'Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal' made the right noises for the production value, thanks to the producer and protagonist of the script, Udhayanidhi Stalin. After the super-hit 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi', he is back on the silver-screen with his "other-half" Santhanam, but this time under the baton of S.R Prabhakaran, who delivered the sleeper-hit 'Sundarapandian'. How does this equation fare, especially when you have good artistes and technicians as support ?
Udhayanidhi Stalin shows lots of progress in his acting repertoire. His dancing, emoting, dialogue delivery and the timing, as well confidence is way better than his debut. But, he has plenty of space for more improvements. Especially, when it comes to romance sequences, which brings us to Nayanthara. Being an experienced and able performer, she easily overshadows Udhayanidhi with her acting skills, is more convincing and has better screen presence than the Udhayanidhi. Nonetheless, they look like a good match, but Udhayanidhi has to buck up, if he's to attain more acting credentials ! Santhanam does his regular routine of being the hero's sidekick cum love-guru and as expected, delivers what he can. Not rip-roaring but still amusing enough, especially with his popular one-liners. Sunder Ramu has the only negative role of the film, and has not much of scope to score with his performances. Not to blame him, but his shallow characterization, that is. Chaya Singh makes a very pleasant comeback as a character artiste and the rest of the cast such as Naren, Murugadass, Saranya Ponvannan, Jayaprakash, Vanitha Krishnachandran, Dr. Bharath Reddy, Mayilsamy, Swaminathan, Kala Kalyani and etc, though underused, were befitting of their respective characters.
Rajini Vishal's costumes were chic and elegant, especially for Nayanthara, who looks gorgeous, especially in the chudithars and suits ! Dhilip Subbarayan has been credited for action choreography, but there's nothing substantial nor apparent, except for any functional purposes. Don Bosco's editing is crisp and neat, but he could have definitely handled the first half better, which drags unnecessarily with unimportant scenes. V.Selvakumar's production design was spotless, especially with the props used in the farm house and also of the other real locations. Balasubramaniem does not need foreign locations to showcase his expertise in cinematography, yet he does make use of his opportunities well. His lighting and angles for the indoor locations, especially of the rural farm house, looks pleasant for the eyes. He has tried to project a colorful tone overall for the movie, keeping in mind of 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi's template.
Udhayanidhi's favorite, Harris Jeyaraj scores the music for this film. Though the songs have the stamp of his, its a below-par album actually, and the songs are not really exciting nor fun. "Pallakku Devathai" looks like another rehash of "Venam Machan", but a lesser sprightly version. It serves as Santhanam's introductory song and has a college backdrop with back-up dancers and minimal artwork by V.Selvakumar. "Vizhiyae Vizhiyae" is a soft-number picturized on the lead pair, against the picturesque Swiss mountains. The lush-green landscape looks very cool and pleasant with colorful costumes for the lead pair. Nothing extraordinary with the camerawork but good locations by the unit. "Melae Melae" is a peppy number shot on the lead pair, this time in urbane Spain. Modern architectures acts as the background and Udhayanidhi proves his dancing improvements in this song. The best song of the album, "Anbe Anbe" has plenty of montages shot on the lead pair. Though the picturization was functional, it fails to do justice to the sweet composition of Harris Jeyaraj. The final song, "Sara Sara" is the typical rural-based dance number, shot in green villages and barren fields, with village-based set properties and appropriately dressed back-up dancers. The background score is a letdown, though Harris impresses in one or two occasions.
The makers have insisted during the promotions that they have tried to strike a balance between 'Oru Kal Oru Kannadi' and 'Sundarapandian', and precisely that's what the film looks like. Unfortunately, this concoction does not mix up well, thanks to the disconcerting screenplay. The film does not fall properly into neither the rom-com nor the family drama genre, though the latter based sequences, has better writing. There is no cohesion nor a smooth flowing continuity in the screenplay, which creates space for unnecessary gaps. The emotional sequences portrayed has no organic element in it, and looks staged. The screenplay has a very orthodox arrangements, pertaining to the regular Tamizh cinema format of fun-and-frolic in the first half, and seriousness and crisis in the second half. Some sequences are archaic in the handling and some sentimental scenes are as good as the sensibility-degrading mega-serials shown in Tamizh satellite channels. Heck, even the conceptualization bears the same manner ! The characterizations is equally weak as well, with no depth in purpose for changeover of behaviors, which leaves us having no empathy for any characters. S.R Prabhakaran had a good material for a neat commercial entertainer, but his execution fell flat !
