After a lengthy hiatus of nearly 5 years, Sibiraj or rechristened as Sibi Sathyaraj is back to the silver screens. Joining venture with his 'Naanayam' director Shakti Soundar Rajan, Sibi has chosen a kid-friendly, cop-dog duo film, a genre forgotten by Hollywood themselves. Produced by Sathyaraj under Nathambal Film Factory banner, can 'Naaigal Jaakirathai' relaunch Sibi Sathyaraj's career in Tamizh cinema ?
Sibi Sathyaraj has given a decent enough performance and shows more confidence and maturity in his character handling. Though the character has more shades of comedy, he does try some serious bits here and there. There's plenty of room more for Sibi to improve and hope this film serve as a good relaunch platform for him. The star attraction of the film is of course Idoh, the lovely yet strong Belgian Shepherd ! Kudos to the entire team for pulling it off by making use a military-purpose trained god, in a proper manner. The action is not top-notch, but this is a good and novel attempt. Balaji Venugopal as the antagonist was an interesting choice, but his characterization lacks detailing and his acting falls flat in some portions. Arundhati, Manobala, Mayilsamy, Chenthu Mohan, Prinz Nithik and etc fill up the rest of the cast.
Ganesh's action choreography deserves mention, especially for the sequences designed for Idoh. The climax sequence has some heavy action for the dog and the director has made good use of the dog's capabilities. The warehouse shoot-out scene in the beginning phase of the film, is another well executed scene. JPK Prem's art direction sufficed the needs of the script. The set created in the forest reserve area and the set properties of Sibi Sathyaraj's house, was neatly created. Praveen K.L takes care of the editing and the ace editor ensured that the film is crisp in its length and straight to the point. The action sequences were well put together by Praveen K.L. Cinematography is handled by Nizar Shafi and his Ooty sequences are the highlights of his camera work, in this film. Not to forget, the color tone used for the rain shots, deserves mention as well.
Dharan Kumar's music is functional and songs do not really had any importance in the film. "En Nenjil" is the bonding song of Sibi Sathyaraj and Idoh, with plenty of funny, montage sequences shot for this song. "Oyadhe Oyadhe" is a situational song and is also shot on the pair, and has the hill stations of Ooty, as its backdrop. The theme song of the film, "Doggy Doggy" appears during the end credits and is shot like a music video, with Idoh being idolized like a movie star, though Sibi Sathyaraj's dance sequences were predominantly used. Dharan Kumar's background score was functional, and the highlight of his work would definitely be the score's recorded to project the bonding between the hero and his dog.
Shakti Soundar Rajan's script has a unique idea and some interesting elements but the film lacks fine writing and thorough detailing. The film's screenplay is not fully engaging and is missing fire it needed, though its pretty straightforward and doesn't waste much time. The emotional thread does help the screenplay to move forward, but the scenes are disjointed and is not cohesive. The dialogues are pretty ordinary and none of them leaves any sort of mark on the audience. The comedy portions are unnecessary, though such scenes are always forcibly inserted into the film, just for commercial purpose. In conclusion, the film is watchable in portion and but could have been much better, if not for the below par execution.
'Naaigal Jaakirathai' - Be more aware of dogs !
Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
The title 'Aadama Jaichomada' is inspiration of the hit-song from the album, 'Mankatha'. Ironically, the film's theme is revolved around the match fixing scam associated with the highly successful Indian Premier League cricket tournament. Though the film's content might suggest something of a B/C Grade film, but the content could surprise you and might be of good entertainment value for your time and money, spent. With an eclectic mix of upcoming artistes, can Badri pull it off, after the horrendous remake of 'Thillu Mullu' ?
The film has no particular lead protagonist nor antagonist and its nice to see that all main characters have nearly equal amount of space and importance to the script. Leading the pack of artistes is Karunakaran, who is on the roll with another decent and spot on performance. Karunakaran impresses us with his unique dialogue delivery and facial expressions. His comic timing is just near perfect and pulls off most of the jokes, effortlessly. However, he should improve his romance and dancing portions, if he is to pursue lead roles in the future. Bobby Simhaa, has a big makeover from the 'Jigarthanda' looks and plays the role of a cop, for the first time. The pretentious, over-ambitious and unintelligent cop role suits him to a T, He has the ample scenes to showcase his acting histrionics and doesn't let us down. Heroine Vijayalakshmi has done an adequate job and gets her diction and dialogues right. The other artistes such as Balaji Venugopal, K.S Ravikumar, Radha Ravi, Naren, Chetan, Gautham, Chitra Letchumanan, Abhishek and etc have delivered wacky performances in a very nonchalant way, especially with K.S Ravikumar and Naren. Its a jolly-good casting, indeed !
Action choreography is handled by Hari Dinesh, and since the film is purely a comedy, the action sequences are not meant to be taken serious too. The actions are over-the-top, but it is meant to be like that, in order to maintain the comical element of the screenplay. The usage of ropes in such obvious manner, could have been avoided though. Art director Gururaj's work lends a big helping hand for the film's production quality. Almost many sequences in the film have a set based scenario or plenty of props. Be it the interiors of the homes, the songs, police station set, control room and etc, every avenue is properly done and the set properties matched the ambiance very well. Kudos to Gururaj ! K.J Venkatramanan's editing is slick and he keeps the duration of the film short and has done managed the cuts for the wild-goose chase scenes, quite well. A little bit of pace in the first half, would have done more good for the film. Dwarakanath's cinematography suits the film's script and budget very well. His works for the chasing scenes are noteworthy and the lighting sense in some scenes, brought out the right effect, which added more credence to the comedy quotient of the script.
