Fox Star Studios and The Next Big Film has come together after the successes of 'Engeyum Eppothum' and 'Raja Rani'. 'Cuckoo' made the right noise from the start, with its promotional teases, trailer and great musical album by Santhosh Narayanan. Written by Raju Murugan, a popular writer of the Ananda Vikatan magazine and a former assistant of N.Lingusamy, will 'Cuckoo' pull our heart-strings and drench us in love ?
Dinesh, who still had the halo of 'Attakathi' around him before this release, had finally released himself from the shackles. Dinesh carries the role with aplomb and it would not be an exaggeration to state that this was one of the finest blind acts, performed in Tamizh cinema. Kamal and Vikram nailed it in 'Rajaparvai' and 'Kasi', respectively and Dinesh follows suit with an earnest performance. His body language reflects the homework he did in preparation for this role. His theater background certainly helped in his dialogue deliveries and expressions. A lifetime performance, indeed ! Debutante Malavika Nair, who has acted in 'Vazhakku En 18/9's Malayalam version 'Black Butterfly' is no less impressive than Dinesh. Her eye movements and the pleasant personality she resonates, are charms of their own. She impresses particularly in the pre-climax and climax portions with brilliant conviction. Welcome to Tamizh cinema, Malavika ! Murugadass's dialogue delivery was spot-on, especially with the comical dialogues and shows that he is an untapped talent. Visually-challenged debutantes, Elango and Sangeetha gave lovely performances as well. The bunch of odd characters around the lead pair have great detailing to their characters which gave them space to leave a mark.
Natraj's costume designing sufficed the need of the script, where all the characters portrayed comes from the lower strata of society. Malavika's attires, gave her a very pleasant look, throughout the film. T.Ramalingam's art designing was in sync with the script. Most of the film was shot in real locations, but the drama troupe ambiance, and props for most the of locations gave the film a very realistic look and color. Shanmugam Velusamy's editing could and should have been tighter. Though the film's story-telling follows a slow pace, there are excessive scenes which lengthens the duration of the film unnecessarily and the continuity slackens a little in the second half. M.K Leen's action choreography was in tune with the need of the script and scenes. P.K Varma, who made name with 'Attakathi' has cranked the camera for 'Cuckoo' as well. He has captured the director's vision very well and many shots spews artistic brilliance ! The close-ups, as well as the railway station and train sequences, are the highlights of the film. The moist and wet color tone used in the film, looks very appealing and further enhances the charm of the sequences and the accompanying background score.
Santhosh Narayanan's music proves that he is a force to reckon with, in Tamizh cinema music. The quality and aesthetic outputs in his albums, are nearly unmatched in recent times. The good show follows with 'Cuckoo' as well. "Enda Mappilai" plays as a background score, in a funny situational scene. "Potta Pulla" portrays the lead hero falling for his heroine and has montages of him trying to impress her and getting more friendlier with her. "Kalyanamam Kalyanam" is the only song which has a typical 'dance-and-song' setup to it. The song had good lighting against a night backdrop and featured the litany of minor character artistes dancing in celebration. The pick of the album, "Manasula Soora" highlights the love episodes of the lead pair and has plenty of cute and sweet montages. "Agasathe" has the reconciliation episodes of the lead pair, picturized using montages. "Kodaiyile Mazhai" was beautifully placed as a situational song in the climax, and really portrayed the heart-wrenching feel, needed for those particular sequences. Santhosh's background score definitely has a magical touch and feel and reminds us some of 'Isaignani' Ilaiyaraaja's brilliant melody scores. Exceptional technical output from Santhosh !
Raju Murugan has iterated that this story of 'Cuckoo' is based on a true story of visually-challenged man he met during his writing days. Keeping that in mind, Raju Murugan must be appreciated for getting all those tiny detailing, in terms of characterizations and plot setting required for such realistic narration. He definitely has a good framing sense, especially with the close-up shots for the right sequences, bearing testimony to it. Raju Murugan's comedy sense is great, especially for his dialogues for Murugadass and Dinesh. Playing as himself, Raju Murugan's narrator role does not leave much impact on the script and his own character suffers some continuity issues, in terms of screen timing. Raju Murugan has been sincere to his script by not incorporating unwanted commercial elements into it, but the screenplay suffers due to a long running duration. Also, instead of being emotional and sensitive, the script goes highly melodramatic and sentimental, especially in the climax, which reminds us of the yesteryear tearjerkers of Tamizh cinema. The scenes are structured in such a manner, where explicit sentimental and tear-jerking scenes are arranged one after another to invoke sympathy upon the lead pair. Nevertheless, Raju Murugan has handled a touching love story of a visually-challenged pair with deft. A better screenplay handling would have yielded much better results.
