Unlike his two previous movies “Siva Manasula Sakthi” (SMS) & “Boss engira Baskaran” (BES), M.Rajesh’s latest flick “Oru Kal Oru Kannadi” (OKOK) lacks a gripping screenplay. SMS had Jeeva & BEB had Arya who did their parts hilariously as well as Shanthanam but here the lead actor in Udayanithi Stalin is too weak to carry a movie on his shoulder. As a result even though Shanthanam manages his level best in keeping the ship from sinking, the ride is not as enjoyable as the two previous ones from the same director.
Except for the scenes in which Shanthanam cracks his , what has now become his forte , typical oneliners which reels of sarcasm & humour , rest of the movie is arduous to sit through. Wonder when these directors move on from stories which depict the youngsters’ lives as being focussed on one point mission of chasing & getting a good looking girl. To see the same thing getting repeated for around 3 hours time does tests one’s patience.
There are many instances of Rajesh brand of humour rearing its head above the overall patchiness. The first time flight & the English to Tamil translation scenes are two scenes in particular which are damn hilarious & worthy of mention.
Udhayanithi has a very poor screen presence & his acting is amateurish. He comes throughout the movie with a single expression & monotonous voice. Hanshika gives a stiff competition to Udhay in the pursuit of mediocrity.
Shanthanam is the only reason why the movie is tolerable to an extent. Whenever one gets annoyed with the happenings , he comes out with his hilarious ones , cheering up the sagging morale of the viewer. He has tried lots of funny changes in his modulations & dialogue delivery which have worked wonders. That English to Tamil translation scene in the climax is a testimony to that factu..!
The cameos by Arya, Sneha & Andrea falls flat. Saranya , AlagamPerumal & Sayaji Shinde does what they usually do .
Balasubramanyam’s cinematography is Good. Harris Jeyaraj’s Background score is tacky while”"Kadhal Oru Butterfly," “Akila Aklia”and "Venaam Machan “ are good songs in his music.
On the whole, “OKOK” is a pretty average movie with boring story , dragging screenplay & terrible acting which just about manages to stay afloat all because of that one man, Shanthanam.
Bottomline : One man show
2.5/5
