Kaasedhaan Kadavuladaa

Looking back at movies from the 60s and 70s, we may feel that the actors are overacting, the sentiments are artificial, the fights are unrealistic and the dancing is old-fashioned. But the good comedy scenes make us laugh just as hard as they did back in those times. Which is why I think that when it comes to movies, comedies age the least compared to other genres. Kaasedhaan Kadavuladaa was screened Saturday afternoon on Sun TV and I think I would've enjoyed the movie just as much as the viewer who saw it in the theater when it was first released.

Vulgarity and violence have increasingly become a part of comedy these days. Double entendres abound in the comedy tracks and name-calling, slaps and kicks are routinely employed to make us laugh. In short, comedy has become kinda mean-spirited in that somebody has to be made fun of or somebody has to endure physical pain, for us to laugh. The best part of Kaasedhaan Kadavuladaa is that it takes us back to a time when comedy meant good, clean fun.

Manorama plays Lakshmi, a high-society lady who rules her household with an iron hand. Her husband 'Venniraadai' Moorthy(she is his second wife) is a doormat and this irritates Muthuraman, Moorthy's son with his first wife, who wants some money to help his sister. Muthuraman and his cousin Srikanth, who has money problems of his own, hatch a plan to steal Manorama's money. They ask their friend, teastall owner 'Thengai' Srinivasan, to pose as a holy man to find out where Manorama hides her money. Meanwhile, Lakshmi joins the house as Manorama's personal secretary and due to some exchanged letters, everyone in the house thinks she is mad!

Kaasedhaan Kadavuladaa employs almost all known staples of comedy movies and throws them together to generate a hilarious film. Using mistaken identities, scams and disguises, it creates a chaotic film with very few dull moments. But inspite of all the chaos, it is never confusing. It has a simple, straightforward screenplay populated by a bunch of very interesting characters.

The film's key track is ofcourse 'Thengai' Srinivasan masquerading as a holy man in Manorama's house. Thengai's mistakes(most of them alluding to his real profession as a teastall owner) and the subsequent cover-ups by Muthuraman and Srikanth are consistently funny. The high point of this segment is the Jambulingame Jadadhara... song sequence. Probably one of the funniest songs ever, the funny lyrics, the subsequent corrections and the actions and expressions of the trio of Thengai, Muthuraman and Srikanth, make the entire song a laugh riot.

In probably his best role(Thillu Mullu would come a close second), Thengai is hilarious as the saamiyaar-in-disguise. The nonsensical phrases he utters as prayers never fail to make us laugh and it is solely because of his performance and distinctive dialog delivery that the role never becomes tiring. Muthuraman reveals his own comic aptitude initially but can't help but play second fiddle to Thengai after he puts on the garb of the holy man. 'Venniraadai' Moorthy is perfect as the hen-pecked husband and his very expressive face makes us laugh easily. Surulirajan doesn't have a big role but he does get to utter what is probably his most famous answer ("Ombodhu!", when he is asked "Ettukkulla oru number sollunga..." ). Lakshmi doesn't particularly stand out. Manorama has no problems playing the rich, almost dictatorial woman(she played almost the same role many years later in Nadigan).