Adhu Oru Kanaakkaalam

Balachander, Bharathiraja, Bagyaraj... apart from the first letter of their names, these directors share one other thing - they are all old-time directors who have failed to successfully make the transition from their generation to the next generation. They all have some true classics on their resume. But their last few movies revealed an inability to modify their style to provide movies that appeal to the sensibilities of a new generation of moviegoers. The taut thriller Julie Ganapathy made me think Balu Mahendra had bridged the gap between his style and the ‘new’ viewers’ expectations better than the others but Adhu Oru Kanaakkaalam makes me doubt that thought.

AOK combines a very Balu Mahendra-esque love story and a prison movie. The former reminds us of some other movies from the same director while the latter borrows liberally from his own Mammootty-starrer, Yathra, which itself was a rip-off of First Blood. So the movie raises a sense of déjà vu in almost every scene. But one thing that the movie has going for it is that it doesn't have the loudness of many movies in recent times. It is quite realistic and avoids special effects, superhuman stunt sequences and punch dialogs.

When we first see Srinivasan(Dhanush), he is in jail, serving time for murder. He escapes from prison and convinces a lorry driver to give him a ride. When the lorry driver recognizes him as an escaped convict and threatens to hand him over to the police, Srinivasan narrates his story about his romance with Thulasi(Priyamani) and the circumstances that made him end up in jail.

Considering that the romance between Dhanush and Priyamani is the backbone of the entire movie, it is given a very unconvincing start by Balu Mahendra. The two were childhood friends and haven’t met in several years. But it takes them only a couple of days to fall in love. Worse, all we see is adolescent lust on Dhanush’s part and some emotion bordering on sympathy on Priyamani’s side before they turn into lovers. So the two never seem believable when they swear undying love to each other.

But though the romance is unconvincing, the strong undercurrent of humor ensures that we don’t think about it too much. I had several hearty laughs during the initial meetings between Dhanush and Priyamani and the conversations Dhanush has with his friends. Balu Mahendra also has this knack of generating humor out of serious situations and so even clichéd scenes, like ‘Delhi’ Ganesh berating Dhanush when he learns of his romance, had me chuckling. Unfortunately, Balu Mahendra also tends to be extremely crude and some of the lines had me wrinkling my nose in disgust.

The second half presents scenes seen in every Tamil movie set inside a jail. We have sadistic wardens hellbent on torturing Dhanush and sympathetic cellmates willing to lend him an ear. Thankfully, Balu Mahendra drops the humor in this segment, which prevents the movie from turning into a farce. So you don’t have to see the prisoners singing a group song while drumming on their aluminum plates(Karunas does sing a song while drumming on his plate but it is a pathos number that is soulfully sung)!

For most of the movie, Dhanush’s character remains realistic. He is no wimp and is heroic(as he proves in prison) but realistically so. So it is a little jarring when the climax shows signs of turning into something along the lines of the climax in Chatriyan. But things thankfully get more down-to-earth soon and the character of Shanmugarajan adds a little suspense after that. But considering that the previous segment had resembled Yathra, I wish Balu Mahendra had retained the wonderful climax from that movie.

Dhanush looks almost skeletal and the movie takes several digs at his thinness. But he gives a good performance in a role shorn of the usual dances and fights. He is especially convincing as the sorrowful convict. Priyamani is good too and has very expressive eyes. But I did feel that a more expressive face would’ve helped in a couple of scenes. ‘Delhi’ Ganesh once again proves he is a very natural actor in a clichéd, unsympathetic role. ‘Thalaivaasal’ Vijay appears in a single scene and gives the impression that he is going to be the main bad guy but disappears after that.

As usual Balu Mahendra doesn’t resort to any regular duets between the lead pair and most of the songs play in the background. Andha Naal Nyaabagam… is the pick of the lot and is picturized in typical Balu Mahendra style as the song plays in the background and Dhanush and Priyamani go about enjoying life as only lovers can. Ennaadaa Nenache…(which was part of the soundtrack) is missing in the movie but Engo…(which was not on the soundtrack), a song about a mother, is a good replacement. Though it talks about the usual love, sacrifice, etc. that are part of all ‘mother songs’, it is somehow very touching. Unnaale Thookkam… has a Ponmeni Urugudhe… hangover but this unnecessary item number picturized on Dhanush and Tejasri is awkwardly inserted and is a black spot on the movie.