Kadaram Kondan Tamil Movie
Director Rajesh Selva is better known as the former assistant of Kamal Hassan rather than as a director who has made three feature films so far. His last film with Kamal Hassan, "Thoonga Vanam" had a storyline and narrative that is similar to "Kadaram Kondan." However, considering that "Thoonga Vanam" by itself is an official remake of the French film "Nuit Blanche," director Rajesh's reputation as a writer comes in for scrutiny.
"Kadaram Kondan" is touted to be a high octane thriller that happens entirely in Malaysia (and, hence the title). It is all about the 'cat and mouse' chase between two rival mafia groups - one led by KK (Vikram) and the other one could be called 'rest of the world,' as we were not clear about the characters. Of course, evil cops were spun into the melee to add sinisterness. Also, for the melodrama, we get an abducted pregnant woman (Akshara) and her desperate husband (Abi Hassan).
The plot was interesting, but what about the plot points, narrative, and characters? We don't even get a clear view of who Vikram was? All we get is a man in his 40s or 50s with a salt and pepper makeover, flexing his brawns and killing people as and when needed. He does all that with hardly a few dialogues to his credit. Occasional references to KK's past coming from other characters didn't help the cause either. Vikram could have even done a ramp walk and gotten away with it. It could not have made a difference to the proceedings.
If that was the state of character establishment for the central character, then one can imagine about the rest of the cast. Akshara Hassan has still not come out of her "teen" zone. Her weird expressions and dialogue delivery not only alienates her from Kollywood but from cinema in general. Debutante Abi Hassan had a character that could be termed as somewhat complete. However, his performance was just about average.
The characters who play the corrupt and good cops were just stenciled portraits who were walking on screen without any life. The screenplay nor the story breathed life into the proceedings. It was kept as tasteless as possible.
Though the movie was only 120 minutes in length, we could feel a sort of drag that crept in time and again, thanks to the lack of quality in screenplay and characterization. For instance, towards the climax, a scene where the lead character confronts one of the bad guys happens while that bad guy beds two women. Have we not seen bad guys with multiple women on the bed being confronted and gunned down in Tamil cinema? How innovative can one be?
The background score that was supposed to be adrenaline pumping came across as DJ music played amidst a birthday party with a bunch of septuagenarians desperately shaking legs to keep up with the tempo.
Maybe next time Rajesh Selva's directorial prowess could be tested with a good script written by his mentor or some reputed writer. As for this time, the less said, the better. In other words, Kadaram Kondan is a huge let down from Kamal's stable!
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