The title itself lays down the storyline of a political satire which takes place in a small village called Poocheri. Kunnimuthu (Mithun Manickam) and his wife Veerayi (Ramya Pandian) are worried that their bulls have suddenly gone missing overnight. As Kunnimuthu starts his journey to find his bulls we slowly see how the village and its people are left so behind in life and how they deprived of basic necessities , parallel to this we also look at the couple who have close they have a bond with bulls and treat them as their own children. Will Kunnimuthu be rejoined with his bulls and the village be saved? This forms as the crux of the story.
Debut director Arisil Murthy not just tells us the story of beloved couple who have lost their bulls, but closely knits a story which exposes the harsh reality the farmers are facing. With key Characters with a well-chosen cast the story falls naturally in place. With occasional sarcastic but subtle humour the script moves rapidly to the second half. But the story falls flat in the second half where it suddenly sees harsh and inconsistent cuts which makes the end of film a bit rushed. Both director Arisil Murthy & Mithun deliver a well made debuts. Music by Krish supports the intensity of the movie and cinematography by Sukumar gives the right mood throughout. I give the film 5/10
Kodiyil Oruvan starts with bit of flashback in a peaceful village where an ordinary women is made to stand in the local body elections by the landlords and ex panchayat president . though their intension is to make a namesake leader and rule in her place. The young women stands firm in honesty and fights them. Eventually they plan to kill her and set fire to her though she bears a child inside. In the breathe of death she rises once again giving birth a boy. She grooms the boy as an IAS aspirant. The Boy Vijay raghavan ( Vijay Antony) becomes a well-educated and good natured person and wishes to fulfil his mother dreams. Vijay lands in Chennai to study for his IAS exams and stays in a rented room in one of housing boards flats in a very poorly maintained locality. There he takes tuition to the local children and becomes a do-gooder in the locality which wins him many hearts. Slowly Vijay Raghavan comes under the radar of the corrupt local councillor and his henchmen who doesn’t like vijay raghavan’s growth. How Vijay Raghavan manages to fulfil his mother’s dreams beyond the hurdles across him is the rest of the story.
Director Ananda Krishnan chooses an age old script and tries mix in some new masala which finally comes out as Kodiyil Oruvan. As mother sentiment had worked earlier for Vijay Antony, initial story concocts a fair base for the main story. Mass scenes works in some scenes but expression less Vijay Antony makes it a dull moment. Fight sequences were choreographed well and makes an impact in the film. Heroin Aathmika’s scenes seems deliberately induced and doesn’t make sense, they could have been edited for a fast progression of the film. The main reason for the films let down is the script fails in the second and seems rushed in the end. Kodiyil Oruvan gets 4/10
In the line of horror comedy genre comes Annabelle Sethupathi with a huge cast of comedialns and big names like Taapsee and Vijay Sethupathi. A huge palace is filled with ghosts as a curse lingers inside the palace not allowing them to reach their heavenly abode. they wait for the ‘One’ person who has dinner on the day of Pournammi and leave the house un dead which will break the curse . Meanwhile the Heir of the palace sends in a group of con artists Rudra & Co ( Taapsee & family) to check out the palace and try to solve the curse from inside. What happens is a roller coaster ride of comedy of errors as con artists get troubled by the ghosts and Rudra finds out that she is the One to free them.
Annabelle Sethupathi largely depends on the comedy rather than its script, which mostly doesn’t appeal. The comedy might only appeal to kids but even some of them were pathetic. Yogi Babu who commands the screen space in the movie , becomes too overdone by the 2nd half and the rest of cast are not worthy of any comic sense . Only the portion between Vijay Sethupathi and Taapsee in the 2nd half saves the day. The Making and money spent on the production shows on visuals but fails in script and direction , I give the film 3/10
Bhudevipuram is fictional village which has legacy of families fighting over ancestral land, this brings in bad players and land owners to snatch the property from farmers and villagers. Aadisesh Naidu ( Nassar) along with his eldest son Bose (Jagapathi Babu) keeps the village in peace and also keeps the reckless Veerendra (Daniel Balaji) in control . Tuck Jagadish (Nani) his youngest son who is getting ready for his overseas placement comes to the village for one last time. As tragedy falls in the village and Naidu’s family is turned upside down, Tuck jagadish is left to carry on his father’s legacy. How he does this is and maintains peace in the village is the rest of the story.
With his last movies ‘Jersey’ &‘V’ Nani showed that he can single handedly carry the whole movie with his screen presence and charm, this too is very similar. Though the movie’s’ story is quiet an old one with Nani’s presence it makes the audience sit right through. Other cast members other than Jagapathy babu don’t have much to do, Ritu Varma and Aishwarya Rajesh are dependable as ever and they get the job done. the movie takes time to settle and is pushed fast in the second half. Songs doesn’t make much of an impact. Overall Tuck Jagadish is placid family drama with Nani’s commercial touch I give the movie 4/10
Born in political rally Singaravelan alias Singam (Vijay sethupathi) think he is destined to be in politics. He is even ready to be the slave of the local politician to gain is confidence and become the councillor of his area. Slowly Singam grows ahead and finally gets the seat of the councillor in the same party. During a party he gets into a accident and gets a head injury, this somehow brings out his good alter ego and subsequently spoils each step his normal self does against the public. Singam starts experiencing events where his alter ego takes control and finally becomes the prey og the local minister, how he gets out of the predicament is the rest of the story.
Tughlaq Durbar is purely based on Vijay sethupathi’s character in the film. Instead of preaching the alter ego point of view brings entertainment rather than being the same old story. But waste of the female characters of Raashi Khanna, Manjima Mohan could have been avoided, Parthiban does is best and equally shares screen space with Vijay Sethupathi. Though the film is quiet predictable could have been crisp in edit to avoid the dragging second half. I give the film 4/10
Laabam the last creation of Late SP Jhananathan, was released today with much expectation as it features Vijay Sethupathi in the lead role. Pakkiri (Vijay Sethupathi) returns to his village ‘Peruvayal’ after a 6 year break. The village which is taken over by corporate heads is dwindling in farming and agricultural land is being sold for factories. Pakkiri and his friends fight against the corporates and help the villagers by the community farming initiative that would benefit all the farmers of the village
The film is an outcry against capitalism, but it depends on how much you can digest it when it’s told every five minutes, which makes the audience groan. The film takes time to settle in but its takes too long to come to the point. Unnecessary songs, a waste of screen time for Sruthi haasan could have been avoided. Though Viajy sethupathi carries the whole film in his shoulders, nothing else looks right in the film. SP Jhananathan’s dialogues may interest you at times, but the real soul in the film and screenplay is missing in the film. I give it 3/10
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