Mundasupatti

My review: Mundasupatti

Ram Kumar seems to be an excellent short film maker. But the problem with his debut feature film "Mundasupatti" is that his fixation with short films in terms of the plot, staging of the story, making style, extracting performances from the actors, has done serious damage to the impact the movie has on its viewers. Problem is what might have looked like a brilliant plot, making style and presentation as a short film, when it gets stretched unduly to make it as a feature film it ends up looking plain silly and juvenile. So the supposedly serious aspects of the movie looks silly while intended comical and silly sequences look irritating. 

Among all the short films which have been made into feature films over the past couple of years, this is the first one which looks forced. The crispness of the narration which was the main reason for all his (and many) short films getting all the accolades is straight away the casualty when it comes to big screen. Even the supposed comical elements which they have used to infuse some life into the narration fails for the timing is too leisurely for them to have any impact whatsoever. And when the timing gets mended, the jokes are far too silly right from the nursery school skits, that only makes one cringe in his seat. 

Not everything about the movie is downhill. Technically it is right up with the most richly made films in any other industry in India. P.V.Sankar's cinematography is excellent, tries his level best to get the period feel right along with the help of the art director. The scene composition and the narrative style is also sleek, at many places on par with any international movie. Ram Kumar gets is right in most of these super-structural aspects of the movie. May be he should move on from his short film mentality, think rich in terms of narrative and the soft skilled aspects of the movie.   

Vishnu Vishal seems to have stuck the right knack in picking up his movies. Each of his movies are different and have some novelty in them. Whether he manages to reap rewards in terms of box-office performance is another matter but his zeal and spirit needs to be applaud. Nadhitha however should be careful when it comes to picking her movies. She is getting typecast. Kaali Venkat is a major draw in this generally pretty ordinary cast. His poker faced one-liners keep the audience going until the last few reels when the real comedy in the movie gets to life.  

"Mundasupatti" is a lesson for all those short film makers. First and foremost one should be sure as to whether they have enough material to convert a short film into a feature film and in that case whether the material is engaging enough. Also one can get away with silliness in the short film as they are primarily made for a restricted audience but when you try to make a feature film try to get more serious. 

On the whole, "Mundasupatti" is silly, juvenile, irritating and boring with laughs here and there. 

Bottomline: Javvu mittai.

2/5