After a break of 4-years, Shankar's S Pictures is back in limelight and this time he is distributing the film made by his former protege, Karthik G.Krish, which is produced by I Studios Entertainment. 'Kappal' promises to be a comedy-riot and is mainly targeted at the urban youngsters. When ones love is in trouble, he/she depend on his/her friends. But what if the friends are the actual problem here ? 'Kappal' explores this situation and did Shankar's protege make his mentor proud ?
For Vaibhav, who has been doing supporting roles, this is a big break for him and his role is an apt character for his style of acting. The character had enough comical shades to it and Vaibhav has made good use of his opportunity. His comic-timing is getting better and even his acting his improving as well. More experiments with his dialogue delivery and voice modulation can help him improve his performance. Debutante heroine Sonam Bajwa looks super cute, elegant, hot & sexy, all rolled into one. She scores in some portions and shows promise. With better choices of films, this young lass can shoot herself into the A-list of Tamizh cinema heroines ! 'VTV' Ganesh was in his usual elements and rocks in a few scenes, with his unique style of dialogue delivery. The team of Karunakaran, Arjunan Nandhakumar, Venkat Sundar and Karthik Priyadarshan complemented Vaibhav well and they had their own moments too. Robo Shankar, George, Steve and etc had supporting roles and among them, Steve stood out for his performance in a character, which strangely mimicked Silambarasan.
S.Tamil Selvan is in charge of costume designing and as per the script's demands, the characters looked their roles, especially Sonam Bajwa, who was looking charming and sexy, in her chic costumes. Art direction is handled by K.Arusamy, and his work gave the rich detailing in terms of set properties. 'VTV' Ganesh's house set-up, as well as the posh houses shown in the film, were aptly propped. K.Arusamy certainly made good use of the budget given ! Anthony's editing was surprisingly jerky, and he could have certainly trimmed many portions, which was slowed the pace of the film. Dinesh Krishnan.B of 'Soodhu Kavvum' fame has handled the cinematography work and it is very slick and functional. The way he has did the lighting for the indoor locations, gave the sequences the apt look and the rich-look of the film was achieved, thanks to his camerawork.
Natarajan Sankaran's musical score works well with the script's presentation style and the flow of the screenplay. "Oru Cup Acid" sung by Santhosh Narayanan is shot in Vaibhav, Karunakaran, Arjunan Nandhakumar, Venkat Sundar and Karthik Priyadarshan and serves as their introductory song. The whole song was shot in a college campus and has montages of the quadruplet of friends spoiling every attempt of Vaibhav in a finding a girlfriend. "Kaali Pasanga", also sung by Santhosh Narayanan, is a comical situation song, in which Vaibhav thwarts a group of rowdies by spewing bad words at them. The VFX executed by WEFX team is commendable. "Ekka Chakkama" is shot on the lead pair and has montages of their love scenes, shot in and around posh and urbane locations of Chennai. The pick of the lot, "Kadhal Cassatta" was shot on the lead pair and a group of dancers, against a candy & sweets themed, set work done by K.Arusamy. Both the sets and Sonam Bajwa looked yummy, indeed ! Dinesh Krishnan.B's camerawork deserves mention for this song. The cult-hit 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja groove number, "Oore Vittu Ooru" from the film 'Karakaattakaaran', is used in this film, though the audio CD had a different remix-version. It was shot against Vaibhav, Karunakaran, Arjunan Nandhakumar, Venkat Sundar and Karthik Priyadarshan, in and around Chennai locations and they were accompanied by a group of dancers, dressed up as super-heroes. "Friendship" is a pathos song, and has montages of the main lead and the supporting artistes, dealing with the break-up between the hero and heroine. Natarajan Sankaran's background score is quirky and works well for the film's mood.
Karthik G.Krish's simplistic but realistic approach and treatment of the script, makes 'Kappal' a fun viewing for most of the time. The hero and heroine's characters were well etched and handled, and the detailing in their characters, could have been a little more articulate. The screenplay was simple and straightforward, although there are some lagging moments, which could have been edited out, alongside some unwanted song sequences. Karthik G.Krish's plus point seems to be his dialogue writing and there are plenty of one-liners, which were very funny and entertaining, especially in the first half and mouthed by 'VTV' Ganesh. There are some loopholes and continuity mistakes in the film, which the makers could have been more careful of, but Karthik G.Krish manages to divert our attention away from those mistakes, with back-to-back comedy sequences. The climax is a riot, especially with Steve's character and the antics played by Karunakaran, Arjunan Nandhakumar, Venkat Sundar and Karthik Priyadarshan. There are some adult-oriented comedy portions and dialogues, which we believe, is a toned-down version from the original scenes.
'Kappal' - Some rough water, but a safe sail overall !
