Two years after the huge blockbuster success of 'Thuppakki', 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay is back once again with A.R Murugadoss in another 'deadly' titled film. 'Kaththi' has been making all the right and wrong noises, thanks to the hype around the subject, Anirudh's "Selfie Pulla" and also for the alleged involvement of the Sri Lankan government with the producing company, Lyca Productions (and co-produced by Ayngaran International). After a tense and critical stage of protests and political interventions, 'Kaththi' hits the theaters for the festive season. Can this duo strike another bull's-eye ?
'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's dabbling with double role subjects have not gone down well previously, but with 'Kaththi', he is fantastic as both Kathiresan alias Kaththi and Jeevanandam. The former holds the most amount of screen timing and 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay plays to the gallery with his swashbuckling body language and a charismatic screen presence. This character does all the action, comedy, dance and its an out-and-out "mass" 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay show for his die-hard fans ! Whereas, as Jeevanandam 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay brings out the serious performer in him, in a character which is docile, meek, naive yet resilient and apathetic. Its a throwback to his 'Kannukul Nilavu', 'Thulladha Manamum Thullum' & 'Nilaave Vaa' days. Its refreshing to see him in this sort of a role devoid all his regular antics and hope he does more in the future ! Samantha Ruth Prabhu is there only as an eye-candy and she did what can be expected out of her poorly written role, by being cute and pretty and show those emoticon-style expressions. Popular Bollywood artiste, Neil Nitin Mukesh dons the main antagonist and though his demeanor and look was suave and stylish, the character lacks intensity and never really rile us up, as how a terrifying villain should. But kudos to Neil Nitin Mukesh for dubbing in his own voice and getting the lip-sync almost perfect, in an language totally alien to him ! Sathish plays 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's side-kick and provides one or two laughs. Tota Roy Chowdhury, R.Ravi, Rupesh Gupta, writer Veera Santhanam, Sreerag Nambiar, Seetha and others fill up the rest of the cast, with A.R Murugadoss himself appearing in an cameo appearance.
'Kaththi' has a lavish budget and technically the film looks rich and vibrant with various shades of color tones and landscapes. Costume designing by Deepali Noor and S.Rajendran was very apt, and the lead pair looked lovely in the film and songs, with 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay being very casual and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, in some gorgeous outfits. Veteran Sreekar Prasad takes care of the editing department, and his work complements the narrative style adopted by A.R Murugadoss. The action sequences were brilliantly presented and brings out the pumping feel needed for those sequences to stand out. Editing was 'Kaththi' indeed ! The film's lavish budget was well spent on the art department and art director 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja has done a fabulous job. The film has plenty of set works, such as a jail set, godown set, old folks home, an entire dried up village set, and plenty of set properties for real locations such as the Chennai airport sequence, and all of them looked very realistic and fitting for the script. A very neatly designed and executed film ! Action choreographer 'Anl' Arasu's work was brilliant in this film, and it could be one of his best works, till date. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's body language and mannerisms fitted the choreography perfectly and his screen presence upped the ante. The action scene involving the coins, was very unique, cheeky, creative yet powerful and explosive. Don't miss it ! The film attained a great look thanks to George C.William's eye-catching cinematography work. He seems to share a great chemistry and wavelength with A.R Murugadoss and its pretty obvious for us to see, The camera movements, angles and lighting techniques were top-notch works and some of the calculated works, paid off big time when it added more zing and vibrant energy to the scenes.
