Movie Mush - Idhakuthaane Aasaipattai Balakumara - Mildly Amusing

Every crest must be followed by a trough and the Sethupathi wave has - sadly - fallen to a trough, with Idharkuthaane Aasaipattai Balakumara. It is a light hearted comedy movie - and you can be excused from watching this movie if you are already lost in the recent spate of comedies such as Sonna Puriyadhu, Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam, Ya Ya, Thillu Mullu etc.

Vijay Sethupathi's bull ride in the box office had started with Pizza. Driven solely by the story and the well concealed twist in the end, the movie became a huge hit through word-of-the-mouth popularity. Soon, as his next two ventures, Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom and Soodhu Kavvum became major hits which were loved equally by both the critics and the masses, Vijay Sethupathi proved that he is a thinking actor who chooses different scripts which are content oriented.

It is definitely Vijay Sethupathi's dullest movie - including Thenmerku Paruvakaatru and Sundarapandian - and this can probably be attributed to the standards that Vijay Sethupathi has set for himself. If it were any other actor, you could have said 'not a bad attempt' and tried to laugh it off. But it is Vijay Sethupathi, and the movie has followed a cult movie like Soodhu Kavvum and so , obviously it is a big let down, if you were expecting something very exciting.

The story is a simple tale of a day in the life of two people: the potagonists Bala (a rather timid Ashwin Kakamanu) and Kumar alias Sumaar Moonji Kumar (Vijay Sethupathi). Bala is a Sales Executive in a bank who struggles to satisfy his boss (played excellently by M.S. Bhaskar) on one end and meet the demands of his girlfriend (an effervescent Swathi Reddy). Sumaar Moonji Kumar is a - hold your breath - wastrel whose only aim is to get the girl from his opposite house (Nandhita of Attakathi fame) to fall in love with him.

The only plotline is that a woman in need of a rare blood group (it seems there is a H1 blood group) and that can be provided by Kumar alone. Bala, who is the reason for the accident that injured the woman in the first place, feels a moral obligation to help her and hence attempts to find Kumar and get him to donate his blood. But, Bala, is on his way to a wine shop and Kumar must reach him before Bala can gulp the liquor - else, the poor pregnant woman - yes, she is pregnant, and that is supposed to make us sympathize with her - could die. Does Bala find Kumar? Does Kumar manage to impress his girl? That forms the rest of the story.

You can almost predict the ending from a mile away, so when it happens, it does not actually surprise or impress you - it was just the typical all-is-well ending. With better writing, this could have been a heartwarming movie. There are portions such as how Swathi is hopelessly in love with Bala that she keeps coming back to him in spite of all the promises that he has broken, the small smile from Nanditha for which Bala agrees to *SPOLIER ALERT* donate his blood and so on. The movie has a message which is said rather too subtly that I am not sure people would even think about it: Don't Drink.

But instead of capitalizing on these, the director puts much emphasis on the unnecessary murder at the Wine shop and the subsequent investigations, the role of Soori and a host of numerous other characters who are wasted in the name of comedy. Because of this, there are a lot of scenes which you feel are needless and crass - and they bring rather an embarrassing shrug on your face than a laugh. The adultering wife and her luring Soori and the two other murderers are just pointless distractions in the story.

Vijay Sethupathi and Swathi Reddy provide good perfomances but the other actors with the exception of of M.S.Bhaskar - who steals the show in one scene - have not emoted that well. This is probably the Director's fault and the first-timer Gokul should probably work more on extracting the best out of his actors. Songs are a problem here - they severely hamper the pace of the movie and cinematography has nothing great to write about.

Overall, Idharkuthaane Aasaipattai Balakumara is a reality check for Vijay Sethupathi. Let us hope he bounces back from these and chooses stronger scripts and better roles than that of a wastrel who is hopelessly in love - we have already seen it a hundred times in our movies. For the audience, it can be a mildly amusing venture. Don't go with much hopes. It is just an addition to those ordinary Tamil comedy movie that seems to release every weekend these days.

A modest 2.5/5.

Movie Mush: Onaiyum Aatukuttiyum - Mysskin Is Back!

#OnaiyumAatukuttiyum

I have never liked to be called a fan of director mysskin, but looking at my constant urge to watch his movies as early as possible, I guess I have to admit that I am. Coming after the poor response to his Mugamoodi, with lesser known stars and limited publicity, Onaiyum Aatukttiyum has surpassed my expectations.

The story is about how a young medical college student (Sri) who attempts to save an injured man on the road and succeeds. The trouble is that the man whom he has saved is a notorious criminal and goes by the name of 'Wolf'. The police arrest Sri and his family for aiding a criminal. In the process, he gets caught in a strange turn of events, as a result of which he finds himself in in the middle of a gang dispute. As the night moves to a dawn, all is not what it seems to be. Who is good? Who is bad? Who will survive? The answers to these questions form the rest of the story.

I do not understand why Mysskin would have had to cast himself for the role of 'the Wolf; even though he emotes well, I can see a lot of actors who would have been physically more convincing at the role. But other than that, the casting is quite excellent.

The movie has all the typical things that you would expect from a Mysskin's movie: an over-the-top villain, people in the lead role often torn between impossible choices, disabled people playing an important part and so forth. Hell, there is even a scene when the lead-actor takes a dying man in his bike - a repeat of similar scenes from 'Anjaathey' and 'Mugamoodi'. Also, thankfully, the movie does not have the few Mysskin regulars such as the Yellow-Saree-Clad-Item-Number to entertain 'the masses'.

In fact, the movie does not have any songs and also, the lack of any attempt at humor   is such a relief, after watching a flood of comedies in the recent weeks. For a change, everyone - not just the main cast - seem to turn up with brilliant performances: the police constable at gun point, the prostitute who saves 'the Wolf' at gun point, and even the watchman at the mall who gives refuge seeing the plight for safety.

For once the camera beautifully captures Chennai at night. Ilayaraja's background score is to be appreciated, not just for the haunting and heart-rending title score, but also for the moments he leaves silence to speak. The fight scenes are well choreographed - watch out for the fight between the two Ninja fighters and the Wolf -and the editing is top notch.

There are a few questions which Mysskin doesn't bother explaining: like why the Wolf would go to so much trouble to seek the help of Sri, why he would give the pistol to the blind man in the firing line, why would Sri not warn the Wolf when he sees a gunman approaching them in the cemetery and so on. Perhaps, it is for us to infer from what we see! I would definitely give it another viewing!

So, overall, it is a decent thriller with a few poignant moments - definitely worth watching more than all non-sensical comedies releasing the every other week.

A definite 3.5/5.