Annakodi Movie Review
Director: Bharathiraja
Cast: Karthika, Lakshman Narayan, Manoj K Bharathi
Music: GV Prakash Kumar
A sense of déjà vu hits you while watching Annakodi. Veteran director Bharathiraja has recycled his old late 70’s and early 80’s, blood-soaked rural romance with same old clichéd characters. It has traces of the director’s earlier films notably 16 Vayathinile
There is nothing new in the plot or treatment and the only saving grace is Manoj K Bharathi as a scheming impotent villain. The songs of GV Prakash has a rural touch but sticks out like a sore thumb as it is not woven into the story. The first half the story plods along and the romance between the lead is a drag.
Annakodi (Karthika) falls in love with Kodiveeran (Lakshman Narayan), a lower caste man in a rural village. Meanwhile the evil local moneylender a womaniser has a son Sadaiyan (Manoj K Bharathi) who is impotent but wants to marry Annakodi and take revenge on her for spitting on his face. Things take a turn, the lovers are separated and Sadaiyan marries Annakodi, and his lecherous father lusts after her.
The film lacks an emotional core and becomes too melodramatic. The climax is predictable and a let-down with the director giving homilies about love in the voice over as end titles roll. The love between Annakodi and Kodiveeran is not established except for some finger licking scenes, a chappal, heroine’s nails, and a shirt as a token of their love!
Karthika plays the bold and daring Annakodi with ease and style and is very good in the emotional scenes in the second half. But should she have exposed so much? Lakshman needs to do a crash course in acting, before doing his next film. GV Prakash’s music is wasted.
On the whole Annakodi is dated and clearly establishes that Bharathiraja was once upon a time a great director, now on the decline.
