KARUPPAMPATTI MOVIE REVIEW

Tha. Prabhu Raja Cholan, a former associate of Shankar makes his debut as a director in the uniquely titled, 'Karuppampatti'. Started three years ago, 'Karuppampatti' finally sees the day, and luckily the hero Ajmal, has a better market, thanks to the big success of 'Ko'. With interesting locations such as Paris and the extreme opposite of it, in rural Tamil Nadu villages, 'Karuppampatti' promises a good and family-friendly time for the viewers. But is it really good as a film ?

This is Ajmal's first film as an out-and-out hero or as the protagonist. It is quite evident that he has performed sincerely, though his reactions do tend to go overboard at times. Probably, more experience could have helped him to be more composed. But kudos to him for attempting to play two diametrically different roles and has worked well, in displaying the difference between both the roles, which are set in different eras. Ajmal shows some promise and with more films, he can scale the heights of stardom. Aparna Bajpai would have probably bagged this role, thanks to her role in 'Eesan' which she did long time back. She too has the opportunity to perform in two roles but sadly, her roles were not sketched out properly, nor do they have any significant importance to the film. Her sweet smile and pleasant appearance, is a plus for her, though. M.S Bhaskar handles the comedy portions of the first half, and he was good with his dialogue delivery and modulation. Meanwhile, its Jagan and Srinath, who takes care of the humor quotient in the second half. Jagan, was pretty good, particularly with his dialogue delivery and expressions, whereas Srinath was too loud and irritating. A big troupe of supporting artistes are there, such as Devadarshini, Chetan, Ganesh, Alex, Mahadevan, R.S.G Chelladurai, Balasubramaniam, Prem and etc, and many of them have left their mark, wherever they could.

The technical output of the film was not bad, surprisingly. Vasugi Bhaskar has done a good job, on a low budget, especially when it comes to the fashion styles of the 70's and the current generation. But more work could have done to make the characters of the village folks of the 70's to look more authentic and believable. Abdul Razak's make-up sufficed the needs of the artistes. 'Rock' Prabhu's stunt was simple and cleanly executed by Ajmal. Production designers, Vengal Ravi and Veeramani should be lauded for their simple, yet efficient art direction. The props and background were convincingly done to represent the specific eras portrayed in the film. The interiors and props for the 70's era, was the highlight, together with the sets for the songs. B.Lenin's editing was just perfect for the film, without making it too draggy. Santhosh Sriram and Sanjeevi Sathyaseelan, handled the cinematography department very well. The camera movements and framing were perfect, as well as the clarity in their works, especially for the village portions.

Kannan's tunes for the film was average and not really hum-worthy. "Kannamma" is the first song, which is a bit song, picturized on village girls, celebrating the festival, by playfully pouring turmeric-contained water on men. It has good camera movements and nice black-and-white tone to it. "Oh Indira" has Telugu actress Archana doing a dance jig with Ajmal, in a simple, yet flashy club set. The lighting was particularly bright, which captured the essence and mood of the song quite well. "Naughty Raja" had very bright and colorful lighting in the set work, which resembled the 70's hippie disco backdrop. The editing for the song was neatly done, so that it resembles similar type of songs, picturized in those days. "Karuppampatti" is a typical village song, with the Pongal celebration as the backdrop. It had plenty of dancers and the colorful festivity mood, in the air, especially with the big number of sugar canes used for the song. "Adaleru Kaalai" is another celebratory village song, this time glorifying the victorious state of the protagonist in a bull-fight. It too has similar colorful ambiance and plenty of dancers, with plantation fields, serving as the backdrop. The background score was just normal, and there's nothing much to discuss about it.

Tha. Prabhu Raja Cholan, must be credited for earnestly trying to be as original as he could, wherever the script necessitates. For example, the liberal use of French during the Paris portions, the non-stereotyping of villagers as the supreme good human and the usage of black-and-white tone for the flashback sequences. The detailing is evident, but it is not enough, in terms of his script writing.  We are not given enough justification or rationale explanations on why the senior Ajmal was averse to his fellow villagers, though he is one among them. Some characters just vanish without leaving any mark on the screenplay and the the junior Ajmal's comfortable assimilation into the supposedly, "alien" village, is too good to be true. And the integration of all the characters into the village once again, was just too simple. All these only showcase the lazy writing of the director. Its puzzling to note how the director can leave out a simply detail in the dialogues portion, especially for the younger Ajmal, who seems to be uttering more English, instead of French ! He grew up in Paris, didn't he ? The director has set his sight in capturing the family audience's attention, but the script lacks the zing and the intensity of the emotional quotient, needed for such family dramas. Perhaps, Tha. Prabhu Raja Cholan would have intended for a light-hearted, simple film yet, it fails to fully engage us.


