Tag Archives: Samuthirakani

Velaiilla Pattadhari (VIP) 2

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VIP Poster

Sequels are always tricky. Returning to a popular character or scenario is fraught with unfavourable comparisons, and finding a new story that works while retaining the aspects that made the original film so popular is another minefield to cross. There are a few sequels that turn out better than the original film but they are the exception, and sadly VIP 2 isn’t one of them. However, while it may not be the best sequel ever made, it’s certainly not the worst and as an all-round entertainer, it fares reasonably well. Most of the success is due to Dhanush who carries the film over some occasionally rough ground, but Kajol makes a better than average adversary while the presence of many of the original cast (including Harry Potter) ensure good continuity with the first film.

After dealing with Arun in VIP, the sequel opens with Raghuvaran (Dhanush) still working for Ramkumar (M.J. Shriram) at Anitha Constructions and winning the Engineer of the Year award. This brings him to the attention of Vasundhara Parameshwar (Kajol) who runs the biggest engineering firm in South India. Raghuvaran’s dismissal of her offer of employment rankles, but not as much as his admonishment to be less arrogant when Anitha Constructions wins a big contract over Vasundhara. A self-made woman who has clawed her way up from the bottom, Vasundhara makes it her mission in life to squash Raghuvaran like the bug she perceives him to be, but of course it’s not going to be as simple as she believes.

All the elements are there from the previous film, Raghuvaran’s beloved cycle, his dedication to the memory of his mother, and his unfortunate tendency to drink too much when faced with a problem. What doesn’t work quite so well is the change in Shalini (Amala Paul) from a sensible romantic interest to a shrewish and nagging wife. Supposedly this is due to giving up her job and taking over all the household chores, which to be perfectly honest is enough to drive anyone to grumpiness, but the constant bickering wears thin very fast. Worst still, Shalini’s nagging is supposed to be funny, but it’s just as irritating to the audience as to Raghuvaran’s family.

Kajol is a huge improvement over Arun and his father as the villain of the piece. Her entrance is more typical of a hero as the first glimpse is of her stylish and very pointed stiletto hitting the ground as she arrives at the Engineering awards ceremony. In fact, the crowd reaction was just as loud and enthusiastic for Vasundhara’s entrance as it was for Raghuvaran’s first appearance on screen. Kajol totally owns the role and her arrogance and confidence are a perfect balance to Raghuvaran and Ramkumar’s humility and attention to detail. And yet she’s not evil or out to destroy the poor of society, simply determined to push though her own ideas and methods regardless of anyone standing in her way. However, after a great start, her repeated attempts to get the better of Raghuvaran start to seem petty and churlish rather than decisive and it seems unlikely that someone who had the strength and ability to run a successful company would be quite as petulant and narrow-minded. Still, Kajol is stunning as she sweeps around in her tailored suits and stylish sunglasses, while her menacing dialogues are surprisingly effective.

Raghuvan’s father (Samuthirakani) is a more supportive figure this time round, but his brother Karthik (Hrishkesh) barely gets to say a word and most of the VIP boys suffer the same fate. Without any substantial input, they become a faceless mass without any of the charm or appeal that allowed a connection to develop to these characters in the original film. The film is significantly more focused on Dhanush, who has the acting chops to carry it off, but at the expense of a more coherent storyline. The plot wanders as story and screenplay writers Dhanush and Soundarya Rajinikanth try to include as many of the characters as possible from VIP 1, but run out of things for them all to do. Saravana Subbiah pops up as an unscrupulous developer while Vivek reprises his role as Raghuvaran’s side-kick Azhagusundaram. While both are fine in their roles, the characters seem to be added in, one for comedy and one to have a reason for the fight scenes, rather than have a true background and reason to be in the script. The final confrontation between Raghuvaran and Vasundhara is also a little disappointing although otherwise the chemistry between Dhanush and Kajol is excellent and the atmosphere between the two crackles at each meeting.

Sean Roldan’s music is perfectly fine but the songs don’t have the same anthemic qualities as Anirudh’s previous tunes, a fact underscored every time the original theme for Raghuvaran plays in the background. However, the choreography is slicker than in the first film and the fight scenes are also of a high quality.

If this was a stand-alone film, I would have rated it as a good action movie with an interesting concept and two excellent characters in Raghuvaran and Vasundhara. The addition of a strong and powerful female character works well here, and Dhanush emphasizes gender equality a number of times throughout the film, although it doesn’t quite gel with his wife having stopped work to look after the family home. The problem is that this is a sequel, and while the original elements are cleverly arranged to form the foundation of the film, too much feels to be added simply because it was part of the first film, while VIP2 doesn’t have a strong enough identity to pull away and succeed without that original scaffolding being firmly in place. It is however much better than I expected and both Dhanush and Kajol turn in strong performances under Soundarya’s direction to make VIP2 more than just a film for fans, but one that’s unlikely to reach quite the same cult status as the original movie.

