Kalakalappu @ Masala Cafe

My review : Kalakalappu @ Masala Cafe

Regression is returning to an earlier phase of development or functioning to avoid the conflicts and tensions associated with one's present level of development. After string of flops as an actor , Sunder.C has tried to go back to what he used to do with a better flair & success , direction but sadly he has regressed to his old “Ullathai Allitha” days. Not only he has regressed to his heydays, anyone who has to watch this movie & enjoy should themselves regress to their pre-school age for them to make any sense of the happening of this movie. Juvenile is the term that aptly describes “Kalakalapu @ Masala Cafe”.

The initial title reels with its old fashioned background score prime the viewers the tedious journey that they are about to embark. Nowadays college students do a better job when it comes to intelligent yet witty humour for their college culturals. Sunder.c who actually did a decent job in his last year directorial venture “Nagaram” which had an engrossing story with good humour from Vadivelu to boost , has done a below par job in writing as well direction. Movie is very tacky both technically as well as making.

One wonder who are the target audience for such an infantile effort for even toddlers of the present age are intelligent enough to notice the puerility of the movie. Sunder.C is a better writer & director than this. Except for couple of scenes involving Santhanam , rest of the movie makes one irritable forget about anything remotely close to being humorous.

Vimal with his monotonous dialogue delivery tests one’s patience with his irritatingly naive characterisation. Shiva doesn’t tickle the funny bones except for one or two timing dialogues. Anjali is loud while Oviya has nothing much to do. Others in the cast Ilavarasu , John Vijay , Subbu ,Manobala are all typecast in hackneyed roles. As said earlier Santhanam does spruce up the proceedings in the second half a bit but the fun is too brief to rave about.

Vijay Ebenezer’s music is nothing to write about while U.K.SenthilKumar’s cinematography is old fashioned. Praveen-Srikanth have tried comic effects in their editing which are interesting to start with but after a point one think it might have a bit overdone.

On the whole, Sunder.C’s return to direction is a move in good direction but he should update himself of the intelligence & the expectations of the current crop of movie goers before he starts his next venture for this one is bad example of a comedy movie.

Bottomline : infantile

2/5

Vazhakku En 18/9

“Vazhakku en 18/9” is a tight slap on the moral values of the present-day society where money, power, treachery & voyeurism rules the roost. There is no place for truth, honesty , love or innocence. Balaji Sakthivel’s third movie after his brilliant “Kadhal” & high-quality “Kaloori” , “Vazhakku en 18/9” is a gem among all the neo-realistic movies that grace Tamil cinema these days. The effortless ease with which Balaji is able to engage in the social commentary in each of his movies is staggering.

 Balaji , known for the raw emotions that he is able to bring in to the narration , does it one more time. The tension, the pain, the anguish, the anger..... are some of the emotions which every one of us who watch the movie will surely go through the last half an hour of it. Though justice delivered partially, when the viewers vacate the theatre they do so with heavy heart. It does bring in shame, sorrow, and guilt in most of us who introspect on the state of the society we are part of & contribute to.

 The narration is effortless in an uncomplicated flashback mode , easy to follow. Balaji has kept it as straightforward as possible. The dialogues are simple yet at the same time hard-hitting at appropriate places. He has the knack for casting unknown people in suitable roles who end up etched in one’s memory for a long time. Here Chinnasamy as Chinnasamy & Muthuraman as Inspector are those memorable ones and both these actors have done a tremendous work.

 All the four in the lead Sri, Manisha yadav ,Urmila Mahantha & Mithun Murali have done promising work. Sri is brilliant as the innocent Velusamy who stays innocent throughout the movie (not like your routine innocent hero who turns gutsy & vigilante all of a sudden in the climax). Manisha Yadav as a naive middle class girl who falls for the temptations of the contemporary societal peer-culture is good with all her emotions & lip-sync. Urmila Mahantha’s eye are so expressive they do all the acting . She hardly gets to mouth 3 or 4 lines in the whole movie but her emotive eyes do the rest. Mithun as a cool & suave spoilt rich kid who effortlessly changes his emotions like a chameleon is another promising find.

 All the other supporting cast , be it the boss of Velu or the Rosy akka or the one who does the mother’s role of Jothi , have done a tremendous job.

 R.Prasanna’s background score is adequate, supports the narration to some extent. But movie of this stature do deserves a better background score.

 Vijay Milton’s captures director’s vision onto the screen in a simple yet striking manner. Movie is crisp, runs for under two hours.

Though couple scenes do drag a bit & in couple of instances amateurishness rears its head, overall “Vazhakku En 18/9” is a brilliant piece of work. One of the best movie in recent times, it deserves more than a solitary watch & all the encouragement possible. One can be proud that movies like these do get made in Tamil now & then.

 Bottomline : Outstanding

 4.5/5