Kodiveeran Tamil Movie

Feature Film | 2017 | UA | Action, Drama
Critics:
It seemed business as usual for Sasi and director Muthiah who have trounced the pulpy sister sentiment with doses of mass masala in this average flick.
Dec 7, 2017 By Baranidharan Sivasankaran



First and foremost, my deepest condolences to Sasikumar and his team for the irreparable loss of one of their key production executives and Sasi's relative, Ashok Kumar.


I went into the movie with my usual expectations for witnessing the combo of Sasikumar and director Muthiah heaving heaps of debris from the arid lands along with deep-rooted patriarchal (read it as masochistic) animosities (between characters) minced with melodramatic theatrics. Boy, was I right?


This time Muthiah has chosen to base his script on "sister(s) sentiment". Of course, it's a tried and tested piece of melodramatic ploy and we're familiar with the dynamics of the screenplay right from the days of 'Paasa Malar' to 'Kizhakku Cheemayile' to the more contemporary Vijay and Ajith flicks.


Still, the beauty of sentimental angles (like romance) can be refreshed by mixing and matching a combination of plot, milieu and artists. However, the basics should remain the same - that which involves handpicking the right artists who can bring out a balanced performance and knit an engaging narrative.


There are 3 pairs of brothers and sisters in the movie. 2 pairs are good and thus decide to get married to each other's brother/sister and the third pair is wicked. The fight between the good pairs and the wicked pair forms the core plot.


We've seen these things a ton of times in the past. If a "mass hero" entry for Sasikumar with a fight in addition to him playing the role of the village soothsayer ("Saamiyaadi") sounds exciting, then this movie is right in your zone.


There are some enjoyable bits from Balasaravanan and a couple of masala moments like the interval block, wherein Sasi openly challenges Pasupathi and gang for a tug of war - the sequence, though over-the-top had the impact and gave the movie its "high" per se and one of the apt interval blocks in recent times.


Towards the climax, two ladies (Sanusha and Mahima) confronting the antagonist (Poorna) in order to strike peace was so similar to the ploy that Muthiah employed in his debut feature, 'Kuttipuli' (incidentally with Sasi).


For director Muthiah and actor Sasikumar, it seemed like business as usual. Just that the heroines and supporting cast were different. Otherwise, the milieu and the earthiness were all the same. Sanusha as the "sweet" sister was the typical sister material, whose world revolved around her brother (Sasi). Mahima, whose job was to run around Sasi, did it with some dignity. Vidharth was reduced to a timid and upright government employee who leant on Sasi's heroics to save himself and his wife (Sanusha).


Poorna gathered some presence, thanks to a tonsured head. Her character was etched out more meaningfully. Her arrogance and perseverance were depicted throughout, but towards the climax, she was reduced to the run-of-the-mill masala vixen who turns into a new leaf.


For Pasupathy, this would have been a no-brainer, especially after playing a similar role of a doting brother in 'Karuppan' sometime back. Again, the hallmark of a good actor was to bring out the subtle shades of difference between that role and this, which he has done with conviction.


The movie had a couple of decent songs from SR Raghunanthan that were hummable.


Muthiah hasn't done anything differently. He has set the narrative in his familiar milieu with characters whom he could relate with. The sentiment and melodrama worked to an extent, but the overdose of "mass" moments and the cliched narrative hampered the little fun that we could have had with some element of theatrics. Not a "must watch"!

Baranidharan Sivasankaran

   

MOVIE REVIEWS