Visaranai

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“Give me the pink one. It’s my lucky lathi. Now let’s get them to confess”.

Vetrimaaran’s film takes a journey through the lawless side of law enforcement, where results matter and truth is often unwelcome. Adapted from M. Chandrakumar’s novel which was inspired by his own experiences, there is a relentless sense of doom pervading this story. Don’t get too attached to anyone!

Four Tamil men have come to Andhra Pradesh to work, sleeping rough in a park to save money. One night they are all picked up by the police. They are brutalised over and over but not told what they are suspected of doing and what they must admit to. It’s all a game to the cops but no one told Pandi, Murugan, Kumar or Afsal what that game is.

Afsal (Silambarasan Rathnasamy) is the youngest and weakest. Frightened of being hurt, and generally shy and inarticulate, Afsal triggered the arrests with a confession under duress and wavers most when under pressure. The four boys stick together and try to find a way out, trusting that their innocence will be recognised. Pandi (Dinesh Ravi) and Murugan (Aadukalam Murugadoss) are the stronger ones, with Pandi the more cynical and Murugan the more placid. Kumar (Pradheesh Raj) is injured badly early on and is a quiet, tense presence for most of his scenes.

The boys go on hunger strike and it seems to work. They are released, given money and told to come back to the station to sign a statement. They stop for a meal, eventually laughing at their strange fortunes. But when they go back, the sadistic Superintendent (Ajay Ghosh) says he couldn’t hit a starving man so he tricked them into filling their bellies. The beatings resume, more vicious than before.

I was struck by all the energy that goes into forcing confessions when maybe with the same expenditure of effort they could track down the real criminals. There is a discussion about finding someone else to take the fall but the boss is worried after all the injuries that the men will complain so he decides they must be found guilty. Eventually all the pressure works, especially the emotional blackmail from Pandi’s boss who knows it’s a set-up but encourages Pandi to take the easy way out for everyone’s sake. Including the police. These poor guys are expendable.

Pandi refuses to make a false plea once he is in front of a magistrate although his Telugu is not up to the finer points of his defence. Luckily for him there are Tamil Nadu police in another court so one is called upon to translate, and even more fortunately he recognises Pandi.  Inspector Muthuvel (Samuthirakani) explains the boys have jobs, never admitted fault, there is no evidence, and they’ve been beaten up for days on end. The magistrate knows Superintendent Rao has form for closing cases with false evidence and the boys go free.

Unluckily for Pandi and friends, the Tamil cops need their help in return. Sure enough, they help kidnap a high profile money launder KK (Kishore) from the courts. Back in Tamil Nadu, Kumar gets dropped off along the road but the others are taken to the station along with KK. KK tells Muthuvel that the last move in this game will be to tie up all the loose ends, like Muthuvel himself. And KK is a very smart man. About to leave, the guys are asked to clean the station building before they go. The ominous music says that was a bad idea, and I think Pandi knew it too.

Vetrimaaran mostly sticks with realism, creating a sense of the world just out of sight of the mainstream. The dark side is literally dark, with much of the film shot in night time and dimly lit interiors. The scenes are beautifully composed and I felt immersed in Pandi’s world, and the feeling of being entangled and lost. The spike of fear when the cops start torturing people is visceral, the relief when it stops and the terror of those waiting their turn also feel real. There is a foray into black and white for a couple of climactic scenes that struck me as annoyingly filmi. I wasn’t sure if it was censored because of all the gore or just cleverness, but regardless it was too tricksy. Other more successful visual metaphors were derived from the core of the drama – the movement between light and dark, between high and low places, people up to their necks in muck wading through sewers. The pace drags a little when the boys are hanging around doing the cleaning, and there is a little too much helpful exposition to get everyone on the same page, but these are minor issues.

Dinesh Ravi carries most of the film as Pandi was the enquiring mind, the calculating observer, and the loyal at heart.  His reactions and interactions with Samuthirakani give the story a centre and conflict that held the other strands together. Samuthirakani has gravitas and a wry humour that sparks up when Muthuvel is at ease. He is the cop who knows what is right, wants to be clean, but is coerced by his higher ups. Kishore is also impressive as the sly money man who can’t believe he will run out of friends or dollars. The dialogue is often sparse and meaning is layered through action and reaction. This is a man’s world. There is a budding romance (Anandhi as Shanthi), and a female cop (Misha Ghoshal) who deliberately forgets her phone so Pandi can call for help and that is it. All the supporting performances are good, but there are so many fleeting character appearances that the police dissolve into one huge despicable khaki organism.