'Ithu Kathirvelan Kadhal' - An "Inbetweener" attempt of rom-com and family-drama, ends up being insipid !
Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
M.Sasikumar is back after the lacklustre performance of his previous film 'Porali' at the box-office. This time he is back into his own territory, that is the Madurai-based script with friendship at its base intertwined with a simple love story. He has given his assistant S.R Prabhakaran a chance to direct a film for his own, Company Productions. Also, Sasikumar dons the mantle of hero in this film as well but this time, with some little difference from his previous angry, sickle-carrying, violent roles. So will this 'Sundarapandian' seduce the audience, successfully ?
Sasikumar, with his usual thick beard, is a good performer here but what is different from his previous films is that, here he gets to romance a girl and also carry less emotional dialogues and expressions. He gets to perform more comedy portions and his adeptness in doing such sequences is a big plus for the film because it helps us to get off the image of his previous films, from our minds, while watching this film. He appears nearly throughout the film and his subtle dialogue delivery gives a touch of class for his acting chops. Debutante Lakshmi Menon, looks very cute and homely and with her big eyes, manages to show emotions appropriately and her subtle performances makes her to be the next good performing heroine in Tamizh cinema. Kudos to her ! Soori is a revelation in this film, with a more subtle and relaxed dialogue delivery and body language which works very well for the scenes and his character is a complement for Sasikumar's protagonist role. He underplays his comedy sequences and is impressive throughout the film. The core strength of the film is the good characterizations and each artistes performing their roles, had done justice to their work and nearly everyone comes out a big winner, performance-wise. National Award-winner Appukutty, Vijay Sethupathi, Inigo Prabakaran, Naren, Thennavan, Sujatha, Sounthara Raja, Thulasi and even minor artistes have the depth and screen presence to make their mark. The director has won half the battle with his excellent casting !
K.Natraj's costumes were very apt and befitting for the characters, especially for Sasikumar, in order to bring out the naughtier side of his and also for the rest of the cast, which gives them the authentic rural look. Dhilip Subbarayan's stunt choreography is good, with the orchard fight scene, being the highlight, where the artistes uses the starches and coconuts as weapons. The stunts looked realistic, which was fitting for the size and physique of Sasikumar. Debuting art director, A.K Muthu gets it right with appropriate props to fill the houses of the township homes, shown in the film. V.Donbosco has done a neat job in the editing department, especially in the climax fight sequence. C.Premkumar of 'Pasanga' fame dons the mantle of cinematographer and he has done a neat job as well. He has captured the rustic and rural look very well, especially in the barren, dry lands in the climax. The bus portions too were well shot, though it involves tight spaces and crowded areas. N.R Raghunanthan's music is hummable with only four songs in the film. "Kondaadum Manasu", the introductory song of the hero, was picturized with many dancers, with a good mix of old and young folks, with plenty of close-ups and wide shots against temple and paddy field backdrop. "Kadhal Vandhu", is a situational song, with many montages involved, mostly inside the bus and along the journey of the bus route, with funny scenes, overall. "Rekkai Mulaithen", was shot on the lead couple, also on a montage method, showing them happily being in love with each other in many locations such as bus, hills, roads and college areas. The final song, "Nenjukkule" is another situational song, this time involving more dramas between the lead pair and the other characters surrounding them. The background score too gels very well with the look and mood of the film, which complements very well for the sequences in the screenplay.
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S.R Prabhakaran, gets his inspiration from his mentor's films, because there is a heavy feel of 'Nadodigal', 'Porali' and 'Subramaniapuram' evident in the film (also thanks to Samuthirakani's voice-over for the introduction scenes) . But the strength of the film is the rather fair screenplay and good humor scenes infused throughout the script. The first half serves as good build-up for all the serious dramas in the second half, with light and funny comedy scenes. But the sucker punch is at the climax, where a couple of surprising twists and turns are revealed, though some cinematic liberties were taken. Also, the director should be lauded for sketching strong and colorful characters. His dialogues too are a big help for the script, as the right words brings out the emotion quotient of the scenes, appropriately and spontaneously. The screenplay is rather neat and direction looks promising. Overall, S.R Prabhakaran has done a decent job, indeed !
'Sundarapandian' is engaging and entertaining but Sasikumar should venture out from his comfort zone and do different themes besides, the usual love, revenge and friendship because, stereotyping will be a bane for his cinematic career, be it for any role (actor, director or producer).
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
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