SearchIndia.com Blog

By Madmax673

Shit!  I was debating with myself if I should use this term above or not, but I’ll come to that shit by the end of this review.

It’s hard to trust Indian reviewers, these days. They dish out 3.5 stars for most shit. And for even vicious crap like Paradesi they’ll generously bestow 5/5, hailing it as a masterpiece, true cinema etc.

Weather is changing in the East Coast and I was pretty tired after running a few personal errands. When I read into the Movie City (Edison, NJ) listings Soodhu Kavvum alongside a few other Bollywood flicks, I was in two minds – whether to risk or not risk.

I took the gamble and decided I need to rehydrate myself with some soda.

To my shocking surprise what a funny delight, Soodhu Kavvum turned out to be!

I’ll start this out with a song “Comena come Comenatti go”. While the tune was not so catchy, the song was hilarious with its lyrics!

To me it sounded like an audacious statement to the audience “if you’re interested come watch this flick or else go fuck yourself”.

Now that is some real confidence of director Nalan Kumarasamy!

Story

Three guys fuck things up in life their own ways.

One gets kicked out the village for building a temple for …guess who!? Yeah, that hideous monstrosity Nayanthara in her “Billa” Tomb Raider get-up.

The second fella get fired for taking a jolly ride in a Jaguar when he’s actually supposed to park the car.

The third guy gets black-listed and fired from a decent job.

Now these three jobless blokes are recruited by an ethical kidnapper — pussy Das who has five striking rules about his profession including his spelling mistakes. Their adventure begins when they plot a kidnap by breaking rule no 1 – “Never fuck with bigwigs or politicians”.

To Das & Co’s misfortune that politician turns out to be the most straightforward guy in the whole world, literally (even grandpa “Indian” should seek his advice about discipline and ethics) — that his own son plots his own kidnapping for a wealthy living.

What follows, which I don’t wanna spoil for those who have not seen the film,  is a non-stop fun ride that left me in splits until the end.

Casting & Performances

Almost all faces were new to me except M.S Bhaskar and Radharavi.

I can’t remember seeing Vijay Sethupathi in any movie before. He irritated me in the first few scenes with his dialog delivery but once the relationship between him and Sanchita Shetty gets revealed, I liked him a lot. Vijay Sethupathi got some swag and can effortlessly beat down “Ilaya Thalapathi”, “Ultimate Star” and oh yeah… “Singam” Surya.

This fella doesn’t need to learn to dance, or any of those silly stunts.

The casting of M.S. Bhaskar’s son is definitely worth a mention. He looks a lot like M.S. Bhaskar.

The casting of Yog Japee as the “psycho” cop Bramma is hilarious! He looks serious — very, very serious and cruel. But they’re all funny.

The situation plays out so well!

Screenplay & Dialogs

While there are so many one-liners that are memorable, my favorite is the one when CM Radharavi offers his own funds to M.S. Bhaskar to save his son saying “un payyan uyir oosalaaduthu…innum yen ya unakku indha “nermai” kusumbu”? (When your son’s life is in a big dodo then why would you still stick with your fucking “honesty” agenda?)

The twist that comes close to the end driving the main four leads to their lowest point is cleverly worked out and brilliant!

Thematic Resonance

While some might criticize the negative shades of the overall theme in the movie, I see some whining and complaints.

“I give a rat’s ass,” as Brad Pitt puts it, whether the theme is negative, positive or neutral.

* I was thoroughly entertained and had my dollars’ worth!

* What Nalan Kumarasamy has shown is the truth!

Rating

Truth sucks, just like shit stinks!

I won’t use big words like “masterpiece”, “gem”, “pure cinema” etc to praise this film.

I doubt this film would even make it to the “awards” section as most people who bestow these awards are truth haters I doubt it’d even make it abroad as the concept would only fit in India.

I guess hence the apt title “Soodhu Kavvum”

While Kollywood filmmakers tend to deteriorate by causing ‘Post-traumatic Stress Disorder’ in the minds of gullible Tamil audience by dishing out drivel after drivel in the name of entertainment, Nalan Kumarasamy has boldly come out with a high-concept situation comedy that’s a welcome relief.

Soodhu Kavvum is still running in select theatres in the U.S.

I would cheerfully recommend this film!