'Karuppampatti' is watchable in bits and pieces. A more deft, script-writing could have helped the film, to achieve its actual intention.


Ratings: 2/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

NADUVULA KONJAM PAKKATHA KAANOM MOVIE REVIEW

 Vijay Sethupathi, who is on a roll with continuous successes, has starred in another different attempt, which has a unique and quirky title. Directed by Balaji Tharaneetharan, this film is said to be inspired from a true incident, which ironically happened to the cinematographer of this film, C.Premkumar ! Will Balaji continue the new wave of next-gen directors such as Balaji Mohan and Karthik Subbaraj ?

The casting of the film is pretty simple and neat. Vijay Sethupathi is the pivot which the whole film centers on, and he has done clear justice to the film. Delivering a measured and composed performance, Vijay has done a brilliant job as a temporary memory loss patient. His expressions, looks and dialogue delivery was very apt and splendid. Though it can look easy to maintain the same reaction throughout the film, it is indeed difficult to maintain the consistency and he has handled that part very well. Looks like this man will be the next indie super star ! Gayathri of '18 Vayasu' fame makes a minor appearance in the film and was adequate. Vigneswaran as Saras was serious and intense with his performance, while Bagawathi Perumal and C.Rajkumar were a scream throughout the film. Their personal duel and bantering between each other were explicitly humorous, though none of it was intentional ! Bagawathi, who happens to be a real-life witness of the incident was brilliant with his 'advising' and authoritative imposition. C.Rajkumar was funny with his petrified and shocked looks, all through the movie. The bonding and seriousness between the friends were very natural and real. The rest of the cast were apt, such as Usha, Kameshwar Rao, Madhumathi, Raju Sivashankaran and etc.

Shankar's costumes were very apt and resonated the middle-class milieu perfectly. Dhilip Subbarayan's stunts choreography was very minimal but adequate. A.S Lakshmi Narayanan's audiography could have been better with some timing missing in few places and in certain portions the background score was a little louder. C.Veeramani's art direction was simple and effective, especially for the props in reception and wedding sets and not to forget the hospital scenes. R.Govindaraj should have done much better in the editing department, because the film was too lengthy and after a certain period of time, the monotony kicks in, which might test the patience of viewers. But his work in the cricket episode was good. C.Premkumar's cinematography was effective, with plenty of close-up shots and low, tight angles, which were relevant to such story-lines  which needs to capture the looks and emotions of the characters, clearly. His handling of the camera for the cricket episode was cheeky too, with slow motions, which adds to the fun and humor quotient of the film.

Music of the film was very refreshing and pleasantly done by Ved Shankar, a product of A.R Rahman's KM Music Conservatory. The "Excuse Me Sir" was a funny introductory song of the vital four friends characters, and features many cut shots and montages. None of the other songs were featured in the film, unfortunately though the "Oh Crazy Minnal" sung by Andrea was a hit, and the "Omelette Potta" song with some basic set designs and props were used for promotional purposes only. Siddharth Vipin, an assistant keyboardist to A.R Rahman, takes care of the background score. His cheeky score helps elevate the humor quotient in some places and some places reminds us of his mentor, especially in the end track, which sounds like inspired from the "Sandai Kozhi" song from 'Aayutha Ezhuthu'. End of the day, a neat musical score for the film.

Balaji Tharaneetharan has made the film in such a way, where it mimics the real life. Not in any scene it looks like a cinematic film. A definitely refreshing movie, since the comedies are very situational, but what makes it much better is the mood of the film. Though the whole film is serious from start to finish, we will fail not to laugh out loud at the misfortunes of the four friends characters and their arduous task in taking care of the complicating situations. The director keeps the viewers guessing till the end, regarding the fate of the lead hero, but the process is slow, which can put off some viewers. The dialogues are very quirkily written, reflecting the naughty and humor sense of the males. Boys and men would definitely, enjoy this film much more than the fairer sex. The plot and narration is pretty much straightforward and the end credits was pretty touching. 

'Naduvule Konjam Pakkathe Kaanom' -  movie where you can 'LOL-out' out throughout the film. One of the best situational comedies to ever come out in Tamizh cinema !


Ratings: 3/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL