Cuckoo

My review: Cuckoo

"Cuckoo" is a romantic drama written and directed by Raja Murugan. It follows the age old template of boy-meets-girl, misunderstanding giving way for love, girl's family strongly opposing the union, finally the lovebirds uniting against all odds. Only difference here is that the lead pair is visually impaired which makes this movie to stand out of movies centered on people with disabilities in the past. No attempt at self-pity or emotional exploitation of the viewers in the name of projecting these persons in as if they live in an alien land filled with misery and sorrow. Yes, they do have their own share of difficulties and challenges but like rest of us they also have a normal life filled with joy, sarcasm, banter, love, humor and what not. Thus by presenting the visually challenged people in as much a normal manner as possible Raja grabs the attention of the purists. A matured attempt by the first time writer-director i should say. 

Raja steers away from routine mundane characterization. In "Cuckoo" the characters who are portrayed as visually challenged are  neither sorrow, self-pitying type nor the over-confident, snobbish type rather they are refreshingly "normal" as any one of us are with all the insecurities and vulnerabilities, with grey areas and at the same time loving life in the manner any one in their twenties will. They also like to present themselves well in the public with the aid of talcum powder and perfumes, they chat about politics, movies like we do and pull each other's legs when they like to all in good humor. Thus by presenting such a fresh perspective which is the real one too on how disabled people really are instead of trying to milk the sentiments from the viewers Raju has not only shown courage but also conviction in what he believes in. Kudos to the young maker. 

Movie would not have been half as good without the performances of its actors. Dinesh leads the way with a brilliant performance as the protagonist Thamizh. He gets everything right with respect to his portrayal of a visually impaired person including the squint and nystagmus. When he shares space with the real visually impaired actors onscreen one can't isolate him from the others, the fact bears testimony to his performance. Malavika Nair makes a decent debut as the heroine. She gets most things right as well and performs her act credibly. It is Elango as the friend of Thamizh who steals the show with his one liners and nonchalant manner of his performing. The fact that he is really visually impaired and that he is a first timer makes it all the more special. 

Music is the backbone of this movie. Excellently done by Santhosh Narayanan, it is one of the most soothing album of the year so far on the lines of last year's "Kumki". P.K. Varma is the cinematographer and there are quiet a few striking frames that stay in one's memories even after the movie is over.

On the downside, the movie is quiet long. The second half may test one's patience with nothing much really happening. Raja could have spruced up the proceeding a bit more. Also the ending seems all of a sudden. Raja could have thought of more better sequences towards the climatic portions of the film. 

On the whole, "Cuckoo" is an entertaining romantic drama which incidentally has visually impaired couple as its lead. 

Bottomline: Poetic, but a long unwinding one. 

3.5/5