Soodhu Kavvum (2013)

Joblessness is the most common profession among Tamil film characters. Being vetti and drinking alcohol is usually all they do. The three characters we first meet in Soodhu Kavvum are cut from the same cloth, but debutant writer/director Nalan Kumarasamy gives them a fresh twist and makes this commonplace element appear interesting all over again. Pagalavan runs away from his town and lands in Chennai after getting in trouble for building a shrine for a Tamil film actress; Sekar loses his job as a valet after an incident with a Jaguar car; the third, Kesavan, has a psychotic female aiding in his getting fired from his IT job. Fate, monetary desperation and the lure of easy money would have them meet a person named Das who's currently working full time as a petty kidnapper. Helped by his hot, imaginary girlfriend, he recruits these three jobless folks. After a series of insignificantly small abductions, they eventually go big, thus starting a series of hilarious events which would change their life- for good or worse.

The screenplay is least predictable and completely stuffed with goodies. The narrative fluidity in Soodhu Kavvum- as it neatly establishes each character and hints at the arrival of new ones- deserves a mention. The players are not bumbling idiots pretending to be ace criminals. There's a never-ending struggle to make the best of the situation and try to rise on top. I feel the confidence, the relentless desire to plate a product brimming with finesse and the sharp vision exhibited by this new breed of filmmakers (most of them Naalaya Iyakkunar alumni; except the very talented Balaji Tharaneetharan and Thiagarajan Kumararaja.) While some of them haven't thought twice before shunning songs sequences in favor of narrative demands, Nalan Kumarasamy beautifully infuses tiny fantasy interludes to his film's benefit. Also, I hope this film makes so much money that he gets a bigger budget for VFX (which was hilariously bad here) in his next films.

I cannot recall the last time I laughed so much watching a Tamil film. There are so many lines which will be quoted forever in every friend circle. This is cult stuff. Unlike Santhanam's brand of comedy which is so conspicuously aimed at laughs, the jokes here are delivered so wryly that they sound all the more funnier. The scene which I laughed the most for is one which wouldn't even have been funny on paper. Set in a dark room made visible through greenish night-vision goggles, where our kidnappers grope in the emptiness while getting beaten up mercilessly, it had me in splits. 

Orey kallu la pala maanga. In a film populated with men, there's a possibility of things getting a bit dull, making it harder to sustain the audience's interest. I am not sure if our people are cut out for a Guy Ritchie-ish film. In spite of what we say about women in our films being just a pretty face, and expecting them to have a meatier role, in truth we really have gotten used to seeing them around- even if it is just for songs. Not having them around would turn most movies into unwatchable sausage fests. In Soodhu Kavvum's case, having a girl hang out with these bunch of crazy kidnappers would hardly be appropriate and would require a lot of explaining. To get around this issue, Kumarasamy turns Sanchita Shetty's Shalu into a manic pixie dream girl who exits solely in Das' imagination. By doing this, he gets to place an eye-candy in the frame and gains the artistic freedom to do whatever the hell he wishes to do with her, while still making it appear believable. In a scene reminiscent of "I Dream of Jeannie" Kumarasamy has her dress up in a swimwear, much to Das' dissatisfaction, having everyone else wish for one such hassle-free, imaginary girlfriend.

The one thing about Hollywood is that their stars are also usually very good actors. Sadly, that cannot be said about the present state of our cinema. Some of our biggest stars are actually very poor actors. It gives me immense joy to announce that Vijay Sethupati has arrived. His performance as the gray-haired, fake Wayfarer sporting, broken-english speaking Das serves the script to a tee.  He has a great screen presence and leading man quality that so many new actors lack. I just learnt from Wiki that he is 35 years old. It is so damn heartening to see his talent and hard-work pay off.  He is on his way to a much-deserved stardom. If a quick look at a list of his upcoming films is any indication, he is only getting started.

Ever since I started reviewing Tamil films, I have been constantly jealous of the Hindi film industry which has been consistently doling out films which were at least trying to be good and original. I think I can stop worrying for the last few months has seen Tamil cinema earn a group of interesting talent. If they have their Sneha Khanwalkars and Amit Trivedis, we have our own musical talent in Santosh Narayanan. Yet again, he provides a wonderful soundtrack which is so rich and varied. Soodhu Kavvum also gives us a legion of gifted new supporting actors and perfectly cast oldies like MS Bhaskar and Radha Ravi.

Soodhu Kavvum is not without problems though. While Sethupathi sure has an interesting look in the film, if the intention was to pass him off as an older man, I think they didn't quite manage to do that. I also felt the film very easily sidelined its primary villain, who was once made out to be a silent, larger than life and invincible badass cop. When pushing characters into territories which are hard to get out of, it is necessary for writers to better have some trick up their sleeve to make them come out of the same situation in an acceptable manner. The pre-interval Deus ex machina involving a toy helicopter comes to mind. Though the film is thoroughly entertaining, the final act felt a tad underwhelming- given the scenes which lead up to it.

Soodhu Kavvum is so damn entertaining that you cannot help but love it despite its imperfections.