Ennai Nokki Paayum Thotta

Both Manirathnam and Gautham Menon has this issue when it comes to their serious…very serious films, they don’t go deep enough, or, as a good friend of mine, Joe Milton would say, just “grazing the grass” (better said in Tamizh, “nunippul meythal”).

But here, those mere sampling in collection would have happened if the director had not made the right decision of casting Dhanush in the lead as a young man in the middle of a muddle, ridding the pests that are creating the mess, I may say so.

From the word “go” Dhanush throws himself to the role of a bloke madly in love with a novice actress, getting mutual about it, and then, face the wrath of the actress guardian who may have been abusing her (Gautham must have taken the later sub-plot from Iruvar…but then, what “sub-plot” when it is a norm in the industry)

While the director is busy trying to his best the make the scenes look as gritty as possible at this side of Tarantino, Dhanush looks like he walked out of the film you like into the film you like better only the canvass is not what you wanted. Or, what I wanted.

Gautham’s films, at many times, ran the gamut between truly exciting thrillers (Kakka Kakka), to flipside romances (MinnalE, Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya), and somewhere in between. His action sequences are not terrifically exciting and they are not cheapskate gymnastic events either. He knows about holding guns stylishly according to Hollywood and seem to have firm grip in shooting shootouts. But other than that, I have a hard time convincing myself that he is the next Manirathnam, mainly because I am not even fully taken by Mani myself.

Anyway, back to this film. The biggest issue I have is the flashbacks. A Tamil film is not a Tamil film without flashbacks, it’s a given. It’s an easy narrative tool to help the audience with the understanding if the plot gets murky…but then, most plots are as clear as of the counter aquarium so, they shouldn’t be an issue.

But never since Pulp Fiction (1994) have I seen timeline being reworked in the narrative line like this film…it goes front and back so often I felt like Marcus Brody in Egyptian market (Indy Jones fans know what I am talking about). Flashbacks are good device, for narrative clarity purposes…and also for the style, but too many is too much.

Perhaps it is because of that, that the flashback is centred on the protagonist’s feelings, reactions and weighing the emotional core of the scenes, we don’t feel much for other characters…they are just scissored fortified papers.

And so, my verdict? It gets interesting second half onwards when the thriller element kicks in, but still, the mentioned murkiness keeps us less glued to the seat, let alone, send you to the edge of your seat.

Only Dhanush manages to get our attention during each scene. Yes, he gets to kick butt… but the most pleasant surprise is Sasikumar. Playing a cop, and Dhanush brother, with the “key” to exposing bad guys, he appears in few important scenes and is the actual backbone of the films. He brings comfort to the otherwise tense scenes, except, of course, Dhanush is the protagonist and there are usually no rooms in Tamizh films for two strong leading men…er…hum….

Then, the question of Dhanush kicking butts….It has never been established that he knows how to kick butt…but as all long-suffering Tamil film fans have learned the last sixty years or so, when a hero suddenly becomes butt-kicking superhero…just shut up and enjoy our butts off.

On the audio side, as usual as with most of the current Tamil films, the music never quite registered, and songs appeared at most inappropriate moment, for me (especially the last romantic one, out of nowhere, right in the middle of a very tensed, stressed-out situation), but hey, Tamil film, right?'

I am not much of a fan of Gautham to rank this amidst his other “magnum opuses” but fans of Dhanush can definitely carry this high up on their shoulders for the man has proved to be quite an asset. He can really make the messiest meal taste delicious.  This is not a messy meal if it has been for the fact that before you take a mouthful someone is talking about how each potion was cooked in detail. Sheesh….