Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal review: "A lazily scripted rom thriller!!!"

After the rather introspective "Thappad", I was in the mood for an enjoyable feel good movie & that's when I decided to check out "Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal". As the makers expected, the name was pretty catchy thanks to A R Rahman's track in "Thiruda Thiruda" & the trailer conveyed the vibe of it being a fun filled flick. Seems like another hit in the bag for DQ who has begun 2020 with a bang with his first production "Varane Avashyamunde" doing extremely well at the box office. I hope to watch that by the next weekend & hopefully pen down about it if it feels worthwhile. Anywaz was his latest Tamil flick as bindaas as the trailer???

Sidharth (DQ) & Kallis (Rakshan) are the application developers in Chennai who led a chilled out life in their bachelors pad. However, the money that they busted mainly came from the crimes that they committed as con men. Though DCP Prathap (Gautham Menon) gets a sniff of their plans, they managed to give him the slip & decide to hatch a plan that would help them get out of this way of life. This decision was fueled by the fact that Sidharth was in an affair with a free lance beautician, Meera (Ritu Verma). Unfortunately, their plan didn't quite pan out in the manner that they had expected as the DCP catches up with them. 

This is Desingh Periyaswamy's debut venture & it 's been a project that has been in the making for quite sometime. Apart from calling the shots, he has penned the script which clearly indicated that he didnt quite have an eye for detail. He has staged the sequences in an engaging manner which slowly interests the audience after a rather lack lustered beginning. But the manner in which the heists are planned & executed felt way too convenient & illogical. An avid & sensible movie viewer will be able to plan the sequences with much more sensibility. But there is no doubt that it was enjoyable despite the flaws, as there quite a few hilarious gags along with a sequence towards the end that involved Gautam Menon that would definitely evoke laughs. K M Bhaskaran has done a fine job with the visuals while the music by Masala Coffee didnt quite work for me.

All the four artists has done a fine job with the lead role obviously being DQ who was an apt choice as the cool dude who doubled up as a con man. He was ably supported by Rakshan who mouthed most of the funny lines. As for the girls, both Ritu Verma & Niranjani did justice to their roles. I was presently surprised to see Gautham Menon perform reasonably well as the DCP & he nailed it in the climax sequence.

Verdict: As per the latest reports, it has done reasonably well at the box office & should have the producers silently happy. There is no doubt that it will keep the audience entertained as it has a mix of everything be it romance, comedy, thrills etc. In short, despite the obvious lazy detailing of the heist sequences, it's still worth a try!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Thappad review: "Even a single slap is not justifiable!!!"

It’s been an eventful weekend for Indian cricket as the Women booked their spot in the final four of the T20 WC while the Men tasted their first series defeat in the World Test Championship. At the same time, life limped back to normalcy in the Capital as the violent agitation that rocked the very foundation of the nation finally ceased to everyone’s relief. Well I will talk about that topic on my FB page some other time. This week also saw the release of Anubhav Sinha’s “Thappad” which focused on domestic violence but not quite in the manner that most of us would have expected. Even if one believes that he is liberal, there are situations in the movie that would make many of us introspect.

Amrita (Taapsee Pannu) is a sprightly young housewife who catered to the needs of her husband, Vikram (Pavail Gulati) &  mother in law (Tanvi Azmi) with exuberance. They were contemplating a move to UK as Vikram’s company gave him the hint that they intended to make him charge of operations over there. In anticipation of the promotion, he throws a party for his friends & family. However, it ended on a sour taste as his senior colleague informed him that he was not considered for the position. As expected, it didn’t go down well with Vikram who in a fit of fury slaps Amrita who was trying to pull him away from a physical confrontation with his colleague. Incidentally, that one slap changed their life forever & how that happens is what the movie talks about.

With an enviable track record in recent times with movies like “Mulk” & “Article 15”, Anubhav Sinha is someone who doesn’t need any introduction. In the company of Mrunmayee Lagoo, he has scripted yet another socially relevant topic that doesn’t get focused upon as much as it should. As per the National Family Health Survey (NHFS-4) conducted by the Union Health Ministry, about 27% per cent of women have experienced physical violence since the age of 15 in India. The main emphasis in the story is that even a single slap is one too many & wives ought not to be taken for granted irrespective of whether it was done in the heat of the moment or even if the person is a good guy in general. Anubhav showcases the relation among couples across different age groups & strata of society in a convincing manner. It feels rather monotonous at times since hardly anything seems to happen with Amrita sulking & Vikram refusing to stitch a proper sentence expressing his sincere apology for a significant amount of time. But if you invest yourself into the protagonist’s mindset, then you would realize that her behaviour does make sense.

First & foremost, kudos to Anubhav for his apt choice of artists as they have done utmost justice to their roles. Taapsee Pannu as expected gave a fine performance though I felt Pavail Gulai’s role was more challenging. He needed to find a balance whereby he shows his arrogance yet make people support him & in that sense, he has done a good job. Equally impressive were Tanvi, Kumud Mishra, Ratna Pathak & Dia Mirza who did their parts aptly.

Verdict: The main point that the movie focuses upon is the mindset that we have in our nation regarding the pre-conceived notion about the type of behavior that is expected from a female. She has to take things in her stride & make the relationship work in a family even if it means that she has taken a backward step in her career or interests. It’s basically a sense of entitlement that the Indian society gives to the males, though that trend is definitely changing in many of the families. It might not be a time pass feel good movie but rather it makes us think as to whether we also endorse our flawed social structure subconsciously. In short, do watch it!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben