue sky and beautiful clouds. The classic "Putham Pudhu Kaalai" from 'Alaigal Oivadhillai' has been remixed here, and is used for a marriage sequence, featuring the lead artistes. The lighting by R.B Gurudhev and wedding decoration set-up by Mani Karthick, adds more class for the song, though the composition of sequences could have been better. "Chellame" is the first duet for the lead pair and had a rain soaked Chennai street, in the dead night, as its backdrop. "Kalvane" is another melody shot on the lead pair and this time, its and out-and-out indoor song, which was complemented by apt color tone and lighting by R.B Gurudhev. "Jeevane" sung by 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja himself is a situational song, featuring the male lead in search of the female lead. The film ends with 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's version of "Mugilo Megamo" during the end credits. The background score has the 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja stamp all over it, and they would make a decent listening, on its own. 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja at his casual best !

Karthick Rishi has tried to balance two genres, romance & investigative thriller, into a single screenplay. The investigative thriller block was decently written and the element of the hero being a forensic ballistics expert, is an interesting idea, though it was not fully capitalized, apart from a scene or two. The romance portion is the weaker side of the screenplay, wherein the romance track lacks the spark and intensity needed by several yards, and the lead pair is unconvincing as a lead pair. And some dialogues in this portion is just unintentionally, way too cheesy, for current norms ! There's no organic development in the love track and everything seems to happen just like that. The characterization of the artistes is a little weak and as mentioned earlier, some characters appear and disappear in the film, for no solid reasons. The film does have some sweet spots, in terms of writing, but they are few and far between. The screenplay lacks pace, especially in the second half when the whodunit element is revealed a little earlier than it should have been. And that leaves us, with some unanswered questions, which exposes the loopholes in the script. 

'Megha' - Nice template, but less conviction in execution.


Ratings: 2.5/ STARS

BY:TAMIL