RUMMY – How not to play it!
Cast & Crew:- Vijay Sethupathi as Joseph, Inigo
Prabhakaran as Sakthi, Gayathrie Shankar as Meenakshi, Iyshwarya Rajesh as
Soori, & Sentrayan among others.
Direction: Balakrishnan, Story: Mona Palanisamy & K.Balakrishnan, Music: D.Imman, D.O.P.:
C.Prem kumar, Edit: Raja Mohammed
Producers: K.Gurunatahan, P.Ealappan,
M.Dharnarajan & K.Balakrishnan
Studio: Sri Valli Studio, Distributors: JSK
Film Corporation
Lang: Tamil, Genre: Romance/Action/Drama, Budget: N.A. (As usual)
Tracks: Koodamela
Koodavechi - V. V. Prasanna, Vandana Srinivasan-05:01, Adiye Enna Raagam -
Abhay Jodhpurkar, Poornima Satish, Oru Nodi - D. Imman, Divya Ramani-04:20,Yedhukkaga
Enna - Santhosh Hariharan, AV Pooja-04:06, Yedhukkaga Enna -
Instrumental,Karthik Iyer (Violin)
The story, backdrop and setting (Screen
play), the 1st half of the
story is set in the 80’s with a rural (village) backdrop. Vijay Sethupathi (Joseph)
& Inigo Prabhakaran (Sakthi) become roommates in a college hostel. They are
joined by Soori masquerading as a pious ‘geek’ (Slight shades of 3 idiots).
Both J and S fall in love instantly as only Tamil heroes can! Sakthi (takes the
usual route) and bumps into the love of his life (Gayathrie/Meenakshi) While
Joseph jumps ‘INTO’ a well to fall to find his love (Iyshwarya). The first half
deals with a bit of college life mostly enlivened by Soori’s usual wise cracks
and jokes. Vijay Sethupathi and Prabahakaran do contribute and move the story
at a fairly lively and lighthearted pace. Alas! This is where the director
decides to dash all your hopes of seeing an engaging film ends. Enter Syed the
college bully and the traditional ‘Mama’ (doubles as don) along with his
trained pet/killer ‘Adiyal’ enters and their deadly combination once again for
the umpteenth time puts paid to all your hopes! You do have the doting
mother(s), the strict father(s), and the bungling nephew to add to your growing
woes as the film enters the ‘violent’ and gory 2nd half.
Here the legendary Tamil Samurai the ‘Arival’ (sickle) and the steel
pipe once again takes over and relegates the story into absurd, archaic and
melodramatic nonsense. I really wonder who even thinks of such story lines. It
neither serves any tangible purpose nor does it entertain! After a spate of
senseless fights and violence the film finally enters into an absurd and
unbelievable bloody climax.
The Climax once again follows the age old ‘Badra
Kaali’ routine!
Acting:- Vijay Sethupathi, as Joseph-I think the script given to him
initially was misplaced and the director prepared a new version after getting
hit by a ball while playing cricket in his backyard (the N.K.P.K effect). He is
a fairly good actor and gets into every character he plays and does it quite
naturally. He underplays his role very well. He also exhibits his powers as a
fairly decent dancer. In the first half he shares a good chemistry with his
friend but does tend to get repetitive and rather stereotyped in a number of
scenes which he should conscientiously avoid in future. He also has to improve
his emotive quotient. In this film he does show his skill set when he initially
meets his girl and acts like a coy love sick college boy, though he does look a
little too old to be cast as a college kid. Selection of this script was his
biggest blunder as it pushes him into a meek supporting role.
Inigo Prabhakaran, as Shakthi – He does look like a college boy and has done his bit to
the best of his abilities as of now. He has fared better in the romantic
interludes with Meenakshi and shares a good chemistry with her. His acting in
the climax was below par. He was totally lost in the scenes where he had to
emote. The viewer’s loud jibes and jeers was a telling testimony to this. He
had very little to do in the song sequences barring his appearances in fancy
and colorful montage shots wearing rather misplaced costumes of sorts.
Soori: - Typical ‘soori’ style. Stereotyped,
most times but it obviously works as more often than not it brings a
smile/laugh from the viewers.
Gaythrie Shankar: - There is something nice and fresh
about her. She does her bit without much fuss and goes about her task with
ease. She has the potential to better herself if handled well. (Reminds one of
the late Shoba)
Ishwarya Rajesh: - A very good choice as Vijay
Sethupathi’s pair. For a change it was a relief to watch a dusky complexioned
Tamil heroine. She emotes fairly well with a pair of large eyes which is an
added asset. She and her counterpart Gaythrie have the potential to become good
actors if used well.
D.O.P.:- Prem Kumar is the biggest plus
for this film. He has used the camera and lighting to good effect to an
otherwise a very ordinary film. In fact certain shots and angles which he has
used are innovative and interesting. Music: - Once again overkill with
repetitive BG scores, one song ‘Koodamella Koodavechu’ is a fairly good number.
Edit: - The editor has done fairly
decent job.
The one’s I found
wanting 1) Once
again the ‘Iyer’ fetish. 2) The
casting of Syed and his cronies a total waste. 3) Instant love at first sight scenes 4) the stereo typed ‘Mama’ ‘Mothers’ ‘fathers’ characterizations. 5) Cliché scenes like the loose cycle
chain and watching (community) TV at the village square. 6) Repeated use of temples as backdrops for the songs. 7) Unnecessary violence, gore and
melodrama relegated this film to absolute mediocrity. 8) The archaic treatment and screen play.
Finally to conclude once again the duration of 2hours 24
mins was very long more so because of lack of any purposeful content or
saleable entertainment value. The only consolation being that the 1st
half of this film was barely tolerable owing to the humour quotient and light
hearted romantic interludes.
Left right & Centre:
-
The man to my left: -
‘I do not want to do anything with this film, especially to be a viewer’.
The man on my right:-’
The first half was tolerable as a romantic entertainer’.
Man on the phone after
the film: - ‘Please do not make the mistake of watching this film. It is
terrible’.
Bottom Line: - a quote, “Young men: If you
attend this crap with friends who admire it, tactfully inform them they are
idiots. Young women: If your date likes this movie, tell him you’ve been
thinking it over, and you think you should consider spending some time apart.”
Until next time,
Director Haricharan
Chennai
31/01/2014
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