Director Suseenthiran, who had a fantastic 2013 with two solid film in 'Aadhalaal Kaadhal Seiveer' and 'Paandiya Naadu' is back once again and its a return to sports-based theme. 'Jeeva' is produced by himself, together with cinematographer Madhie and art director Rajeevan, under the newly formed Vennila Kabadi Team Productions. Co-producing the film is The Next Big Films production unit, alongside actor Arya under his own production company The Show People. Distribution is handled by Arya's company together with Vishal's Vishal Film Factory. Being a project entirely funded and distributed by industry friends, can Suseenthiran strike a hat-trick ?
After the success of 'Mundasupatti', Vishnu Vishal has once again done it in 'Jeeva' with a very clean and neat performance. Being a real-life cricketer himself, Vishnu Vishal performed very naturally and with consummate ease. His diction is good and he is showing more improvement with his dialogue deliveries and modulation. Job, well done ! Sri Divya has substance in her performance and she manages to show a gamut of expressions on her face. Her lip-sync, too is spot on and with a very pretty and pleasing personality, hope she gets more good roles to explore her acting credentials. Soori's character is something unnecessary for the script, though we don't mind the few occasional chuckles, he creates with his sharp dialogue deliveries and apt sense of comic timing. The film has plenty of supporting artistes such as Lakshman Narayan (another real-life cricketer), Charlie, Harish Uthaman, Vinoth Kishan, producer T.Siva, G.Marimuthu, V.Madhusudhan Rao, Akhila, Monika, Bava Letchumanan, Muthuraman, Mahendran and etc. Nearly all of them had good acting scope and made good use of their screen timing. Co-producer and distributor Arya makes a cameo appearance towards the end of the film.
C.Harikesh handles the costume designing and his work sufficed the needs of the script. The changeover for Sri Divya from a school-going girl to a college student, deserves mention. All artistes looked their part and the costumes made everyone look original and authentic. 'Anl' Arasu's action choreography was minimal and functional. G.C Anandhan's art direction gave the film a very realistic look and ambiance. The set properties, especially for the 80's and 90's era deserves special mention. The detailing in the middle-class homes depicted in the film, is another highlight. Editing is handled by Ruben, and there's nothing much to complain about his work. The cricket game shots, were well edited, which keeps the momentum of the scene from not depreciating. Cinematographer Madhie's work is enthralling and the color tone and the various style of lighting employed for different scenes, elevated the mood of the film and gels well with Suseenthiran's presentation. Madhie has tried his best to bring out the grandeur and awe-inspiring moments of an actual cricket matches and he succeeds to a certain extent. The angles he employed for the tense moments in the cricket games, were no less brilliant and is a visual treat !
D.Imman's compositions gels very well with the film and is almost complementary to Suseenthiran's narration. "Ovvondrai Thirudugirai" is a beautiful number written by Vairamuthu and is a duet number shot on the lead pair, with many montages of their teenage lovey-dovey moments. The lovely blue tone employed by Madhie for this track, brought out the romantic mood of the song, very well. "Oru Rosa" is a booze number, which had popular cinematographer cum actor Natarajan Subramaniam @ Natty, in an cameo appearance. The typical dim lighting from Madhie and the wine shop and bar set work put by G.C Anandhan fits the bill. "Netru Naan" is a wonderful, melodious bit-song, shot on Vishnu and Sri Divya. It depicts the moment the protagonist sets his eyes upon his lady, after disengaging himself from her for a couple of years. Sri Divya's looks complemented the song's lyric, very well ! "Oruthi Mele" is a charming, naughty number shot on the lead pair, surrounded by some of the supporting cast, such as Soori and Lakshman Narayan. The college campus ambiance, with an urbane look and modernist art work by G.C Anandhan, gave the song a lively look, alongside the colorful dancers. "Enge Ponai" is a situational pathos song, which comes just before the climax. D.Imman's background score was mellow and very soothing for the ears. He has toned down his usual melodramatic scores, and the move worked very beautifully in 'Jeeva'. Hoping to hear more such lovely background score from him !
The base of Suseenthiran's story is a typical underdog-triumphing-in-the-end mould, which we would seen for umpteenth number of times. But the treatment of the theme and the issue of casteism or a form of social stratification based on caste system, is very well explored and narrated here. Suseenthiran does not shy to point out the system which plagues the Tamil Nadu cricketing scenario and how only a select group of players from a specific community, makes the cut for the team selection and how others are discarded, just like that. Santhosh's dialogue writing does the work for Suseenthiran with very simple, straight-forward, earthy but contemporary dialogues. The confrontational scene in the second half, has some of the stronger worded dialogues and its the real highlight of the film. Not to forget, some of Soori's one-liners too deserves a praise ! Suseenthiran and Arun Balaji's screenplay has a very smooth flow, apart from the occasional songs, which were minor bumps. The precise allocation of timing for romance, comedy, sentiment, bromance, and pathos quotients in the screenplay, keeps the film engaging. Suseenthiran's direction deserves praise, for his astute handling of his characters and the script's subject. There's no preachy moments, yet the message was conveyed in a very subtle manner and its always nice to have an underdog overcoming the improbable hurdles, lying in front of him. Its definitely a hat-trick for Suseenthiran !