I am not really surprised that the film failed to make the Oscars. A dog eat dog world with no hope of justice, and with the police at the heart of the darkness, seemed like a hard sell.

This is an accomplished film with some exceptional performances. It’s not an easy watch due to the casual brutality. It made me question why such a topic is still so current. And there is no moral or redemption to send you whistling on your way. Just death, lies, greed, and a promise of more of the same. 4 stars.

Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum

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Kadhalum Kadandhu Pofum

After the success of his début venture, Nalan Kumarasamy unexpectedly follows Soodhu Kavvum with an official remake of a Korean film; Kim Kwang-sik’s My Dear Desperado. I haven’t seen the original but the story of an unlikely friendship between a gangster and a young IT graduate translates well to Chennai, while Vijay Sethupathi and Madonna Sebastian are both excellent in the lead roles. Despite the title (which translates to “Love too shall pass”), there is little romance in the film, but instead Nalan’s screenplay includes plenty of comedy, a good dash of drama and only a smidgen of violence. Nalan keeps to his trademark witty dialogue and quirky characterisation too with plenty of funny one-liners, making Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum engaging and definitely well worth a watch.

The focus of the story is Yazhini (Madonna Sebastian), newly graduated from a small regional college and desperate to escape her confining life with her parents in Viluppuram. Somehow she manages to secure a job in Chennai and escapes to a shared flat and the realisation of her dream, but unfortunately her happiness is short-lived. The company folds, her job goes and Yazhini is left looking for somewhere less expensive to live as she struggles to find a new job.

Yazhini’s move downwards into cheaper digs brings her into contact with the seamier side of life in Chennai, and she quickly discovers that her neighbour is a rowdy who works as an enforcer for the local area councillor. Kathir (Vijay Sethupathi) is newly released from jail and wants nothing more than to run his own bar, but his boss decides that his talents lie more in dealing with petty disputes and training up a new recruit. While Yazhini thinks that Chennai offers a world of opportunity, Kathir knows that even a small dream can be impossible to achieve and this difference in outlook is what makes their eventual friendship even more unlikely.

Initially Yazhini is frightened of Kathir and the world he represents, but gradually she warms to her neighbour and discovers that he’s not as violent as first appears. Madonna Sebastian’s Yazhini is confident but not reckless and her determination to succeed makes her a likeable character. She suffers numerous setbacks but rarely loses her optimism and for the most part her dilemma feels genuine and plausible. I really liked Madonna here after her excellent performance in Premam and I hope she gets more of these kind of roles where there is something more to her character than simply eye candy. Yazhini is a strong character who knows exactly what she wants and isn’t afraid of trying almost anything to achieve her dream. Kudos to Nalan for not making Yazhini follow the usual heroine path in a Tamil film, and avoiding a conventional romance and an unhappy end even though she’s an independent, modern career woman.

Kathir on the other hand is laconic and laid back, possibly because he isn’t a very good gangster! It’s rare that the main male lead loses his fights so emphatically, but despite instigating much of the dishoom, Kathir is the one who ends up bruised and bloody by the end. Even Yazhini comments on his frequent injuries and when added in to Kathir’s impulsive and erratic nature it becomes obvious why his boss doesn’t trust him with the management of a bar. Vijay Sethupathi excels at these kinds of roles where he can mix up comedy with fight scenes and a fair amount of melodrama to make a surprisingly convincing character. He has an excellent rapport with his co-star and his bumbling thug with a tender heart has plenty of quirks that make him seem more authentic. My favourite is his ability to rustle up a mean curry despite his deficiencies as a fighter. Jail may not have taught Kathir how to fight but it did teach him how to cook!

The support cast mainly have small roles, but all are good and effective with Samuthirakani the most notable as a corrupt police officer. For the most part the film concentrates on Yazhini and Kathir, their individual failures, small successes and the support each gains from the other as time goes by. To succeed, both Vijay Sethupathi and Madonna Sebastian need to be balanced in their performances and they manage it beautifully – making sure that the film doesn’t lose momentum even when the story switches between the two characters. Together they are even better and their relationship is the reason the film does work so well.

While Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum may not pack the same punch as Soodhu Kavvum it’s still an enjoyable film with plenty of comedy and a well written storyline. Although there are no major twists it’s still never predictable or dull and I found quite a few surprises along the way. A film about friendship rather than romance between a man and a woman is relatively rare in Tamil cinema and this is an excellent example of just how good a story can be without adding in unnecessary love scenes. Add the always very watchable Vijay Sethupathi and Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum is definitely well worth a watch.