I had great expectations after reading reviews and watching trailers of Kokki. Unfortunately, the great expectations ended up to great disappointments no matter how novel the theme proved to be. Kokki falters with pointless second half despite a fairly good beginning and a selfless performance by Karan.
Kokkisamy (Karan) a humble guy, one day stumbles upon a highly superstitious Kotta Srinivasa Rao. That happens to be a lucky day for Kotta so, on consultation with his astrologer Manikka Vinayagam, he decides to keep Karan beside him, but indifferent Karan plans to leave for Gulf in search of future. In such a cat-mouse chase, who wins in the end is the rest of the story.
Kokki, definitely opens up a new era in Tamil Cinema with a on-the-run story. The whole movie takes place in less than a week’s period, which means there should be lesser deviations to keep up the tempo. Instead, the movie ends up with typical Tamil Cinema clichés. Evils of superstitions seem to be the theme of the story, (which is also remarkably highlighted in the title credits) but no effort has been made for a decent exploration of the same. This turns out to be the main drawback as the story wanders hopelessly with nothing to insist upon. Had the script kept within the theme, Kokki would have been a thoroughly enjoyable outing.
Camerawork is the highlight of Kokki. It catches walk-on passerby off the guard and hence looks realistic. But the candid camera technique is extended more than necessary that it becomes monotonous at one point. Showing Karan moving around the city crowd, at first seems intriguing but when repeated, we lose patience.
Meanwhile, Kotta finds out that Manikka Vinayagam is a fake, who had vowed to revenge on Kotta (he killed Vinayagam’s son as part of a superstitious ritual). This twist brings us back to the theme but instead of making the most of the opportunity, the whole episode gets hastily closed within minutes.
Karan sans weight and glamour looks credibly fit for the character. He looks sad and gains our sympathy hands down. I feared that there will be a (gruesome) flashback on Karan, but thankfully such nonsense was avoided. I have high esteem for this guy’s acting skills. It’s unfortunate that he couldn’t make it big so far. He has the capability to outperform all his co-stars (made a grand debut in “Nammavar” competing with Kamal) but some how ended up with lame supporting roles. In Kokki, he regains hero title, shedding off weight along with his trademark histrionics (which of course, were enjoyable)
Sanjana is an unwarranted insert to justify song sequences. It looks funny to watch Karan in Rajastani costume, singing (but not dancing). After Sanjana’s appearance, the story takes the most sagging part of the movie with unnecessary romance.
Kotta plays as a villain and a superstitious fool of blindly following astrology. His initial encounter with Karan raises some laughs. Manikka Vinayagam has nothing much to do as his episode and characterization are short. Climax is not most of us expected but that doesn’t mean it’s satisfying.
Kokki has a fairly different theme and a novel way of picturing. Both the good aspects were not handled sensibly. It drifts through romance, extended chases, walking sequences and at the end we are clueless on what the hell is the message. I agree that Kokki is not a preacher at any point of time, but that doesn’t qualify for a decent entertainer (forget insightfulness, its non-existent nowadays)