G.Boopathy Pandiyan, an excellent comedy script and dialogue writer turned director, is back after a three-year hiatus, with his last release being the dud 'Kaadhal Solla Vandhen'. He teams up once again with Vishal after 'Malaikottai', which was released 6 years back. Vishal has been consistently missing the elusive hit-status mark for his films, and his career looks like to be in an imminent danger. Will or can this duo strike back again, and that too with Santhanam in their company ?
Vishal is pretty much in his comfort zone with this script and he has delivered earnestly, what was expected out of him. His execution in stunt sequences are well filmed thus far, and it continues in 'Pattathu Yaanai' as well. His dance is improving film by film. And that's about it with his performance. As for debutante Aishwarya Arjun, well, she is there. In songs and the build-up sequences before them. (Was Arjun briefed about the actual state of his daughter's debut film ?) Santhanam, the only saving grace in the film, tries his best to muster some humorous portions out of the poorly written scenes. He has tried a different type of modulation for his dialogue delivery and it works to some extent, and his body language has marked improvement. But unfortunately, he goes missing in the second half, until the climax, where he makes an appearance for a brief moment. Murali Sharma and John Vijay play the roles of the main antagonists and only the latter makes some mark in the film, and that too due to his good comedy timing. The rest of the cast such as Chitra Letchumanan, Mayilsamy, Jagan, Karthik Sabesh, 'Vada Poche' Sarithiran, 'Pattimandram' Raja, Seetha, 'Besant' Ravi, Rajendran, Swaminathan and Singamuthu appear in insignificant roles, alongside Subbu Panchu and Mouli, who make cameo appearances.
Sai and Vasugi Bhaskar's costume designing was in sync with the needs and wants of the commercial demands of the script and thanks to Vasugi, Aishwarya looked more presentable in the songs. Anal Arasu's stunt choreography was also in sync with the necessities of a commercial caper, and the second half stunt scene, shot in the rain, is particularly more impressive than the others. Karthik Rajkumar's production design was minimal and his props, sufficed the needs of the sequences. A.L Ramesh's editing is just functional. Nothing experimental, in style. Vaidy.S's cinematography reminds us of R.D Rajashekar's work in Vishal's previous, 'Vedi'. The bright yellow hue, gives a bright look for the entire film and his shots for the second half stunt sequence, canned with rain effects, looked good.
S.S Thaman's musical score, is pretty average to say the least. Repeated listening might pave way for some sort of liking to them. "Thattungada Mealatthae" is the opening song of the hero and his bunch of friends. The song was shot on barren crop fields, with minimal art work and some comedy bit thrown into, involving a glamorous 'item girl'. "Enna Oru" is the pick of the lot among the songs, and is shot on the lead pair and which happens to be a fantasy song. The sand work in beaches and colorful streets are the highlight of the songs, with pretty costumes designed for Aishwarya. "Raja Raja Naandham", has a mix of dance and montages blended into it. The montages were some comedy bits and the dance portions were shot in an simple manner. "Poosani Kai" was shot at an open balcony terrace, featuring Mayilsamy and the lead pair, with the former involving in some quirky dance movements. "Thale Kaalu" is the archetypal 'kuthu' song warranted for such 'masala' flicks. The song features, as usual, colorful sets and groups of colorfully dressed dancers. Sabesh-Murali duo handles the background score department, surprisingly. They have done justice to their work by giving good focus for the comedy portions and also for imbibing Thaman's tunes into their re-recording.
Its unforgivable for someone like Boopathy, who has a very good humor-filled script-sense, to come up with such a tepid and lukewarm script. The script is jarringly out of logic and sense. The scenes are disjointed and there is no proper continuity in the flow of the screenplay. The comedy sequences are low in humor and high in irritable factor and many of them are unwarranted ! The story is prehistoric. The over-used trend of having Ilaiyaraaja's composition is also incorporated into the screenplay. Its just puzzling to come up with a conclusion, as to what was Boopathy's idea, behind this project ? Is it supposed to be 'masala'-filled humor film or vice-versa ? Only he has the ability to narrate the answer to us (hopefully !). As mentioned earlier, Santhanam's dialogues are the only saving grace in the film, and he alone has greatly helped the script in sustaining our remaining meager interest of us' on the film.
'Pattathu Yaanai' - Success still eludes Vishal, successfully !
Ratings: 2/5 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
