Sujatha's "Pirivom Santhipom" was one of his most critically acclaimed & most popular novels . The novel's success lay in the fact that the readers were able to empathize with the characters & their emotional turmoils.It is a very bold subject indeed & when you think that it was written some 2 1/5 decades ago one can only salute the bravery of Sujatha , the writer.
It is a difficult job for any one to translate that impact on celluloid , but A.R.Gandhikrishna has attempted to do it . One must appreciate his boldness . Sadly the adaptation of that novel in the form of "Anandha thandavam " leaves a lot to be desired . In attempting to pack in all the incidents & characters from the novel into a 2 1/5 hr movie , Gandhikrishna has ended up killing the soul & emotional qoutient of the novel.
All the incidents in the movie happens so fast that one gets exasperated half through the movie itself & it takes a great degree of patience to sit through the second half. We feel for none of the characters or their fate because the whole movie ends up superficial .
Even before one gets into a comfortable position to sit the love happens between the lead pairs , 3 songs later (which follow one after another at a regular interval) they part their ways , the hero attempting suicide & the heroine marrying an obscure NRI businessman whom their family knew barely for two days. After the break hero is wooed by another girl while heroine is happily settled with her husband .In between the hero & the married heroine go on a 2 day vocation to Atlanta City while heroine's husband is busy enjoying girl a day. Suddenly the heroine become suspicious of her husband who by this time turns into a sadist feeding her with Dog biscuits while hero is getting engaged to the girl who loves him....& some couple of reels after we get to know that the movie is over & time to catch up some breath & leave the hall in a jiffy.
Sidharth has a photogenic face but has miles to go as an actor but nevertheless not a bad attempt for a debutant.
Thamana's character Madhumitha will go down as one of the most confusing one we have come across in the recent years. Is she really innocent ? Is she too naive ? Is she cunning ? or Is she mentally retarded ? Nonetheless she has done justice to what ever emotions or histrionics she is demanded off .It is sad her hard work is undone by such an inane characterisation.
Rukmini has nothing much to do in a brief goody-goody girl role but she has some mettle .
Rishi as the NRI husband of Madhumitha has done nothing special of mention nor that the script demands anything such.
It is refreshing to see veterans like Kitty & Charlie on screen after a long time & they prove their expertise with ease . Kitty as an adorable father is simply superb while for Charlie one scene in the waterfalls is enough to vindicate his stature.
Ameetha is getting typecast as an upper middle class , tanglish speaking , boozing mom.
"Kana kangiraen " is the one song that is worthy while rest of the songs & BGM by G.V.PrakashKumar are just ordinary.
V.T.Vijayan's hasty editing has done the movie no good while Thotta Tharani's art work in couple of songs are good.
Jeeva Sankar has captured the serene beauty of Thenkasi as well as hustle and bustle of New York with elan.
Sujatha's dialouges sparkle . There are gems abound like "Ambala koocha patta kovanamum aviladhu kudumbamum viruthi agathu " .
On the whole only Thamana's presence & Sujatha's dialouges will keep you in the seat . It will take a miracle to save the movie in the box-office.
Bottomline : " Anandha Thandavam" - lost in translation.
3/5
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