Vijay Vasanth, one amongst the big bunch of Venkat Prabhu's 'Chennai 600028' boys, who does the occasional cameo appearances in Venkat's film, is back in the limelight with a lead role. This small budget thriller 'Yennamo Nadakkudhu', directed by a newbie P.Rajapandi is a home production of Vijay Vasanth's brother, V.Vinothkumar of Triple V Records. Can Vijay Vasanth make a decent mark, after the poor outing in 'Mathil Mel Poonai' ?
Vijay Vasanth benefits from a good characterization provided by the director. There's the rustic element based on the geographical background of his character, yet there's the benevolent aspect to his character, which makes his likable and acceptable as a hero. He has definitely improved a lot as an actor, and there's more composure and conviction in his portrayal. But there are some niggling issues, especially in the romance sequences, and he could work out his body language, for the action sequences. Mahima Nambiar, who previously did the Samuthirakani starrer, 'Saattai' makes a decent outing and has a pivotal role to play. Saranya Ponvannan is a treat to watch, especially with her animated expressions and North Chennai slang, which she delivered to the T ! Rahman as the main antagonist is passable, as well as the others in the cast such as Prabhu, Thambi Ramaiah, Sukanya, Azhagam Perumal, Ashwin Raja, Namo Narayanan, Vincent Selva, Sounder, Thirumurugan and etc, who holds the movie together, with neat performances in convincing roles, with good characterizations.
Dakshayini's costume designing was simple and apt for the script, though her work is limited due to the timeline of events in the script, in which the bulk of the events, happen in a single day. M.S Jayakumar's art designing sufficed the needs of the script. The climax portion, which required a good dose of construction based props, was well executed and the detailing of the lead pair's houses, should be noted too. K.Ganeshkumar's action choreography was good, but the chasing sequences in the climax, could have been toned down to reduce the unnecessary heroism element. Also, a more realistic approach would have worked for Vijay Vasanth's image and body language, wherein a more stylistic action choreography, handled in the film would have suited an action hero, pretty well. Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B duo handled the editing department, and as always, their fast paced cutting pattern, gave the film an extra lift, and the taut screenplay keeps the attention of the audience, quite well. Cinematography is by A.Venkatesh, and his work is commendable, especially with the action sequences, which had tight close-ups and the climax chase sequence, which was well shot.
Premgi Amaren, scores the music for the film and it fits the mood of the script. "Aagayam Vizhigiradhe" appears during the opening credits. "Ora Kannu" is the pick of the lot, and has plenty of sequence shots, well edited and put together by Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B. In-spite of the plenty of cuts, the song has a smooth transition from one scene to another and had the indoors and outdoors, especially the beach as the locations. "Meesa Kokku" has a temple festival like atmosphere and is a dream sequence between the lead pair and includes the hero's mother ! Saranya Ponvannan makes her appearance, throughout the song and has also sung her portions. "Vaa Idhu Nethiyadi" was picturized on Prabhu, in a flashback sequence, which had the typical dance routine, shot against a festival backdrop, reminiscing the 80's style. "Money Money" was the best shot song in the film and featured Raju Sundaram as the main dancer. The song was shot in a dance club-like atmosphere with the atypical color lighting and sexily dressed female dancers, with some nice camerawork by A.Venkatesh and the trademark cutting pattern by the editor duo. Premgi's background score, works well with the film and there are traces of Yuvan Shankar Raja-inspired score, here and there.
Written and directed by P.Rajapandi, the film makes an interesting watch, thanks to the abundance of twists and turns, which comes at a rapid pace in the tense climax portion. The director has played his cards well, and arranged the screenplay appropriately, so that the climax will keep the audience on their seats' edge. The film does not lag much and has a pretty straightforward screenplay, with no unwanted meandering. G.Radhakrishnan's dialogues are okay and fits the need of the script, but some comedy dialogues, mouthed by Ashwin and Thambi Ramaiah, were chuckle-worthy. P.Rajapandi has handled his artistes quite well, especially with well written roles, which had clarity in it. But the film slackens in certain places, especially with the placement of songs, and the lead scenes of songs, which were quite dull and boring. Some minor loopholes and gaps are there in the film, but P.Rajapandi covers it up, with a fairly engaging screenplay, with a no-nonsense approach. A little more finesse in the execution, and this film would have been much, much better.
