As an ardent fan and armchair critic of Tamil Cinema, one of my vows in 2011 was to unload myself of any forethoughts/expectations/ bias et al about the movie before the flash of the censor certificate. I had success in my six previous attempts, but I flattered to deceive for KO. I think it reasons out the fact that it was a political thriller from the ranks of KV Anand & Subha and that yours truly is writing one in that genre in vain for nearly a decade. When you expect KO to travel more than a political thriller and hit the nail on politics, and when you cannot simply shed that expectation, KO which won rave reviews musters only a positive one.
K.V.Anand has created a name for his well researched and equally well presented stories and I believe that showed when people thronged the theatres. The title sequence was a treat and I believe that the photos were taken by KV Anand during his tenure as a photo journalist. (I am awaiting his tweet confirmation). The movie opens up to its characters and canvas in a wonderful manner barring the cinematic stunts by Jeeva and the needless party song.
The interval scene sets the tone for a sensational second half and that’s where I felt Subha & KV Anand have meandered, at times. I am still confounded why he had to go for Kala Kala Kaana Paatu & Ashwin/Vasanthan friendship, which harms Ashwin’s credibility rather add twist/substantiation to his actions. I thought ‘Nenje Nenje’ in Ayan was the best example for poor placement of a song. ‘Venpaniye’ sets a new nadir and dilutes the protoagoanists affection for Sarojini, which supposedly forms the fulcrum of the movie. Eventually, there were more questions than answers as the movie ended quoting Valluvar. Though purists and fans may question my intelligence (or ignorance) in zooming and panning on the loopholes of a story which have the writers justice, I deeply regret that a few twists , turns and even straights would have made this a cult movie and a lesson for both wannabe politicians and ‘fruit eat seed put’ politicians.
I felt three out of the five sonds didn’t deserve a place in the movie. Though Harris had given some good music, he was not helped in either the need or the placement of the songs. I felt Harris had more authority to stamp in his re recording.
The sets and locations were mind blowing. Many people were besotted over the Dina Anjal office. The song locations were in between beautiful and delicious. With such challenging sets and settings, the job of a cinematographer becomes more trivial and more so, when your director himself is an accomplished man. However Richard soars higher than Mynaa.
You have to give all the actors their due. While Karthika has some more miles to go, Jeeva walks his way along with seniors like Prakashraj, Bose Venkat & KS Rao, Pia, Ajmal, the Editor Krish & A.ss have announced their arrival to the league. In a similar vein, the crew mainly the art director and the editor deserve many rounds of applause.
It is a teachers attitude to frown at a student who scored 98 out of 100 and ask him where the two marks have gone. Where have they gone, KV Anand Sir?