'Cuckoo' - Love is Blind !
Ratings: 3/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
'Pizza', an uniquely titled film, has been evoking interests among Tamizh cinema audiences for its refreshing package and interesting knot by the debutante director, Karthik Subbaraj, a former contestant of 'Naalaiya Iyakkunar' series, which involves the supernatural element. Tamizh cinema has a mediocre record when it comes to the horror genre, but well-made films such as 'Eeram' and 'Yaavarum Nalam', gave hopes for the horror-loving folks. Produced by C.V Kumar who churned 'Attakathi' before this has retained the entire team which worked in 'Attakathi' sans the director ! So, is this movie worth the watch ?
Vijay Sethupathi's ticket to the bigger league in Tamizh cinema is this film, and he has taken his chance very well. A very good performance, it must have been quite arduous for him to perform alone in the frames and he pulls it off, effortlessly. Watch him being vulnerable and frightened in the bungalow scenes ! With more challenging projects, this man will definitely climb the ladder of fame and success in Tamizh cinema. Remya Nambeesan, plays a girl-next-door role with modern approaches and she does her part quite well, ably assisting Vijay Sethupathi. The entire supporting cast including Naren, Karuna, Jayakumar, Simha, Pooja, paint artist Veera Santhanam, Kavithasri were very realistic in their portrayals.
Karthik Subbaraj should be applauded for capitalizing the talents of fantastic technicians. The sound designing, which is a very integral part in a horror genre, was brilliantly done with Vishnu Govind and Raja Krishnan doing the mixing and designing. But the main attraction of the sound designing, was the incorporation of Studio 301 Inc, which is based in Australia and also the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The contributions of Sandro Costantino, Phil Hartl, a master violinist, and Leon Zervos, the sound mastering engineer, whom, have several Oscar and BAFTA nominations as well as several Grammy awards to their credits, that too on a 7.1 surround sound system ! Dhilip Subbarayan's stunt scenes, be it the one shot in the bungalow or on the street-side was very realistic and natural. T.Ramalingam's art work was very neat and contemporary, be it the interiors of the bungalow house or the small-spaced quarters of the lead pair. Leo John Paul's editing is a big asset to the film, because he keeps the screenplay riveting and suspenseful. The transition during the dark, haunted portions were smooth and non-disruptive to the flow of the film. Gopi Amarnath's cinematography was wonderful. His framing for the romance portions were very subtle in nature, but his real talent was evident during the haunted portions, which has no lighting except from the emanated from the torchlight ! Also, the camera movement was smooth and not dizzying, which was a relief for the viewers. Great work by Gopi !
Santhosh Narayanan, who shot to fame with 'Attakathi' tries different genres of music in this film. "Mogathirai", a very blues type of song was well picturized, capturing the romantic moments of the lead pair, and the framing of the camera by Gopi Amarnath during the rain portions were beautiful, with slow motion technique. "Rathiri" and "Engo Odugindrai" were used more of like a background score, with the former appearing during the first half and the latter during the climax. 'Gaana' Bala pulls of a song which is total alien to him, genre-wise which has a very jazz and blues feel to it, which is titled "Dhinakku". The song features as a ringtone in the film and is also played during the end-credits. The background score was very subtle and fresh from Santhosh Narayanan and he efficiently uses the creepy silence factor during the scary portions.
Karthik Subbaraj's, screenplay was a little slow during the first half, which takes its time to introduce the viewers, to the characters and their dilemmas. But the sequences were penned in an interesting manner, with subtle comic situations and pleasant romance scenes. But he showed his talent and capacity in handling the scary portions very, very well and the shocking climax portion, which has a major twist for the audience, is a true sucker punch ! Brilliant screenplay writing by Karthik !! Though the story, written together with Prasad Ramar, was very simple, but the screenplay was very smartly written by Karthik, which brings a sigh of relief and also smile to the viewers ! The chemistry between the lead pair though, lacks the fire in it and the overall movie leaves a short-film like feel to the viewers, but these are just minor weaknesses in the film, which can be overlooked.
'Pizza' is definitely a must-watch for the audiences and Karthik Subbaraj is a talent to look out for !! The smart screenplay leaves us guessing in the first half, which leads us to a relieving but shocking climax ! Welcome to Tamizh cinema, Karthik Subbaraj !!
Ratings: 3.5/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
.jpg)
