Soodhu Kavvuum Movie Review
Director: Nalan Kumarasamy
Cast: Vijay Sethupathi, Sanchita Shetty
Music: Santosh Narayanan
Producer: C. V. Kumar
Take a bow Nalan Kumarasamy , for taking the road less travelled. Soodhu Kavvum is a pathbreaker, a different kind of film that has not been seen in Tamil cinema.
Nalan Kumarasamy is a daring director to make a black comedy at a time when Tamil cinema is being bombarded by slapstick comedies. Soodhu Kavvum works big time due to smart writing and perfect characterisation. The humour is part of the story and not thrust in as characterisation is real.
The most solid of the new breed actors Vijay Sethupathy as the 40 plus anti-hero and all new actors in supporting cast are apt and they make the film crackle. The packaging and shot composition of the film is also done in a different style, which has not been seen before.
Das (Vijay Sethupathy) is an ageing 40 plus guy who makes a living out of kidnapping! He is guided by his girlfriend (Sanchita Shetty) who appears in his dreams and only he can see (fab idea) and acts as his conscience keeper and confidant. He meets up with three out of work guys and free-loaders and they form a team who kidnap only middle-class people! One day they land up kidnapping a minister’s son and the fun begins.
The film has some of the best conceptualised scenes. The pick of the lot is when Das and his gang kidnap a bank manager’s daughter and the candid and absolutely chilled out way they do it. The climax is a scream. If we say more it will act as spoilers.
Vijay Sethupathy steals the show with his shaggy salt and pepper beard and a paunch. His body language and dialogue delivery makes the character come alive and the audiences will root for him. Sanchita Shetty as his girlfriend is smashing and delivers some one-liners with perfect lip sync. All the other newcomers like Simhaa, Ashok Selvan and RJ Ramesh are fantastic and have equal footage.
If you are looking for minus points it is the songs which act as speedbreakers and post interval the film slows down. The songs should have been only used for the promotions. However can’t blame Nalan when he has a music director like Santhosh Narayan and a peppy number like ‘Kasu Panam’ and picturised like music videos.
Final verdict on Soodhu Kavvum is that it is a gutsy great film. It is one of the best films to have emerged out of Kollywood in a long, long time. The treatment is different and the dialogues hilarious making it an enjoyable fun ride.
