Prakash Raj is back in Tamizh cinema, and its his second directorial venture in Tamizh. A trilingual project, 'Un Samayalaraiyil' is an official remake of the 2011 Aashiq Abu directed super-hit Malayalam film 'Salt N' Pepper', which had Lal, Shweta Menon and etc in the lead. Backed by 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's music, and some good co-artistes, can Prakash Raj deliver an endearing and emotional rendition, of a script which has love and food as its theme ?
Prakash Raj is in his elements playing, a singleton 40-plus archaeologist and does a neat job. His reactions and expressions are repetitive and predictive, but that's due to the large number of films he has done, over the years in roles of similar stature. Sneha, creates a decent impression with her acting prowess. She has dubbed herself for her role and the character, suits her pretty much. Newcomers, Tejus of Telugu descent and Samyuktha Hornad of Karnataka origins, passes muster with their performances. There seems to be some serious issue with lip sync, thanks to the multiple number of shots done, for three separate languages. The rest of the cast such as Oorvashi, Aishwarya, Thambi Ramaiah, Elango Kumaravel and have done what is required from them, though no one leaves a very distinct mark, in the film.
S.S Vasu's costume designing complements the artistes' characters. Prakash Raj and Aiswarya's khaki based clothing, reflecting their archaeological backgrounds and Sneha and co, sporting a pretty, contemporary Indian wardrobe. Art direction plays a big role, especially for the amount of props used to decorate the home of the protagonist. K.Kadhirr has given plenty of attention to detail for the works on Prakash Raj's character's home, which is filled with unique antiques and not to forget, the elaborate cooking utensils. Editing is taken care of by a newcomer JO.NI Harsha. The editing work was simple and pedestrian, but it fits the flow of the screenplay. Nothing gimmicky with the effects, but the necessary output was there. Preetha's cinematography works just makes us salivate on all those delicious food and snacks, so tastefully shot and projected on the silver screen ! Its hard not to feel hungry after watching the shots of film, and if you have doubts on it, do watch the elaborate sequence, on the making of Joan's Rainbow cake ! Preetha's lighting and color tone usage, gives the film a warm and fuzzy atmosphere, which complements the mood of the film.
'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's score has its own specialty but the songs are average, considering the extreme standards he has set for himself. The pick of the lot, "Indha Porappudhan" is a Qawali song on food, which has plenty of cut-shots on some of the famous food and snacks of Tamil Nadu. Be ready to salivate, while watching the video clip which has the opening credits as well ! "Eeramai Eeramai" is a montage song, shot on Prakash Raj and Sneha, developing their relationship through phone calls. "Therintho Theriyamalo" was shot primarily on Tejus and Samyuktha Hornad. There were some montages, shot mostly in up-market areas such as malls and cineplex, interspersed with lovely shots of the pair, in a deep woods, with autumn like scenario. The bright splash of orange sunlight effect, adds beauty to the song. Also, a rain set was also built for the song, with minimal props, which Preetha has dealt well, especially with the lighting. The final song, "Kaatru Veliyil" is a situational song, which highlights the separation between Prakash Raj and Sneha, which has montages on them. 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's background score sounds brilliant in some sequences, and goes silent in most. Raaja sir could have filled them up with beautiful bytes.
Modifiying the original story and screenplay, which was written by Shyam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair, Prakash Raj's screenplay was very direct and linear, apart from a minor flashback. Viji and T.J Gnanavel duo takes care of the dialogues portion, and though most of them are dull and pedestrian in nature, there are one or two odd gems and a couple of quirky, funny dialogues. The real problem with the film, happens to be Prakash Raj's direction. The film heavily lacks the emotional connectedness with the audience. There are no character development, nor any explanation on how the main lead pair came to love food. Audiences are not able to root for any of the pair's love emotions, because of the lack of depth in narration and everything is passed off in the songs, to convey the plot development. The film fails to establish itself in a genre and dilly-dallies between light comedy and emotional drama. Also, there's an absolutely unnecessary sub-plot involving an elderly Tribal man, which is a waste of time ! And something hard to digest in the story, is the fact that the younger pair, who were cruelly selfish in jeopardizing the older pair's true love and affection for each other, for their own self-interest, walk away freely with no whatsoever of guiltiness, after they are busted !
'Un Samayalaraiyil' - Soulless cooking in a confused kitchen !
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Veteran actress Sripriya makes her debut as a director with this flick, which is a remake of the well-received Malayalam film, '22 Female Kottayam' starring Rima Kallingal and Fahadh Faasil and directed by new-age director Aashiq Abu. A women-centric film, the original created some stir for its boldness in story telling and for its urbane approach. Can Sripriya recreate the same effect with Malini ?
Nithya Menen is a talented actress, but unfortunately she seems to be the wrong pick for this role. She is hardly convincing in this role of Malini's and struggles to shoulder the entire film, which is to be expected since she is the protagonist. Her changeover in the second half is not convincingly portrayed and she lacks the power and vigor to pull off the emotional climax sequence. Newcomer Krish J.Sathaar is equally less convincing as the sweet-talking Casanova and his pairing with Nithya Menen fails to sparkle, which is a crucial element of the script. Naresh is a total letdown, in the role done wonderfully by Prathap Pothen in the original. Naresh is certainly no match for Prathap. The rest of the cast such as the overbearingly loud Kovai Sarala, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Vidyullekha Raman, Anjali Rao, Janagi, AC Murali, Mohan V.Ram and etc had miniscule roles and has no effect over the script, pretty much.
Anu Parthasarathy could have done better with Nithya's costumes. Though she looked like a modern city girl, some excitement needed for the role was missing. And it applies for the rest of the cast as well. Prem Navas handled the art direction and his works with the posh bungalow setting and its properties was okay. The hospital set though could have been better propped. Bavan Sreekumar's editing was functional and he has kept the duration of the film crisp. But his scene transition is not smooth and is very abrupt, especially in the first half. Manoj Pillai handles the cinematography and his work sufficed the needs of the script. Better visuals could have done more wonders for the script.
Aravind-Shankar duo handles the music department. Their score is pretty much lukewarm and unexciting. "Vinmeengal" is the opening song of the protagonist and shot alongside her housemates, with montages of them and the hospital surroundings. "Kanneer Thuliye" is a pathos song, also shot with montages involving the lead pair. "Madharthammai" is the final song, which highlights feminism and appears towards the end. A remix version of the song, with music video style format was shot for promotional intentions and is available on Youtube.
First things, first. Its a welcome to see a woman director making her mark in Tamizh cinema. But sadly, Sripriya's direction is a major letdown. The film failed to elevate itself into a thrilling revenge-drama, though the script had potential. Sripriya has made some minor changes to Abhilash Kumar and Shyam Pushkaran's original storyline, but the overall effect of the film is a major minus-point. The first half is a very boring proceeding with lacklustre romance episodes, insipid drama, and irritating comedy sequences. Its a big disappointment that Sripriya has overlooked the most important elements of the script and has put her attention more into the dialogues element alone. Her dialogues are full of anger and feministic views and its sort of pretty obvious that this anger looks to be an extension of the memorable character she played in the 1978-released, C.Rudhraiya classic 'Aval Appadithaan'. The connectivity between the character played by Sripriya and the intensity of the dialogues mouthed by Nithya in the climax, is very apparent. Besides that, Sripriya's handling of the characterizations is weak as well, especially of the protagonists'. All the characters are half-baked and has no depth in the artistes' portrayal. The transformation of Nithya from the a naive, sweet girl to the revenge-seeking hardened woman, was badly presented.
'Malini 22 Palayamkottai' - Climax is the only sequence to check out !
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