Teenage sensation Anirudh Ravichander is on fire and his songs were very catchy and peppy, alas the positioning of the songs in the film, was just awful ! "Pakkam Vanthu" was shot on 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay in the swanky new portions of Chennai International Airport and also at its runway. The additional set properties by 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja added more authentic look for the song, which also had plenty of group dancers, adorning airport/flight themed costumes. "Aathi" has fantastic VFX visuals from Prasad EFX and the various color tones used, added more glossy factor to the song. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay and Samantha Ruth Prabhu's costumes matched the song's setting, so does the simple props by 'Lalgudi' N.Ilayaraja and some light-hearted montages were interspersed with the original visuals. The chart-buster, "Selfie Pulla" was shot on the lead pair, in a simple set work, replicating a western city square. The usage of psychedelic colors such as blue, pink and purple shades for the lighting and tone, gives a radiant but stylish look for the song ala Bollywood style. 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay dances like a dream and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, tries her best to match him, alongside the group dancers. "Nee Yaar" sung by the legendary K.J Yesudass, is used as a situational bit-song, during the end of the film. "Kaththi Theme - The Sword of Enemy" and "Bad Eyes" theme tracks are used throughout the film, at the appropriate places and the Anirudh Ravichander's background adds more strength to the film's narration and pushes the impact of the sequences by several notches higher. 'Kaththi' is definitely, a feather in the cap for Anirudh Ravichander !
A.R Murugadoss continues the 'Thuppakki' feel and mood with 'Kaththi' as well, but there's plenty of 'Ramana' coating in it. This time, A.R Murugadoss has opted for a more serious social issue and he presents to us the domino/cascading effect of capitalist economy and corporatism in the current Indian scenario. He takes a lashing swipe at the bigwigs of corporate Indian conglomerates and how they capitalize and exploit the pitiable and downtrodden state of an average Indian, especially with the farmers. The film has some fiery, sucker punch dialogues, which was mouthed passionately and aggressively by 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay, especially in the pre-climax sequence. Also, A.R Murugadoss hits at the news-hungry, 'salivating' media people, who only cares about target rating points for their respective channels and more circulation for the print media. Though all these are pertinent issues which should be discussed, the message does get quite preachy as the film progress. Nevertheless, A.R Murugadoss has tried to balance it with some high-octane "masala" elements such as cleverly written scenes and impactful action scenes. But the love track deserves zero-rating, for its ill-conceived scenes and redundant dialogues. But 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's fans might not complain much for their star's exceptional comic timing and expressions. There are some loopholes in the storyline, some logical lapse in the script, and exaggeration of the emotional quotient, but these are ought to be overlooked, if you are to enjoy a great "masala" action film. The staging of some sequences fell flat, which could have been dealt better and the transition of 'Ilayathalapathy' Vijay's characters should have been smoother and organic, with a proper delineation of both characters he portrayed. But whatever it is, A.R Murugadoss has definitely struck a chord with the audience once again, and 'Kaththi' seems to be another glowing addition to his CV.
'Kaththi' - Sharply 'Kaththi', indeed !
Ratings: 3.25/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
After the unexpected disastrous result of 'Anjaan', UTV Motion Pictures has immediately released their next South Indian offering and its Vikram Prabhu's 'Sigaram Thodu'. Directed by Gaurav Narayanan, who previously did 'Thoonga Nagaram', it is a crucial film for all the key stakeholders. A film touted to be based on real-life incidents of ATM robberies and credit/debit card scams, will 'Sigaram Thodu' make it big ?
After the moderate 'Arima Nambi', Vikram Prabhu has nailed another suitable script for him. He has done justice to his role, which has its fair share of boisterous nature together with subtle emotions. His physique lends credence to his role. Also, his dancing skills has improved by some good measure and he is convincing in the action sequences. Nothing memorable but a clean and neat performance from him. Veteran Sathyaraj shows his class and experience in his acting, which suits him well. His role is pivotal since he is the driving force behind the protagonist and the realistic portrayal of his character adds little substance to the film. Debutante Monal Gajjar looks pretty and natural in front of the camera, but there's nothing much else to discuss about her. Gaurav himself plays the main antagonist and the character suits him well and he carried off his role well. Sathish's comedic timing was on the dot as usual and evokes some laughter but the relevance of his character is another question. Others in the cast are 'Erode' Mahesh, Singampuli, Kovai Sarala, Vijay Raj, Charan Deep, Paandu, Krishnamoorthy, Kamalakrishnan, Swaminathan, Manohar and etc, and we also have a cameo appearance from K.S Ravikumar, whom happens to be the mentor of Gaurav.
