Settai Movie Review
Director: R Kannan
Cast: Arya, Santhanam, Premgi, Hansika, Anjali
Music: SS Thaman
Producer: UTV Motion Pictures
Settai, is a fast moving 2hours five minutes non-stop fun ride. It is an adaptation of Delhi Belly the Hindi original, and director Kannan has made few compromises by adding two mandatory duets shot in Swiss Alps and packaging the film as a family entertainer!
This smart madcap comedy thriller is set in Mumbai where JK(Arya) a journalist, Nadupakka Nakki (Santhanam) a photographer and Cheenu(Premgi) a cartoonist work for a Tamil daily. JK is struggling to make a mark but is always let down by his editor who wants sensational stories and not socially relevant issues. He is in love with Madhumita (Hansika) an air hostess and a rich spoiled brat. Shakti (Anjali) works for English daily has a soft corner for JK. These are the main characters in the film.
Now Madhu is used as a courier by a smuggling mafia and she asks boyfriend JK to drop off this parcel (which has diamonds) at a particular address. But things go terribly wrong when JK asks Nakki to do the job and he gives it off to Cheenu, who by mistake gives Nakki's stool sample to a gangster (Nasser), who is waiting for the diamonds! The friends are in now deep shit!
Settai has loads of one-liners and keeps you entertained, mainly toilet jokes tried out for the first time in Tamil cinema. John Mahendran's script makes it engaging and he has brought in a lot of humour into the narrative. Among the cast, Premgi is the best of the lot and his cartoonist character is believable. Nasser is good.
But wonder why Arya among the cast looks so disinterested in the proceedings? Agreed he was supposed to have a zombie look throughout, but the actor looks wooden, tired and disinterested. Santhanam's toilet humour and his dialogue delivery are predictable. Hansika has nothing much to do but looks good and is perfect eye-candy. Anjali as journalist looks pretty uncomfortable in heavy make-up and those satin gowns in the duet song.
Technically, the film is well made and Thaman's music and background score is a major plus, though songs are speed breakers. For those who have not seen Delhi Belly, Settai will be an all together new fun ride.
