What would you expect from a movie which has the opening credits streaming slowly and serenely? After seeing the trailer, you know that the movie is about gangs, violence and has a lot of acerbic humor. But the credits take you by surprise. One of the audience members even shouted to crank up the volume. And then it starts…. And completely draws you in.
Where would I start with this movie? The characters like Kodukkapuli and Kaalayan? Or the zany dialogues like “Unakku Rajini pidikkumaa, Kamal pidikkumaa?” Or the BGM music for each situation(Yuvan, if you really came up with this, Dude. You. God)? Or the overall story? The comedy weaved into the proceedings?
Undoubtedly, the director is the hero. That this is the work of a debutant is hard to believe, but the director has been an ad film maker and it shows in the choice of music, the editing style and the overall feel of the movie. But one person who has to be thanked is S P Charan, for bringing the movie to us after a lot of fights.
The movie talks about a single day in the lives of some people and how it intertwines. Now I know what you must be thinking…. Seen that in Pulp fiction, Snatch etc…. Yes, you have and I am not saying no. But does that mean no one else can take movies which intertwine? I don’t think so and thankfully the director also doesn’t. He has paid homage to Pulp fiction through some scenes, but this IS a great original piece of film making.
Singaperumal, an ageing don who finds that he has lost more than his control over his henchmen. Pasupathy, his lieutenant who yearns to make a place for himself. Gajendiran and Gajapathy, 2 brothers with a brilliant story as their background on the search for their missing cocaine powder. Subbu, Singaperumal’s mistress who is as young as his non existant Granddaughter. Kaalayan and Kodukkaapuli, a father and son duo trying to recover lost money through C0ck fights. These are the characters which pepper this movie and the movie is awash with brilliant scenes. Like the first one, where Singaperumal fails to get it up and Subbu says “Ungalaala mudilannaa, enna edhukku adikkireenga?(If you are not able to, why beat me?)”. This dialogue breaks about 5 mins of music into the starting of the movie and sets the tone of the movie thereon.
North Madras is shown brilliantly. Though there have been various movies which showcase North Madras, this movie takes it one step forward. The Mills, the houses, the byzantine lanes are all so well shot here. The only 2 scenes which looked gimmicky were the video game one and where Jackie Shroff strips. All performances were good except for the girl. She played too cutesy:-/
Revealing anything else will not be good as the twists and turns in the movie are a lot(though fully believable). If you are an adult reading this, go watch the movie now. The others to get back to their rooms, please.
Finally, one more dialogue which had me in splits in the movie
Adi aal: Avan kedachaa, enna panna?
Singaperumal: Mutham koduthu matter pannu
I haven’t seen any other movie with this much candidness in its dialogues. And with the amount of fights, the producer and director had to make, am sure will be sometime anyone else will attempt this.
What problems does the censor board have, btw? On one hand, we have movies where the hero rubs his hand over the heroine’s midriff and also manages to cook things there and they give a U/ A. But when the producer director combo are totally fine with an A certificate, why propose 52 cuts? It’s not as though we never use it. Everyone uses swear words, even the 10 year old kid these days. Why would they want to beep out words like “Dokku”, “Mayiru”, “Loosu ku” in an A rated gangster movie is beyond logic. Maybe Shandaala and nashakkaara are the words the censor board believes has to be used.
And please dont complain about the profanities. They are an integral part of the movie and it is not gratuitous. Lets not have the impression that “City of God” is great, because it is world cinema and “Aaranya Kaandam” is not, because it has tamil profanities.
This is a movie which merits multiple viewings and I will eagerly await the Director’s cut DVD for this one.
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