Costume designing by Niranjani Agathiyan sufficed the needs of the script, and the characters' urban looks were, well achieved. Videsh is in charge of art direction and his work gave the film, a perfect look for the script. The police station, bank premises, office interiors and etc have been well put up and justified the moderate budget provided by the producers. Dhilip Subbarayan and 'Billa' Jagan have taken responsibility for action choreography and kudos to the duo for composing realistic action sequences. The one-to-one fight situations have been done in keeping reality in mind and the choreography is based on proper martial arts moves. Simple, but it was powerful and effective ! Editing by Praveen K.L, especially in the second half keeps the proceedings racy and intact but the first half was just a waste of time, with unwarranted romance & comedy sequences, as well as songs. The investigation portions are the highlights of Praveen K.L's editing work. Cinematograhy by Vijay Ulaganath is a little quirky with plenty of gimmicks in camera angles and movement. Some camera movements were a little unusual but it shows the creative spark of Vijay Ulaganath. Besides that, the beautiful sceneries of the far northern regions of Haridwar, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, Yamunotri, Rudrapur, Gangotri and etc were well captured and is pleasing on the eyes.
D.Imman delivers some neat compositions but they were not as catchy as some of his previous works. Nevertheless, some might still fancy a number or two in 'Sigaram Thodu's track-list. "Takku Takku" has plenty of simple animation and bright, K-Pop like CG-works, and serves as an introductory song for Vikram Prabhu. The song's visual idea was unique and it might appeal to the kids, which was well edited by Praveen K.L. "Pidikkudhe" is a typical D.Imman melody and is apparently shot on the lead pair. Vijay Ulaganath's top angle shots are the highlights of the song, which has pleasing visuals of the Rishikesh and Uttarakhand's mountainous landscape. The usage of the bird-wing like costume for Monal Gajjar was eye-catching. "Scenenu Scenenu" is a dance number and is again shot on the lead pair, but this time the locations are just the usual urban, upmarket locations such as malls, parks and apartment colonies. "Anbulla Appa" sung by the legendary K.J Yesudas, is focused on the father-son relationship portrayed by Sathyaraj and Vikram Prabhu. The song is full of montages, which is sort of like a sentimental pathos song. D.Imman's background score was a little less impressive this time because there are many moments in which the music director adds too much of melodramatic scores, unnecessary 'elevating' the sentimental quotient of the scenes. Hope D.Imman fixes this issue for his other projects !
Gaurav Narayanan's intention of trying to come up with the "perfect" screenplay of an contemporary Tamizh cinema commercial film, is understandable. But that's what precisely pulls down all the hardwork put in by the director, for his research part of the script. The comedy and romantic portions did not work out well and is a big hindrance to the main plot of the film. Apart from Sathish's one-liners, none of the comedy sequences really gel well with the script and the romantic portions are just too insipid. But still, Gaurav deserves credit for his great effort in compiling details on ATM robberies, and scams involving the financial/banking sector, especially with the debit/credit card services. He also deserves plaudits for structuring those issues in his screenplay in such a manner, wherein a common man can understand the processes involved in such robberies and scams. Gaurav should thank his cinematographer and editor for coming up with visuals and edits, which helped him to convey his research in an convincing manner. The investigation sequences in the final stretch of the film was well conceived and written, as well. Gaurav's character designing was neat as well and never goes overboard with unnecessary "masala" elements. If at all Gaurav took the bold decision of not succumbing to conventional pressures, he could have come up with a much better screenplay.
'Sigaram Thodu' - It doesn't reach the peaks, but it did ascend higher than the usual norm !
Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
