Kolamavu Kokila Tamil Movie

Koko largely wins due to a fresh screenplay and some solid performances from its supporting cast that was quite funny! Aug 18, 2018 By Baranidharan Sivasankaran

If one were to go with the popularity and box office success, I feel very few can compete with Nayanthara, especially in the past decade or so. In the male-dominated South Indian film industry, for a heroine to shine through, it takes something special. Directed by Nelson, Kola Mavu Kokila (alias Koko) falls under the latest fad among the genres, comic crime thriller. In other words its a star vehicle for the heroine, which managed to whip out some fresh cream with cliched trope reversals (more on that later).

An "innocent" and timid Kokila (Nayanthara) is put through her paces with difficult circumstances that push her to the corner and makes her crack an evil whip. As mentioned before, certain cliched tropes were reversed to breathe in fresh air into the narrative. One hell of a "dumb guy" chasing a sensible heroine and that too with a song ("Kalyaana Vayasu") and a cop paying off street vendors to gather intelligence are examples of the trope reversals.

The story had an innate satire, and that helped it sail through some rough comic waves, though turbulent and problematic at times. The screenplay was also mostly engaging except at a few key places it went amiss. The climax especially was not too convincing. Also, the believability factor gets wiped out in various instances.

The supporting characters were the backbone of this engaging flick. The villain's dumb sidekick who gets instantly worked up for trivial things, "Mottai" Rajendran's funny anecdotes laced with sarcasm and Yogi Babu's rollicking comic episode along with an eccentric "boyfriend" were some of the most notable characters.

Of course, Saranya's role as a mother is something we've seen innumerable times in the past, but in here she does her part to hoist the feminist centric flag. The movie had a bunch of feminist tantrums to throw at us. The way in which it was employed was quite impressive. Whenever Nayanthara gets an amorous call from men, she is made to kick the balls out of them.

Nayanthara's portrayal as the timid Kokila, whose transformation into a drug peddling femme fatale was convincing as a character sketch to a certain extent. Nayanthara, it seems has overdone the role with a one-dimensional expression that failed to cross a certain threshold. There was nothing praiseworthy in her performance. She just managed to piggyback on a joyriding screenplay.

Anirudh's music and BGM were there to lead the story to various unexplored avenues. "Kalyana Vayasu" song that became viral through YouTube had whistles from the audience. All the other songs were more like montages and BGM fillers.

The movie was quite engaging, with some hiccups in screenplay and performance that made it appear to be dragging at certain places. Koko can be watched for its "family-friendly" approach, even while dealing with drugs and gangsters! Congrats Nelson and team.