'Yennamo Nadakkudhu' - Well handled, small-budget action-thriller !
Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
.jpg)
Vijay Vasanth, is trying hard to have his big ticket to stardom with a solo hero role. In this intriguingly titled film, he gets a chance under newbie, Barani Jayapal and has Vibha Natarajan, who did a small role in 'Naan', as his pair. Touted to be a film based on real life events, how did this movie fare?
Vijay Vasanth, has some acting chops as a character artist, but as a lead hero, he is nowhere near the material of being a lead actor. He is too static with his expressions and emotion-displays. The sudden changeover of a demure, quiet boy into an action hero, is unfathomable. A word of advice, to him. Have more practice, before jumping onto the bandwagon ! Vibha Natarajan, has a pretty heavy physical role in this film. One should appreciate her for putting in strenuous efforts for all the physical activities, demanded by the script. Performance wise, she definitely has miles to go. Thambi Ramaiah, dons a small role in the film, and though he is in his elements, he fails to evoke laughter and the comedy track looks too cliched. The kids did a good job. Apart from them, the film has a good number of character artistes, such as Kaarthik, Gnanasambandhan, Neelima Rani, Prabha, Meera Krishnan, Balaji, Swaminathan and etc were sufficient enough for the script. But some of them really need acting classes, if they want to be recognized as actors in the future !
The technical department's work was adequate. A.R Ram's costume designing was not bad, keeping in mind, the various backgrounds the characters come from. 'Miracle' Michael's stunt choreography was decent. The second half fight sequence between the antagonists and an ascetic, was well choreographed. Michael shows some talents and better scripts, can bring even better work from him. M.G Sekar's art direction was neat, especially for the interiors of the old classrooms and school setting, and the contemporary middle-class homes. Praveen K.L and Srikanth N.B's editing acuteness is visible in the songs and stunt sequences, but its shocking to see National Award-winning editors to commit small, silly mistakes ! Hope more attention could have been given to the editing works ! L.K Vijay captures the fresh greenery of the undisturbed forests. The roving cinematography tries to add some pace to slow and mundane screenplay.
Ganesh Ragavendra's musical score was average. "Oru Poo Pookira" was shot on the lead pair, proposing to each other and has plenty of montages, with beaches, streets and shops as backdrops. The pick of the lot among the songs, was the "Vandhaarai Vaazha" track sung by Silambarasan. The Chennai-trumpeting song was also shot in montages, showcasing the young boys experiencing a day in Chennai. The song was obviously shot in landmark areas such as Spencer's Plaza, Mahabalipuram and the Marina beach as well. "Rathathil Nuraiya" is a situational song, picturized on the young boys on a chase and their journey to juvenile jail. "Manase Thirudiya" was picturized on the lead pair and showcase them getting married and their journey to the hometown, post-marriage. "Irulai Katti" is also a situational song appearing during the climax, shot on the lead pair, being chased by the antagonists, in the thick, green forest. The background score has nothing to shout about.
Barani Jayapal, has utilized a non-linear method for his screenplay. Though that's a clever way of narrating a script, the fault lines in the fundamental element of a film, which is, a solid script ! The purported comedy sequences using the kids, fell flat and fails to to even raise a chuckle from us ! But what's astonishing is the amount of violence thrust into the script and that too portraying kids as archetypal Tamizh cinema antagonists, with cruel and criminal mindsets ! The morale-lesson Barani tries to convey is understandable, but there is no justification nor conviction in portraying those kids, dabbling in such blood-soaked violence. What's worse is the insipid romance portions between Vijay and Vibha, which is lacking in any emotions nor feelings ! The director has failed to extract good performances from his artistes, as well.
'Mathil Mel Poonai' - a miserable film with no sense of continuity nor engagement !
Ratings: 1/5 STARS
BY:TAMIL
.jpg)
