I was a bit skeptical about watching this movie. I had not read any reviews. But I had a fair idea about K.V.Anand as a cinematographer.
But I was in for a surprise, a pleasant one at that.
Let me first give a double THUMBS UP for the movie very well made.
A Swades for Chennai
Cast 5/5
This is one department, which instantly scores the first victory for any movie. But unfortunately it is the most overlooked and neglected department in Indian movie industry. Actors should be chosen based on roles and not based on salability and availability. Imagine any actor other than Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump or anybody other than Antony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector.
Kana Kanden scores very well on casting. From Gopika’s role to the peach of casting, Prithivi Raj, the film scores a perfect 10. Even small roles like Gopika’s brother, mother, Prithiviraj’s assistant or the producer Vaidhi, they all are cast perfectly into their roles. Oh I forgot to mention the HOD of Anna University. It instantly reminded me of my HOD at the department of Physics, Mr.Chellapan. Perfect casting.
The story - 4/5
Even though by now many would have known the story, let me put it in honor of the writer who has opted to go for a theme other than triangle love. Full marks to the writer.
A poor mother toils hard by carrying water to households, to give education to her son, Bhaskar(Srikanth), and brings him up to be a good man. He is a research student who goes to his village to attend the wedding of his childhood friend Archana (Gopika). But the marriage does not take place and Bhaskar is forced to bring her to Chennai where they live together. But slowly both of them reveal their deep love for each other, which they were never able to express for years.
Bhaskar becomes successful in his research to make saline seawater into drinking water and he gets a doctorate for it. However, he is not willing to sell the patent for the invention to big players for an astronomical amount. Bhaskar wants the ordinary man to enjoy the benefit of it as hence tries to give a proposal to the government, which does not materialize due to corruption in our system.
Archana however is not willing to give up and motivates her husband to start a plant on their own and prove to the world but lack of finance is their main problem. It is at this time that Archana meets Madan (Pritviraj) a sophisticated, businessman and smooth talker who was her senior in college. Soon Madan promises to help the couple who trusts him blindly. But Madan is not what you see, as he is a cold-blooded moneylender who turns out to be ruthless and mean. All this leads to a dark and potent twist in the tale and a chilling climax
Screenplay - 3.5/5
With such a good story, screenplay becomes absolutely vital to sustain the depth of the movie and K.V.Anand scores very well indeed. The story never sags in any place and every new relief brings another turn into light. The ease at which events turn and the ease at which troubles start to happen are told very convincingly. The rating is due to some flaws in the narration, which will be discussed later.
Performance - 5/5
A film’s performance not only depends upon the lead but on everyone. This is one movie in the likes of Autograph or Pithamagan where everyone performs their role to perfection. Gopika steals the show from a good performance by Srikanth. Her expressive eyes and dialogue delivery coupled with a fantastic on screen chemistry with Srikanth (in the mold of Kajol-SRK in DDLJ) add weight to the film. But the clear winner is PrithiviRaj as madan. Playing the role as if he was born to do, he brings about as much conviction and class as the role can possibly be conceived with. Everyone including Vanitha as Gopika’s mother, her brother, the producer etc have played their role to T.
Comedy - 4/5
Full marks to Vivek for making a sincere effort to infuse social awareness through comedy. This trend in comedy, in the lines of NSK, is definitely healthy. The first scene where he directs potable water bore well to be dug and to be continued beyond 20, 000 feet where they are past the point of striking oil is hilarious. It is a sarcastic, yet realistic dig at Chennai’s water problems and very apt in the context of the movie.
However, his comedy involves a lot of current affairs, which would make the comedy meaningless after even a couple of years. How would you relate to a commissioner Vijayakumar or premkumar after 5 years? That is where comedies of Nagesh and Goundamani score. Evergreen.
A special note to all hypocritical people who shout about the use of the word ’Condom’ in the movie: When you can show as much skin as in Jism, use as much violence as in Virumandi, why not use the word Condom. Every Indian must be familiar with the slogan ’Never condemn a condom’ to stop the spreading of AIDS in this so-called CONSERVATIVE country
Technical aspects and Music - 4.5/5
Brilliant camera work by Sunderajan, swift and pacy editing and some pleasing tunes help the movie being a very watchable affair. It is very commendable for the director to have made even ordinary locations seem so beautiful without destroying the nativity. Vidhyasagar has underplayed his background score and one hardly notices the absence of any score. This is a huge success because in today’s world we often see MDs spoiling a movie with unnecessary dramatic scores.
Notable Scenes
The scene where Gopika and Srikanth make love, the director has brilliantly handled it aesthetically by narrating the action inside with visuals of usual activities of the city. Don’t miss this part.
When Srikanth finishes his PHD presentation, the HOD says ’’These theories would take 6-7 years to hit our curriculum and coolly asks Srikanth to go to some foreign university to prosper in life. A fantastic and sarcastic dig at today’s students and professor’s plight.
Instead of the usual portrayal of a suffering mother as a servant maid, the director has shown her helping people fetching water. A very realistic portrayal.
The scene where Prithiviraj initially starts telling a usual sentiment story about why he is obsessed with money and then says he has no such flashbacks. Just that he likes money is a very good deviation from the usual.
The scene where Gopika dreams about the child being killed by Prithiviraj, the director has gone into so much detail that he even shows the REM(Rapid Eye Movement) during her dream phase.
Flaws
I would not say that the film is perfect, but a very well made film with an honest effort to give a new story.