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Banner: Group Company
Star Cast: Dhanush, Tapsee Pannu,Sindhu Menon, Daniel Balaji, Kishore,Karunas
Direction, Written: Vetri Maaran
Production: S. Kathiresan
Music: G.V Prakash Kumar
Cinematography: Velraj
Editing: Te. Kishore
Distributed: Sun Pictures, Ayngaran International (Worldwide)

Director Vettrimaran proved that he is a man of substance in ‘Polladhavan’. He reiterates it with more conviction and courage in ‘Aadukalam’. With Dhanush again in the company, he has crafted a story that is meaningful and loaded with faces whom we often see in our midst. The core word is realistic and touchy.

After a sci-fi film in ‘Enthiran’, Sun Pictures have gone to the roots of our culture and they have managed to produced a film that strikes our heart instantly, which they could feel proud of. Vettrimaran deserves all pat for narrating a simple story with intricate and complex emotions in a nice manner.

The essence of true friendship, love in hatred and hatred in love and betrayal are highlighted in a excellent way by the director. Unlike the regular run-of-the-mill Madurai movies, ‘Aadukalam’ has more substance to chew for the masses. It is strikingly different and Madurai just forms part of the story.

If Vettrimaran is the flesh and blood, Dhanush is the soul. Doing the roles of boy-next-door is like a cakewalk for this lanky actor. His intense performance is the hallmark of the movie. He leaves a magic with callous dialogue delivery and apt body language. He seems to be in more comfort when he works with Vettrimaran.

Coming to the script, everything is new in ‘Aadukalam’. Perhaps a different pitch where Vettrimaran goes all guns blazing. The story unfolds in a suburb in Madurai where cock fight is the most happening thing. Be it sorrow or joy or be it to proclaim the superior status in the village, rooster fight is played with all seriousness.

K.P Karuppu (Dhanush) does everything and works tirelessly for Pettaikaran (Jayabalan). Pettaikaran is a stud in the sport and he had won many cock fights .There is one Dorai (Kishore), who too is an assistant to Pettaikaran. Obviously ego flare up between Dorai and Karuppu is bound to to be there.

Karuppu comes across an Anglo Indian girl Irene (Tapasee), living in the nearby railway colony. Innocent Karuppu tries ways and means to impress Irene. Meanwhile there is a cop in the same town – Rathnaswamy (Naren) who is also involved in cock fight and a name to reckon with in the sport.

All troubles break loose when he plans a fight with Pettaikaran. They manage to obtain permission from all authorities concerned and the sport for prestige begins. Interestingly the former adopts all fraudulent methods to scuttle Pettaikaran. When Pettaikaran loses at the start, enters Karuppu to save his master’s pride.

He matches Rahtnaswamy’s tricks and emerges winner. A jealous Pettaikaran now disowns Karuppu. The victory brings laurels in Karuppu’s shoulder and soon he becomes a star in the neighbourhood. Pettaikaran plan a plot to avenge him. This enmity snowballs in to a huge crisis leading to a racy climax.

‘Aadukalam’ is a whiff of fresh air in cliched Tamil cinema. Dhanush is at it giving one of his best . He is right there giving an astounding performance from frame one. He is at ease with Madurai diction of Tamil. WIth a perfect body language, Dhanush walks away with all aplomb.

Jayabalan is a perfect choice for the character of Pettakaran. He lives up to the role and delivers dialogues with such power and punch. Kishore as usual does the jobentrusted to him well. But a surprise package in the cast is Taapsee. She in the role of Anglo Indian girl is simple, sweet and elegant.

Vettrimaran has entrusted that it should not just be a superior product with a strong story but should be technically-rich. Dialogues and razor sharp editing (Kishore) besides cool visuals of Velraj adds strength. G.V Prakash’s catchy musical score is another plus for the film. Songs and background score go hand-in-hand withe the theme.

However on the flip side, some dragging moments in second half could have been avoided. On the whole, it was an different experience watching a different film. Hats off Vettrimaran and team and three cheers to Dhanush.

Kaavalan (2010) | Tamil movie review

Star Cast: Vijay, Asin, Raj Kiran, Roja,Vadivelu
Direction: Siddique
Production: C Romesh Babu
Music: Vidyasagar
Banner: Eka Veera Creations

‘Kaavalan’ is no doubt a different Vijay film. Yet, it is no different movie for it has got nothing big to offer but for Vijay’s terrific screen presence coupled with his neat performance and an emotional climax that comes with a twist.

Take away Vijay & Vadivelu (who provides relief in a few scenes), ‘Kaavalan’ could make you squirm on seats, courtesy an outdated script and age-old style of narration. A few compromises to the original version (Malayalam hit ‘Bodyguard’) to suit the image of Vijay too fails to work big time.

In other words, ‘Kavalan’ could be a classic example of how a potent knot could be diluted in the name of making it a ‘commercially viable’ product. One good sign is that Vijay coming forward to be part of a project which doesn’t portray him as a demigod.

Coming to the story, Bhoominathan (Vijay), a carefree youngster, is made by his father (‘Nizhalgal’ Ravi) to join the household of Muthuramalingam (Rajkiran), a don-turned-do gooder in a village near Madurai, as a bodyguard.

As there is a threat to the life of Muthuramalingam’s daughter Meera (Asin), he asks Bhoominathan to accompany her to the college and provide security cover. As Meera feels Bhoominathan’s presence as a disturbance, she plays a prank on him, despite a warning from her friend Maadhu (Mithra Kurian).

Slowly, Meera falls for the charm and good heart of Bhoominathan and all hell breaks loose when Muthuramalingam, who never allows anyone deceive him, comes to know about this. What follows is a dragging climax, which however is emotional and touching.

Vijay is the real one-man army who saves the film to a great extent. It is his charm and performance that work big time in ‘Kavalan’. Asin is good but her much talked about chemistry with Vijay (in ‘Sivakasi’ and ‘Pokkiri’) is missing.

Vadivelu as Amavasai provides comic relief on very few occasions. Mithra Kurian, Rajkiran, Roja, KK, M S Bhaskar and ‘Pithamagan’ Mahadevan have performed well, but only have little scope as it is Vijay’s show all the way.

Vidyasagar is back with ‘Kavalan’ and his background score is good. So are a couple of songs. Cinematography by Ekambaram and editing by Gowri Shankar add value to the end product.

The script has many loopholes for there are many unanswered questions. One good example is that why ‘Pithamagan’ Mahadevan, who challenges to kill Asin at any cost, vanishes all of a sudden.

Siddique is a director with a magic touch in Malayalam. And in Tamil too, we have enjoyed his movies, especially ‘Friends’ with the same Vijay. However, as far as ‘Kaavalan’ is concerned, we have to conclude the review with a dialogue oft-repeated by Vadivelu in the film – ‘Avarey confuse aayitaaru pola irukku…’