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Chimbu Deven, one of the creative directors of Tamizh cinema, is back after 'Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam'. As always this film too is intriguingly titled, this time as 'Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavanikalum'. Arulnithi, an earnest performer needs a solid hit to cement his presence in Tamizh cinema. With Chimbu Deven in helm, can this film deliver a different yet entertaining flick for us ?
Arulnithi, shows good progress from film to film. Here, he proves his mettle in handling comedy throughout the film and with his subtleties, he delivers a very decent performance. There's not much of scope for him, in terms of the range of emotions and variations in dialogue deliveries, but he still makes good use of the subject taken and convincingly portrayed the role of the protagonist. Sharing equal space with him is K.Bagavathi Perumal of 'Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom' fame. He continues his 'NKPK' act very well, and his one-liners are the best in the film. His dialogue deliveries are perfectly timed and neatly presented. A little more expressions can certainly do wonders for him. Good job ! Bindhu Madhavi plays the 'third musketeer' and she should be appreciated for picking an unconventional role. The attractive lass has delivered a clean performance and hoping to see more of her in Tamizh cinema. Ashrita Shetty has an important role, but with limited scope and screen presence, she makes use of what she had in the script, quite well. The rest of the big cast, who played minor characters such as Karthik Sabesh, Manobala, Jayaprakash, Naren, Aruldas, Paandu, Nassar, M.S Bhaskar, 'Delhi' Ganesh, V.S Raghavan, Ravi Raghavendra, Benjamin, Sriranjini and etc were effective and some of them had some witty detailing to their characters, which worked out well.
Costume design has been handled by Sai, and considering the limited scope offered by the script, his works sufficed the needs of the script. Dhilip Subbarayan's action choreography was adequate, especially for the pre-climax fight sequence and for the chasing sequences, which were shot in many real locations. T.Muthuraj's art direction also had lesser importance to the script, since bulk of the movie's portions were shot in real locations. Yet, the minor detailing in the protagonist's apartment, the church wedding scenario and etc deserves appreciation. Raja Mohammed's editing was very much linear, and that helped the flow of the story, so that the screenplay could be straightforward in fashion and easy to understand for the common folks. S.R Kathir's cinematography techniques were effective for the script's demands and needs. His works are very simple and there's nothing fancy about it, which gives the film a realistic look. Also, his camera movements and top-angle shots for the chase sequences, add more zing to the narration.
Natarajan Sankaran's musical score was passable. The melodious "July Madham" was picturized against a chase sequence between Naren, Arulnithi and Bindhu Madhavi, which has interspersing of montages shots of Arulnithi and Ashrita. "Moonu Kodi" is the next chase sequence, this time featuring all three main leads and was mostly shot on rooftops of high-rise apartments and narrow back-lanes. "Bachelor Enakke" plays when the end credits roll. The four theme tracks, "Breeze-African", "Marriage", "Storm-Indian" and "Theme Thunder (Trance)" - the title track, plays throughout the film and at important placements, and also serves as the basis for the background score. Natarajan Sankaran is capable of better musical deliveries, and hope he improves his background score.
Chimbu Deven always had a penchant for unique concepts for each of his film, and in 'Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavanikalum' its about the importance of time passages. Chimbu Deven starts the film with a quote from the Holy Bible regarding time, and what we get is a palate of fantasy, reality, sci-fi, and myth. Chimbu Deven's tells us that each minute dictates its own course of fate for each human being, and how one's life can alter by the slightest of time change and various minute elements, omnipresent around us. His screenplay narration is Chimbu Deven's example for the concept that he conveys. Chimbu Deven's quirkiness in writing is evident, with all the minute detailing he gives for many of the minor characters, for example a psychotic inspector's penchant for kid's magazine, the colony secretary's affair and etc. These small details adds the fun element for the script. But the screenplay slowly turns out to be more tedious, when the chain of events are repeated twice, but with different repercussions, since each episode starts a minute later than the previous. The gags are not super exciting or rip-roaring fun, which makes us feel exhausted by the time, the 'real' climax, climaxes ! Also, the concept was exaggerated and its nearly impossible to believe that everyone's life would change just by a minute or two. Nevertheless, Chimbu Deven's dialogues are fun and humorous, especially those mouthed by K.Bagavathi Perumal. Not to forget, he should be also appreciated for his smart writing for minor sequences, such as the various stages of watermelon being cut, in each chronological timeline. Chimbu Deven has credited Tom Tykwer's German classic 'Run Lola Run', Akira Kurosawa's Japanese classic 'Rashomon', Kamal Hassan's 'Virumaandi' and etc as his inspiration. It should be noted that, the film's concept has similarities with Jake Gyllenhaal's 2011 techno-thriller, 'Source Code'.
'Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavanikalum' - An intelligent concept, a simple story-line and some fun gags in between !
Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
Among the onslaught of comedy movies being released week in, week out in Tamizh cinema, 'Moodar Koodam' stands apart for its dark humor/black comedy genre and also incorporating styles, one would associate with the pulp fiction genre. Produced by the maker himself, Naveen, a former protege of Pandiraj and Chimbudevan, the film was released under the banner of Pasanga Productions, which belongs to the former. The promos were promising and promised a quirky but fun element throughout the film. Did 'Moodar Koodam' avoid making us end up as a fool for watching it ?
The main leads are new and Naveen, the producer and director, leads the way for the "Gang of Idiots". He maintains a stoic and brooding persona throughout the film and his dialogue deliveries were sharp and well delivered. His timing was perfect, especially for his counter-dialogues with Sentrayan. As for the latter, he was the second best performer among the lot. His facial reactions and bodily language complemented the actual caricature-like image of his character. The elements helped him to literally, "stand out" among his peers. (No pun intended !) As for Rajaj and Kuberan, the performances were decent and neat enough, but there were lots of room for improvement, in terms of screen presence and timing for dialogue deliveries. The rest of the cast were pretty much in their comfort zone and dished out good performances. Jayaprakash and Anupama Kumar were spotless, though Oviya had a lesser screen timing and impact on the script. Manasa and Rinthiya were a scream with their antics ! Sindhu Reddy, Sabesh, Wingco Prakash, Bobby Tejai, Sathish Swaminathan, Pollachi Manoj, Udhayabanu Maheswaran, Manmohit and etc contributed aptly for the necessity of the script.
Production designer Prem Navas had little work throughout the film, as the locations were very restricted, and centered only on a house for 70% duration of the film. The props were neatly done, though. Athiyappan Siva's editing was creative, especially with the way he handled all those mini-episodes, each different from the other, with some zany ideas. The length of the film could have trimmed though, since the pacing of the film tests the patience of viewers, after a certain point of time. Tony Chan's cinematography was dark and brooding as well, complementing the mood and theme of the script. Though not impressive collectively, some episodes were definitely shot well, especially with Sentrayan's.
Natarajan Sankaran's musical score was exciting and unique, as he experimented with various types of genres and styles for each characters and episodes. "Velai Vetti" was the opening song, played during the credits, which present the cast and crew akin to a Guy Ritchie's graphic novel, style. "Idhu Nalla Naai" was well edited and shot, and was a fun mini-episode featuring the flashback of the Great Dane, credited in the film. "Oru Oorule" is the flashback of Kuberan and was done in an animation format by Hybrid Studios and Icon Studios. "ABCD Ungappan" meanwhile, was the flashback of Sentrayan and had plenty of montages interspersing with self-shots. "Auto Kumaru" is a bit-song played as a background score for "Auto" Kumar's character introduction. "Achamillai Achamillai" was shot indoors and is played in the background during a mini-boxing episode of the film. "Kannodu" is Rajaj's flashback which was shot in montages and had him and Sindhu Reddy depicted as lovers. "Nila Nila" was a slow-motion bit song, which happens to be Naveen's flashback. The pick of the lot, "Neeyum Bommai" sang by the legendary singer K.J Yesudas for the second time, was the flashback of an all-important doll of the film ! The background score too was interesting and well-scored. Good work, Natarajan !
What sets 'Moodar Koodam' apart from the glut of recent comedy film release, are its intelligent dialogues and a very stylish presentation and sequencing from Naveen. The director in Naveen had loads of ideas and he has tried to implement as much as he can and want in this script, and its pretty obvious that he has been inspired by Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino's style of film-making. Though the ideas give different variations and colors to the script, the line-up of ideas prolongs the length of the film further. Moreover, a good deal of the length covers the episodes played between the host of characters, locked up in a single house, slowly creeps in boredom. The barrage of wacky characters, though amusing was unnecessary and Naveen loses the grip he had on his script. Though the film has dark humor as its theme, the adult content in the gags are bound to be expected by the viewers. The makers could have taken the bold step of not sacrificing these adult contents just for the sake of a "U" certificate. (Or it could be the fault of the Censor Board members, whose narrow-mindedness is legendary). The biggest turn-off for Tamizh film buffs could be the hidden revelation behind the writing of the script. Naveen has ripped off a successful 1999 Korean crime-comedy, 'Attack the Gas Station' and it could have been encouraging to see Naveen at least giving credits to the original makers. But still, Naveen has adapted the script very well with the necessary changes.
Nevertheless, 'Moodar Koodam' is a good attempt in producing different films in Tamizh cinema. Looking more from Naveen, and looking for an original attempt from him !
Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