'Jeeva' - A simple, honest and soulful sports drama !
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Bharathiraja, the man who revolutionized village-genre in Tamizh cinema, is back in the limelight after a 5-year hiatus from his last, a brilliantly-themed 'Bommalaattam'. 'Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum' has the premise of Bharathiraja's forte, and it made a big noise with the launch and the consecutive cast-changes. Parthiban, Ameer, Iniya, all made their names checked and then dropped for reasons, known only to them and the director. The film saw the daylight with a newcomer, as the protagonist and Karthika Nair, doing her second film in Tamizh after 'Ko'. So, does Bharathiraja enthrall us with his village-themed film, without losing the sensitivities of current film-making styles ?
Lakshman Narayan, makes his debut in Tamizh cinema. As the gullible and innocent young village chap, he tries his best to be comfortable and confident with his first outing. But a lot of improvement is definitely needed, if Lakshman thinks of pursuing his career as an artiste. Karthika Nair, carries her role much better, thanks to her experiences (and possible tips from her veteran mother, Radha). She tried her best to shed her urban body language, and has succeeded to some extent, especially in the second half. Some bold scenes are thrown out in the second half, and Karthika has handled it quite well. Manoj Bharathiraja was the real scene stealer, with his willy and funny antagonistic role ! His expressions, dialogue delivery and voice modulation, brought out the best in him, in the best-written role of the film. The rest of the cast such as Manojkumar, Rama Prabha, Meenal, Subiksha, Angusamy Sundaramahalinga Thevar, Vairamala, Veerasingam, Malaysia Sivaganesh and etc had little screen space, but fails to leave any significant mark in the film.
Shankar's costume department delivered an apt output, but more detailing could have gone into Karthika Nair's make-up. Its pretty much unconvincing to see a 'smooth' and 'refined' looking dame, as a rustic village girl ! Do village girls actually have such perfect make-up touches ?? 'Super' Subbarayan's stunt choreography was done neatly, keeping in mind the abilities and limitations of the two important male leads. Palanivel's editing kept the film to a tolerable pace and duration, for a village subject. His montage portions could have been more smoother during the transitions. Salai Sahadevan's cinematography was adequate and functional.
G.V Prakash Kumar handles the soundtrack of the film and has delivered quite a few numbers here. "Kolavalai Edungada" is the opening credits track and has a few montages, showcasing some village festivals shot. "Aavaram Kaattukulle" is the first love melody of the film and was shot on the lead pair, romancing playfully each other in the village setting, with a few montages thrown into. "Porale" is an emotional, situational song shot on the three main characters of the film, and appears during a critical point of the script, with some dramatized weather effects, utilized for the song. "Pinnaaru" is a bit-song, which highlights the lead pair reminiscing each other during their separated lives. "Pothivachaa" also follows the same track with some more montages, but with a pleasant mode instead. "Nariga" is a conventional village duet song, shot on the lead pair, in a simple village house set, with elaborate village costumes for the lead pair. "Anname" and "Usure Uruvi" are two situational bit-songs, appearing during crucial climax portions. The background score of the film is handled by the Sabesh-Murali duo, and they leave their mark in the film, with re-recordings of their own touch, instead of mimicking G.V Prakash's songs.
Though Bharathiraja was the pioneer for village-based films in Tamizh cinema, times have drastically changed. Though rural themed films are welcomed, the style and presentation of the current generation directors are way different than what Bharathiraja has done with his latest depiction. Especially when you have watched path-breaking films such as 'Paruthi Veeran' and 'Aadukalam'. The nativity and authenticity were well brough out, but the story telling is not compelling and has a deja-vu feel to it. The script has a good resemblance to the director's classic '16 Vayadhinile', in terms of characterization and plot setting. The director has still tried to instill some 'bold' elements into the script, which comes in the second half. But its not enough for an actual film-lover to be hooked up with the film. The themes and issues handled in the film is certainly not topical, with old school framing and sequence setting and if it wasn't for the performance of Manoj, the film would have fallen flat. Worse still, its appalling and highly unfathomable to have Karthika portrayed as a prepubescent girl ! The emotional content is too shallow and the script is filled with too much of mushy and melodramatic moments. R.Rose Mugilan's dialogues, were very much in-tune with the milieu, the best lines were reserved for Manoj.
'Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum' - Archaically outdated and wrongly treated !
Ratings: 1.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
