KANNUKKUL NILAVU

A movie review by Balaji Balasubramaniam

1999 was not a good year for Vijay. After a dream run that lasted more than 2 years, his last 3 movies (Endrendrum Kaadhal, Nenjinile and Minsaara Kannaa) have been flops and his box-office clout is in question. Naturally, he was looking towards Kannukkul Nilavu to re-establish himself as the forerunner of the brat-pack ie the younger generation of actors. One wouldn't blame him. The movie brings together the same team - Fassil behind the camera, Ilaiyaraja scoring the music and Shalini as the heroine - that was behind the hugely successful Kaadhalukku Mariyaadhai. But it is questionable if this film, a slow-paced and plodding movie with a few clever, inspired moments, can even come close to, let alone repeat, the previous movie's success.

Fassil has had an enviable track record in tamil cinema. Apart from Kaadhalukku Mariyaadhai, his resume also includes vastly different blockbusters like Poovizhi Vaasalile and Varusham 16. Most of his past movies have banked on a strong story and Kaadhalukku Mariyaadhai, which did not have much of a story to speak of, was rescued by a memorable climax. Here too the story is quite good. Fassil adopts a good technique, starting off lightly and then revealing more and more of the hero's background as the story unravels. There are some unexpected twists and clever moments. But instead of keeping us hooked, the unhurried pace hurts throughout and at the end of a weak climax, the entire movie seems pointless. Definitely not what one expects from a director of Fassil's calibre.

Gautham Prabhakar(Vijay) is in Pondicherry looking for a friend from the past called Gayatri. With nothing more than a name and her description, he is pretty much lost. A gang of friends, led by Surya(Charlie) and Chandra(Dhamu), is ticked off by him and leads him along, promising to find his Gayatri. But Hema(Shalini), another of their friends, soon realises the seriousness of Gautham's search and decides to help him find Gayathri. Digging into his past, her father Dr.Rajasekhar(Raghuvaran), learns that Gautham, in Kachori for doing music research, had run into Gayathri. An encounter with Gayatri and a gang of three friends, Shanmugam('Thalaivaasal' Vijay), Prakash and Sounder, has led to his present state.

The movie does have its positive points. The initial scenes are funny (especially Vijay's actions and dialogs during his initial meeting with Charlie and Dhamu and their gang of girlfriends in the hotel) and there is some suspense regarding Vijay's state of mind - whether he is really searching for Gayatri or playing with the friends. And his explanations of his meetings with Gayatri and the way they actually occurred (as revealed later) are very ingeniously picturised.

But sandwiched between such scenes are scenes where almost nothing happens and the story moves at a snail's pace. One such place is when Vijay ends up in Charlie's house at night and the ensuing melee. The whole sequence achieves nothing and turns out to be just an elaborate setup for an unnecessary, average song. There are some well-timed surprises and twists scattered throughout the movie. The real object of Vijay's search, what happened to Gayatri, her actual fate - all these are unexpected and happen at key moments. With each twist, the viewer perks up with the promise of the story heating up, only to see it settle down once again into a lethargic pace. The romance between Vijay and Shalini seems forced and the way Raghuvaran sets the stage for this is so obvious its laughable.

The climax itself is a colossal cop-out. We have seen better movies like Amarkkalam being let down by a weak climax. In the light of the leisurely pace of the happenings so far, the damage is much more here. The build-up is good(though the chase here winds it way through a container yard and a busy street to wind up in front of a small house in the middle of nowhere!) and one keeps waiting for the life-infusing twist which never happens.

Vijay has matured as an actor. While his voice modulation and lip-syncing for the songs could use some tutoring, his performance is good here. Though never exhibiting the manic energy that would make this kind of performance believable, it is a good effort nevertheless. His actions when he tries to mix comedy earn boos from the audience but he takes a turn for the better as the movie progresses. His best scenes are when he is in the house with Srividya and Shalini. Shalini though doesn't have much to do. Raghuvaran is dignified while Charlie and Dhamu evoke laughs in the 'haunted' house. The newcomer(Kerala import?) who plays Gayatri is pretty and makes an impression in the short time she has.

Ilaiyaraja, a permanent fixture in Fassil's movies, has tuned some melodious numbers that should find their way to the top of the music charts. Roja Poondhottam... is the pick of the lot and is picturised well. Oru Naal Oru Kanavu... and Nilavu Paattu... are the other songs that are pleasant to hear.