Sean Roldan's music works fine for the film and some of the songs are appealing even if you are to listen to it as standalone soundtracks. "Thanniyile" is montage song shot on Karunakaran and Vijayalakshmi. There are plenty of funny touches here and there's such as the dancing angels ala Bharathiraja-style. The posh bathroom set for this song deserves mention ! "Odura Nari" is a situational song and is shot on Karunakaran who is chased by Naren and his motley crew of henchmen. "Naalellam" is a folk dance number, shot on Karunakaran and Vijayalakshmi, with colorful set work, based on an Rajasthani theme. "One Day" is another situation song, shot in a nightclub/pub scene, and has good lighting effects, with the additional eye-candy in the form of an sexy Caucasian dancer. The editing for the song complements the way the song was shot. "Nalla Kettuko" appears during the end-credits and features all the main leads in an 70's retro style look, with brightly colored simple set work and some patch ups of computer graphics. Sean Roldan's background score is unique and this young composer is very fast making progress and stamping his own mark but he should be cautious in not repeating his works.
Story and screenplay, developed by the director Badri, alongside with T.Senthilkumaran has touches of dark humor or black comedy. The film's thematic contents are definitely not children-friendly but the gags are indeed humorous. Some real life issues and moments are parodied unabashedly and what helps the film is the quirky mix of idiosyncratic characters and their own bizarre scenarios or situations. Be it the foolish theater owner who produces a film deemed failure, a heroine who has some sort of a yearning for a personal bathroom, a police officer who is seen as a complete joker and a philandering but helpful bookie and etc, these sort of standalone weird characters, have their lives intertwined somehow, ensuring the sparks doesn't fail to fly. Helping Badri's screenplay is the colloquially funny dialogues, written by actor Shiva. The dialogues by Shiva keeps the film lively and can be considered the backbone of the script. What hampers the film though, are the needless songs, especially the duets ! 'The film is a breezy entertainer and a perfect light-hearted black comedy.
'Aadama Jaichomada' - An effortless winner, indeed !
Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
'Sutta Kadhai' made noise for its unique teasers and posters. Coming from the stable of total newcomers, it piques the interest of audiences with new ideas and creative presentation. With some good artistes in the casting, did this pulp-fiction inspired film live up to its expectations ?
Television host and celebrity Balaji Venugopal and Venkatesh Harinathan play the two bumbling, dubious constables to a certain respectable degree. Balaji as the dumb kleptomaniac, uses more of his facial expressions and dialogue delivery to delivering his acting chops whereas Venkatesh, who has partial hearing disability, utilizes his good body language to bring out the character's personality. Nassar, was the true scene-stealer with his impeccable expressions and comic timing. The veteran simply oozes class, especially with his snooze mode antics. Lakshmi Priya Chandramouli fits her character and pulls off some stunt movements with confidence. Jayaprakash leaves a good mark with his unique dialogue delivery. R.S Shivaji, Lakshmi Ramakrishnan, M.S Bhaskar, Jayamani, T.P Gajendran, Shanmuga Sundaram, Rinson and etc fits the crazy characters they enacted.
T.Ramesh's stunt choreography is a little over-the-top, but it was essential for this sort of script and Lakshmi Priya, handled most of them quite well and with ease. Sivakumar's costume designing was okay, considering the shoe-string budget he worked one, with some good, minute detailing. Sivaraj's production design should be appreciated, especially the police station set and the various props used for different plot settings, such as forest, comic book world and etc. Surya's editing was though slick, in regards to the length of the film, drags big time in the second half. Nizar's camera work is commendable, especially the way he has utilized the natural landscape of Kodaikanal and adapted it very well for the design and mood of the script. The night effect shots, were professionally handled, especially in regards to lighting. Kudos, Nizar !
Music of the film was handled by the Madley Blues band, consisting of Harish Venkat and Prashanth Techno. Songs were decent, but nothing really brilliant about it. The opening song, "Kattukulle" was terrifically designed, using the comic book template design, where the director intricately weaved the whole film's plot. Superb idea and execution ! "Yelay Yelay" had plenty of montages and focused on the lead pair of bumbling cops, rooting for the tribal female lead. "Dingu Dongu" was shot on a cheap liquor bar setting, with plenty of earthy tone and feel to it, which was complemented by apt set properties. "Twist on Top" is a situational track number, with good camera movements and angles, focusing on Jayaprakash's episodes. "Anbe Aaruyire" was the climax, situational song and featured a few characters going against each other, in a dark forest. Nizar did a very good job with the lighting, and the slow motion effect added to the pulp-fiction effect, the director was striving to present. The background score was adequate and fun.
Written and directed by newcomer, Subu, 'Sutta Kadhai' is basically a dark-comedy film, inspired by the 'Sambasivam Crime Comics' template. The problem with this idea, is that many will not be able to relate to such Tamizh pulp-fiction comics, and that was a craze for youngsters of a generation ago ! The fun quotient of comic book story-line and presentation did not translate smoothly from the print edition to it's celluloid version. The characters, though unique and quirky, do not stand out properly and is marred by poor writing and characterizations especially in the second half. What's unpalatable is the fact that the film is crisp in duration, yet drags big time in the second half ! The funny moments and twists in the second half, falls flat entirely. A dark comedy should be not be just dark in visual presentation, but also in its writing. Subu can be commended for his various absurd sequences, but the connective thread is missing and the story becomes dull.
'Sutta Kadhai' - Novel attempt, but not so good execution.
Ratings: 2.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
