MADHA YAANAI KOOTTAM MOVIE REVIEW

G.V Prakash Kumar, experiencing a high-point in his career, has ventured into production and its a film for newcomers ! Directed by debutante Vikram Sugumaran, a former assistant of Balu Mahendra and the fellow dialogue writer for Vetrimaaran in 'Aadukalam', 'Madha Yaanai Koottam' has its roots in Theni and is based on the "Seimurai" rituals and proceedings. Will Vikram live it up to his guru's expectations ?

Debutante hero Kathir, handled his role quite effectively. His dialogue delivery is quite measured and composed. His ability to handle action sequences are not bad, though he can deliver better performances. Definitely a good and raw prospect, who can be sculpted into a fine actor. Just watch out from being stereotyped ! Oviya, pretty much has nothing to do, to be frank. Her character is inconsequential to the script and narration and is there in the film for purely commercial reasons, alone. She sticks out like a sore-thumb, due to her odd character placement. The antagonist Vela Ramamoorthy looks menacing and majestic with his body language and dialogue delivery. Veteran Viji Chandrasekhar, delivers a very intense and nuanced performance, and she pulled it off effervescently, thanks to her talent and experience. The supporting cast such as Murugan, Ammu, P.Gopalakrishnan, Virumaandi, Anju, Theni Mahalakshmi and etc were good and befitting of the characters they enacted.

Gopi Prasanna, has handled the designing aspect quite well, and presented the rustic and gritty look, needed for the script. Kishore T.E's editing is crisp and neat and his editing style, fits the mood and presentation manner of the director's script. The action sequences, especially were slickly edited. 'Rock' Prabhu's action choreography is fantastic, and pumping with emotions and raw nature to it. The stunts have been realistically choreographed and any cinematic artificiality has been avoided at all cost. The final output is brilliant and he deserves applauds for his choreography. Well done, Prabhu ! Ragul Dharuman's cinematography is impressive, especially with his framing and camera angles. The color tone, gives the film a very raw, rustic and gritty look, which really resembled the nature of the script. And he must be congratulated for the maximum usage of natural lights, which gives a beautiful, natural look & feel for the script. 

N.R Raghunanthan's soundtracks fits the need of the script, very well. "Unnai Vanangaathu" is a situational song, featuring local street artistes delivering a sketch-like narration of the characters of the script. Ragul's natural lighting is a highlight of the song and the funeral scenario had fantastic detailing ! "Kana Kondakaari" is shot on the lead pair and had plenty of montages of the hero falling for the heroine, with plenty of indoor-shots. "Kombu Oothi" is another situational track, projecting a glitzy and grand rural wedding, with plenty of good detailing and camera angles. "Mukkaluthu" is used as a background song, capturing the funeral procession of a main character of the film, which also had very good detailing. "Enga Pore" is a pathos song, shot on the protagonist, who is on the run. The song had plenty of good landscape as backdrops and Ragul has captured the rustic beauty of Kerala, very well. "Yaro Yaro" was shot on the lead pair and had plenty of montages as well, shot against the backwaters of Kerala. N.R Raghunanthan's background score is even better than the songs and the score is pretty much complementary and is in-tune with the mood of the script.

Vikram Sugumaran has done a great job with his detailing of the rituals and occasions of the rural folks of Theni. He manages to transport us into their world, very effectively and that is something which many directors, be it new or even the experienced, fail to do so ! He should be applauded for getting good output from his cast and technical crew as well and has a good understanding of his exact wants and needs. But the plot is quite straightforward and has not much twists and turns, except for the climax, which is a little dampener. This is due to the proliferation of such rural-based, violently action-oriented dramas in Tamizh cinema, in recent times. The intensity of the action and drama is quite high at times, which does not give much space for the characters to register well with the audience, in terms of emotional connectedness. Dialogues were very well written, and resonated the plot milieu and characterizations of the artistes. Vikram is certainly a good prospect, and with better script and screenplay writing, this talent is bound to go higher in Tamizh cinema.

'Madha Yaanai Koottam' - A very well made first-attempt from the makers. More improvement and a bigger success, is definitely on the way !


Ratings: 2.75/5 STARS

BY:TAMIL

Eesan Movie Review..

After the trend-setting/ path breaking smash hit Subramaniapuram, Sasikumar is back once again with his second innings as a director.. I was eagerly waiting for this flick because Sasikumar made name as a producer in Pasanga and as an actor in Naadodigal in between. He scored a hat-trick, sort of.. But I really wanted to see the director Sasikumar to really see the quality of his work, whether Subramaniapuram was a one time wonder or not. Eesan, a city-based flick contrary to Subramaniapuram, is a well-made dark film which is very hard hitting.. Although, it's not on the levels of Sasikumar's earlier film, it's still a very riveting and well made movie..

What really caught my attention was that, there's no typical hero or heroines involved and all the characters in the movies had a role to play in the story. Coming to performances, each and every one of them deserves a pat on their shoulder for brilliant performances but the special kudos to Samuthirakani and AL Azhagappan for their outstanding acting. Samuthirakani as ACP Sangaiah played his cop role wif conviction and determination and the angst he portrayed when his hands are tied by political connections were class.. Surprise packet is AL Azhagappan who did the role of a corrupted politician who's willing to do anything for the sake of his beloved son and at the same time be cold blooded, was really brilliant and almost life like. All the others like Vaibhav, Blessy, Aparna, Abhinaya, Namo Narayanan and the guy who did the title character were very good.. When it came to performances every scored in their respective scenes. Vaibhav as a party animal, Blessy as the father of Abhinaya, Namo Narayanan as the right hand of Azhagappan and Abhinaya as the mute gal portrayed good emoting skills and kudos to Sasikumar for bringing out the best from each of them.

Camera by Kathir was apt for the film especially the movement of the camera in important scenes and the tight angles complemented the grim and dark look of the film. Kathir has proved that he's the man to handle this type of stories in the cinematography department. James Vasanthan was a letdown here except for the Jilla Vittu song and the bit-song played when Vaibhav eyes his gal. Kannil Anbai was not bad either and James did good work on the BGM especially in the flashback and the climax scenes. Art direction was fine especially when it came to depicting the posh houses of the rich kids and the clubs. Editor should have done a better job by trimming the film as that was the setback for the film because if at all it was shorter it would have been a taut and tight film.

Coming to the captain of the film, Sasikumar, he should have made the first half shorter and more direct towards his main theme. Why I am mentioning this is that, until interval we're not sure where the movie is heading into or what the director really intends to show us, as the first half has shows the life of the spoilt rich brats and some political chess game played by the bigwigs of the society. Only after the interval, Sasikumar made the screenplay more racier we were able to grasp the theme of the film and finally he nailed us with a stunning and intense climax filled with violence. Im not sure whether all the violence shown was necessary but it can be justified with all the emotions running in the minds of the characters strewn together in the end. Besides that Sasikumar's 'kusumbu' and subtle mannerisms instilled in the characters, which blended into the film flawlessly, shows the directing skills of Sasikumar.

Sasikumar deserves appreciation for bringing another quality film and for outlining an important message to the society. The film would have been more riveting if it was shortened but then after watching Eesan, I am officially a fan of the Sasikumar, the director. Thanks Sasikumar for sharing the same angst which I have inside me..

Rating: 3/4 (stars)

BY: TAMIL