KADHAI THIRAIKADHAI VASANAM IYAKKAM MOVIE REVIEW

"A movie without a story" - No one else can come up with such quirky caption in Tamizh cinema, if not Radhakrishnan Parthiban, for his 'Kadhai Thiraikadhai Vasanam Iyakkam' ! After lying low for sometime and occasionally making appearances in film events, Parthiban is back in the directorial seat after the forgetful 'Vithagan' but this is the first time he's not doing the lead role of his own directorial. Known for his out-of-box thinking, can Radhakrishnan Parthiban satisfy the taste-buds of the contemporary Tamizh cinema lovers ?

The lead role is carried by newcomer Santhosh Prathap and he has performed decently, though his characterization marks a striking resemblance to Parthiban's own personality, especially with the dialogue delivery. He is ably supported by other newcomers such as Dinesh Natarajan, Lallu Prasath, Vijay Ram and etc. But the one who steals the show is Thambi Ramaiah, who was fantastic with his comic timing and dialogue delivery. The veteran is simply in top-form here and Parthiban's humorous dialogues keeps it even more engaging. As for the female leads, debutantes Akhila Kishore, Mahalakshmi and former Miss Chennai Sahithya Jagannathan, too had credible debuts and as it always in Parthiban's films' the female leads were intelligent characters with a seductive and sensuous nature. Akhila's performance was accentuated by Suchitra's dubbing for her, whereas Mahalakshmi makes a strong impression. Sahithya has a limited role, but looks confident and natural. Besides them, there's literally a battalion of Tamizh cinema stars who made cameo appearances in the film such as director/actor Cheran, UTV South chief Dhananjayan Govind, veteran artiste Kalaignanam, Prakash Raj, Taapsee Pannu, music director S.S Thaman, producer A.L Azhagappan, director/actor Venkat Prabhu, Vijay Sethupathi, Vishal and Parthiban himself. Meanwhile, Arya and Amala Paul played extended cameos and had more screen timing than the others.

The art direction department is handled by R.K Vijay Murugan and his work complements the needs and necessities of the script, in a big manner. There are many imaginary sequences, which features the Tamizh cinema stars' cameos and R.K Vijay Murugan has come up with a quality output. As for the main story, his work with the interiors of the apartment of the lead pair, shows a good sense of artistry. R.Sudharsan's editing work sufficed the needs of the script, and his editing work suits the narrative style of Parthiban's script. But the second half could have been better, in which the cuts could have been smoother, especially with the transition. Cinematography by Rajarathnam is good, especially with the lighting, which creates a dreamy like atmosphere for the correct sequences. The camera movement too must be appreciated, which adds more fun element to the script, especially under the direction of Radhakrishnan Parthiban.

Parthiban has employed the services of 4 different music directors for the songs and an additional one more, for the background score. "Kaathil Kadhai", scored by singer/musician Alphons Joseph, is the theme track which plays during the opening credits and also appears occasionally, till the second half. "Pen Megam Pole", is composed by Malayalam composer Sharreth and was picturized on Santhosh Prathap and Akhila Kishore, highlighting their intimate and romantic moments. The song, which was sung by G.V Prakash Kumar and Saindhavi, also comes in the second half, during the imaginary Arya & Amala Paul sequence. "Live the Moment" is done by S.S Thaman and appears during the end credits. The song is meant to be like a promotional piece and has an array of another set of stars such as Bharath, Iniya, Iyshwarya Rajesh, Roopa Shree, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Srikanth and Vemal. The song, which had a music-video like format with plenty of lighting effects was choreographed by Raghava Lawrence. "A for Azhagirukku" is composed by Vijay Antony, which comes available in the soundtrack. Background score is handled by C.Sathya and it suits the film's mood and complements the presentation style of Parthiban's.

