Kanchana Tamil Movie
Kanchana, the sequel of the masala film (with a touch of horror), Muni, isn't very different from its prequel. As if using the same Kollywood masala formula wasn't bad enough, Kanchana sticks to an already existing template. The result is a fairly entertaining horror-comedy with the comic aspect, by far, eclipsing the so-called horror aspect. The best horror films that I've seen have scared me out of my wits. Kanchana barely came close. And that's because Raghava Lawrence is keener on showing you that he can dance, fight, romance the heroine and amuse you.
If you've seen Muni, you'd know enough about our lead, Raghava(Raghava Lawrence). He's still the same jackass. He has an aversion to ghosts and does the needful to avoid them- he doesn't step out of the house after six, sleeps with his mother and needs her to accompany him to the toilet. Time has elapsed but we have not the slightest idea about the whereabouts of his father, his wife and his grandmother. They don't exist here and their disappearance isn't explained. Nor is the appearance of a brother, a sister-in-law, a nephew and a niece. Muni used the ghost element as a storytelling device to tell a story that has been told a number of times by Kollywood. Kanchana does the same but this story is at least a little different. The first half is strictly comedy. It doesn't tickle throughout but it does manage to amuse. Hardly a success when you're laughing not for the joke, but at the joke. The second half takes us through the past of the restless soul involved, one that has suffered at the hands of injustice and returned to avenge the same. If the house was haunted the last time, Kanchana has Raghava invite the ghost over from a cricket ground. Again, he's generous enough to lend his body to the ghost to settle scores with its human adversary.
The music numbers are strikingly familiar and have no business being in the film except of course, for the sake of business. Raghava Lawrence and Sarath Kumar display some fine acting chops but there's nothing more to add about the performances when the characters they are asked to personify are dotted stick figures. As a director, Raghava Lawrence is doing what he's been taught. He doesn't come across as a director who wants to evolve as a filmmaker; he is content making blockbusters. Nothing wrong with that especially when Kanchana doesn't fake any moral message (an infectious practice performed by Tamil Directors) but there isn't much to score.
Kanchana is both uninspired and uninspiring, yet Raghava Lawrence wants to make one sequel after another. Kanchana is watch-able, but that doesn't mean it is worth a watch. Skip it and you miss nothing.
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