Thursday, December 29, 2005

Kanda Naal Mudhal


I described the soundtrack of Kanda Naal Mudhal as a "delight". Until the intermission, it appears as if the same term could be used to describe the film also. But what transpires on screen after the break dashes that hope. What starts off as an enjoyable, different film eventually ends up as a pale copy of countless other romances.

Krishna(Prasanna) and Ramya(Laila) have been at each other's throats at every occasion they met in the past. Now they come face to face again when Krishna accompanies his US-returned friend Arvind(Karthik) to finalize Arvind's alliance, for the girl they go to see is none other than Ramya. Krishna tries to poison Arvind's mind against Ramya but Ramya does the job herself when she tries to act as someone she is not. That irritates Arvind, who tells her the marriage is off. But Ramya believes it is Krishna who has sabotaged her marriage and her hatred for him increases even more.

Kanda Naal Mudhal is a love story that is undone by love! The movie is youthful and fun as long as none of the characters are in love. It creates likeable characters, fashions interactions between them in an interesting way and creates a knot that looks like it will be fun to unravel. But once love enters the picture, the film stumbles badly. It loses track of what made the first half so enjoyable and turns mushy, cinematic and cliched.

The first half is interesting because it has familiar players in the field but they end up playing a different game. With two men and a woman, the story has the elements of a love triangle but plays out differently. With the fights between Prasanna and Laila and the drama between Karthik and Laila, it proceeds interestingly. The above two factors also lend themselves to comedy and this has been exploited in a subtle manner. Laila's posing as a possible doormat wife Karthik's exasperation at the same and Prasanna's attempts to reveal the truth lead to some very funny moments.

But after Karthik is almost out of the picture, the film becomes completely predictable. And thats not its only problem. There are several rather silly sequences(the one with Prasanna and Laila in the middle of the road takes the cake) and the dialogs, which were natural and funny so far, turn overly sentimental and artificial.

Its pretty amazing that when a film takes a turn for the worse, all aspects of it seem to be affected. I'm talking about the picturization of the song sequences here. The first few songs like Erimalai Naane... and Kookoovena... are picturized very differently and interestingly. Even Pushing It Hard..., my least favorite of the songs, is picturized in a humorous manner and is placed at a suitable point. But the second half sees both Merke Merke... and Panithuli... picturized very unimaginatively. The former is also awkwardly placed while the latter starts off as a seemandham song before turning into a weak duet. There is another song, sung very badly by Yuvan(I think) that was not part of the soundtrack.

Prasanna gets another role that suits his strength - subtle comedy. He has this ability to say funny things with a straight face and that is very funny. Laila looks incredibly cute here, particularly in the scene where her marriage with Karthik is finalized. She is in her elements when she is fighting or playing for laughs but comes up short during the emotional scenes in the second half. Karthik fits the role of the US-return and his accent sounds true. Among the 2 seniors, Revathi seems more natural compared to Lakshmi, who always tends to overact.

11 Comments:

At 9:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

nice review balaji. am disappointed that the second half is not good. but will definately have to catch it for the cutie prasanna.

gayatri

 
At 9:31 PM, Blogger pagala'k' said...

I wrote a review for this movie as well. Looks like we have the same thoughts but I guess we seem to agree with each other most on this particular scene :). Imagine going for a walk on the highway.

...There are several rather silly sequences(the one with Prasanna and Laila in the middle of the road takes the cake) and the dialogs, which were natural and funny so far, turn overly sentimental and artificial.....

 
At 12:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

certainly this movie is not the one to be relished like a cup of coffee, as Prakashraj claims

 
At 1:19 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

// There is another song, sung very badly by Yuvan(I think) that was not part of the soundtrack.
//
The only song Yuvan sang was "Pushing It Hard". Maybe, you meant 'Koo Koovena' sung by Harish Raghavendra & Mahalakshmi Iyer (picturzed on all 3 main characters).

 
At 5:22 AM, Blogger Raju said...

I had similar thoughts too while watching the movie..

Despite all the closeness shown during 'Pani thuli' song, the pair was shown confused and wondering about the chem. b/w them.. Editing problem?

But, for a first movie, Priya did a decent job.. Another major disappointment was the treatment to my fav song 'Kanda naal'. While listening itself, I realized that it would be funny if Laila is shown singing it.... Still, I expected to see the full song.

 
At 9:32 AM, Blogger giri subramanian said...

No Offense guys,what ever you say it was a very enjoyable film as far as Iam concerned.After watching those mindless action flicks with larger than life characters,this movie seemed to be a breath of fresh air.

It was a down to earth movie with good performances by the actors,thats all I wanted.

Cheers,
Giri.

 
At 11:42 PM, Blogger gP said...

Happy New Year sarr. May god bless you and your family. May all your wishes come true this new year.

 
At 11:57 PM, Blogger Jaggy said...

Smile at the Past with Pride and Grace
Live each today with Joy and Verve
Look at every tommorrow with Hope And Faith
This year may all your efforts be rewarded
and all your dreams come true
Wishing you a Happy New Year

 
At 9:58 AM, Blogger Orange Fronkey said...

New Year wishes to you and your family :)

 
At 5:57 PM, Blogger Balaji said...

gayatri, u're welcome. looks like there r enough prasanna fans among the readers here to start a fan club!

mav, i was talking about a song that wasnt part of the soundtrack. 'kookoovena' was part of the soundtrack. this one goes 'kaadhale kaadhale' and plays in the background intermittently in the 2nd half. might've been just a bit song :)

raju, long time no see! was surprised u didnt take part in the quiz :)

giri, yes it was defly a breath of fresh air. but i felt "down to earth movie with good performances by the actors" applied only to the 1st half :)

ghost/jaggy/merino, thank u :) and a happy new year to you too.

 
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