KAAKA MUTTAI - The director can take a BOW!

Kaaka Muttai - The director, cast, crew & producers all in sync!

Cast - Vignesh, Ramesh, Iyshwarya Rajesh & Others ( It is sad that the producers have left out most names)
& Crew - Director - Manikandan, D.O.P - Manikandan, Music - G.V Prakash, Edit - Kishore Te
Producers - Dhanush and Vetrimaaran

It is indeed heart warming to watch a 'realistic' decent feel good Tamil film after a very long time! and full marks should go to director Manikandan, his chosen actors and crew for churning out a thoroughly enjoyable film! Peepli Live & this film are of a very similar genre.

One should not focus too much on the premise; as it's all about two kids from the slums wanting to taste a pizza! Probably it's really no big deal for most people; but the director's raw, no nonsense but endearing screenplay that makes the simplicity of the plot enjoyable. If you look at it from the point of view of the kids in question Chinna Kaaka Muttai & Periya Kaaka Muttai it really means a lot to them. It is that yearning (however idiotic or simple the object of desire be) for something that you cannot easily have that makes your desire to somehow have it at any cost that much more! From the first scene of the kid urinating and hiding his soiled drawers in a cooking utensil mindful of not waking up his mother; to the big brother climbing a tree to pick the crow's laid eggs; to the kids enacting cinema dialogues being actor Simbu's fans etc that makes you sit back and enjoy a film featuring two kids from the slums adult watch worthy! The humour, the songs, the good, the evil, the media hype, corruption all neatly packaged to provide a smooth scene to scene transition. The divide between the haves and have nots using simple (layman) understandable visuals adds to enhancing the narrative. like the rich kid befriending the two slum kids without any ulterior motive; very child like. To add variety and humour to the narrative the introduction of the two con men does help. The very casual treatment given to the dad (rotting in prison) and the two kids very understandable. The scene showing the dad talking from inside the cell to the kids sitting across the wall clearly depicts the distance in the father's relationship with the two boys! The mothers insecurity and the typical 'kallanalum kanavan pullanallum purusan.......' attitude towards her good for nothing husband is so true to the real ground situation with such low income group families living in slums. The old grandmothers relationship with her estranged daughter in law and her two grand sons a big plus; the handling of the grandmother's death without the melodrama, noise and wailing a rarity to Tamil cinema; using silence as music to depict grief another plus! The added character of the childlike 'Pazharasam' and his down to earth relationship with the two kids very refreshing; especially the one with the frog in his hand! The mother meeting the missing kids with the aid of the police so real.The film has decent and some above par visuals to aid the films smooth narrative; the d.o.p and the director being the same truly helps the films final output to a great extent. This film will be more enjoyable if one is able to watch it with the whole family!

And the climax a real beleivable ending to a soft and heart warming film with a raw and sensitive subject; the directors dare here to should be lauded!

Performance - Chinna Kaka Muttai outstanding! The boy's confident swagger combined with the way he delivers dialogues truly bowled me over! The rest have all given above par performances; if not for the actors this premise and film would have simply fallen flat.

D.O.P - Visuals fits the bill to the chosen premise to the tee!

Music - Songs - In sync and adequate . B.G - Good!

Edit - Nothing fancy; but in total sync with the director and his premise.

Bottom Line - A director's dream debut! A producers' dream come true!

My Rating - 3.5 plus add .25 Producers backing 3.75/5

Until Next Time
Director Haricharan
19/6/2015