'Kadhai Thiraikadhai Vasanam Iyakkam', conceived and crafted by Radhakrishnan Parthiban, is a film about film discussion and Parthiban needs to be applauded for daring to attempt on such a hard to execute idea ! The film is littered with Parthiban's brilliant (sometimes corny !) lines and with Thambi Ramaiah at helm, the dialogues have a different shade and dimension, overall. The first half is very much casual and it takes its time to unravel, but Parthiban keeps us glued with his pleasant surprises, writing wise. Since the film is about film discussion, Parthiban has infused metacinema elements in the script, especially in the second half with the Arya & Amala Paul episodes, which gives us an introspective look, on how screenplays and dialogues evolve from paper to celluloid. As promoted by Parthiban, the film has an unpredictable screenplay and that keeps us glued to our seats, waiting for any surprise element from the director. Despite the overflowing creative juice of Parthiban's, the film lacks pace, especially in the second half and a sense of cohesiveness in the screenplay is missing. The abrupt end could be forgiven because Parthiban's message through the film, after all is "Live the Moment" and he literally scripts his story in accordance with the message itself. Overall, 'Kadhai Thiraikadhai Vasanam Iyakkam' is a good comeback from Radhakrishnan Parthiban and the man has shown that he did not lose his creative writing and directorial sense.

'Kadhai Thiraikadhai Vasanam Iyakkam' - A filmy discussion regarding film discussion !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

180 - RULES KIDAIYAATHU MOVIE REVIEW

Siddharth after a very long gap of 7 years has returned to the Tamizh cinema movie scene with this film. Accompanied by 2 lovely ladies and a good technical team as the crew, this film evoked curios response from the teasers which showed impressive visuals and when the audio was launched, even more people were interested in the movie with the songs being received well. With such good responses, the expectations on the film was fairly good. Alas, the movie did not live up to all the expectations it has created.

Beginning with the cast, Siddharth has delivered a very matured performance, thanks to all the experiences he has garnered over the years of doing several Telugu and Hindi films. He did a good job in all emotions, be it romance, or panic-stricken, anguish and guilty-ridden reactions and etc.. He holds the attention of the audiences with his charm and presence throughout the film. Nithya Menen manages to keep up with Siddarth in her portions and she did it effortlessly. Her best sequences would be the ciname hall scene. Priya Anand did a decent job as well and she had the more serious and meaty role of the 2 heroines. Though there are room for improvements, she acted well and dubbed well too. Sricharan, Mouli, Geetha and the rest of the small cast did what was expected from them but Mouli was the most impressive, pulling out witty and funny dialogues in most of his scenes.

The two USPs' of the film are the cinematography and music. Director of Photography, Balasubramaniem did a fantastic work in handling the cinematography for the film. Using RED ONE camera throughout, the film was sparkling in all frames and kudos to him for capturing the subtle beauty of Kasi, Chennai and San Fransisco with extra emphasis on lighting. Definitely the talking point for cinematography in this film will be the opening song, "Rules Kidaiyathu" which has been shot using the Phantom Flex all over and the output is simply stunning with all the slow-mo actions, beautifully captured. Besides that, the "Sandhikaadha" song has been picturized well too. Credits must be given to 2 other technicians for the good-look factor of the film and they are G.Balaji for the processing of the digital images and internationally reputed colorist Kevin Shaw for giving the film a international class quality in terms of coloring. Meanwhile, music by Sharreth is very different and experimental but soothing to the ears. Pick of the lot will definitely be the "Nee Korinaal" number followed by "Santhikkatha" and "Thuru Thuru". Though his songs were very nice and melodious, the background score was a bit of a letdown where unnecessary loud music was thrown in. Art director V.Selva Kumar's interior of the houses was lifelike. Costume designer Komal Shahani and make-up artist Bhanu's works are very well noticeable in the form of the lovely and beautiful looking heroines.

Story and screenplay by Jayendra and the Suresh-Bala duo was dissappointing. Probably the saying "too many cooks, spoil the broth" can be used for this factor. Although they had a story to tell, the screenplay was very rickety and doesn't go in a flow. Besides that, there are some loopholes and questions which went unanswered in the film. Dialogues wise, the film has a few pretty good lines, especially in the opening scene when Siddarth says to a small boy "Naanum Manovaa irukka aasaipaduren" and the one-liners of Mouli.

Overall, the movie had a good opening but by the end of the film, viewers tend to feel dissappointed as there was no punch in the film even when the director had story and a good message to say. Also it is best to avoid presenting scenes shot in one particular country and then passing it off as another. In this all the hospital and airport scenes were done in Malaysia but showcased as happening US in the film. Viewers nowadays cant be fooled by such gimmicks anymore.

Ratings: 2.5/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL