Karuppampetti Movie Review
Director: Prabhu Raja Cholan
Cast: Ajmal Ameer, Aparnaa Bajpai, Alice Tantardini
Ace director Shankar’s assistant Prabhu Raja Cholan, directed three-years-in-the-making Ajmal starrer Karuppampetti is good in parts.
The film opens in France where Kothai Cocopardo (Ajmal) is by his dying dad’s bedside as the old man confesses about his past to his son. The first half of the film is promising and moves at great speed with Ajmal playing a character with shades of grey- a very selfish, self-centred, guy who wants to go west, is embarrassed about his roots and is hated by everyone in his village.
But post interval the director loses grip on his script and it turns out to be another family entertainer a la Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge premise where Kothai, our young hero comes back to Karuppampetti village and tries to reunite the members of his extended family, who now lie scattered and is barely in touch.
Ajmal shows his versatility in the first half but a predictable ending with few romantic jigs crass comedy and a trust-in action scene, he is let down. Aparna Bajpai has no screen presence and she is disappointing. Jagan is just ok while Srinath’s jokes and shrill voice is plainly irritating and fails to evoke any laughter. At times, the film strains so hard for laughs that it almost feels like the director is beating you with a stick and ordering you to enjoy it.
Hopefully someday, Ajmal will find a script that matches his talent.
