Solid: Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nayanthara
Director: Vignesh Shivan
Simply in the beginning of the third act, after the central battle is resolved and Rambo (Vijay Sethupathi) has his epiphany, he goes to a tea store and orders tea with salt — to offer him some disgrace, apparently. He then walks over to an outdated man and asks him to take off his slippers. “Ammava vittuttu poviyanu kelunga,” (ask me if I’ll ever depart my mother once more) he says. The outdated man obliges. “Adinga enna,” (slap me) he urges. Phatak, phatak, phatak, Rambo involves his senses. That is maybe Vignesh Shivan’s message to critics who include expectations.
To be clear, pricey reader, I didn’t anticipate something unreasonable. Regardless of the trailers’ warnings, I went anticipating solely a Vignesh Shivan-esque comedy — an irreverent, lighthanded, faculty boy-level tackle semi-serious points. For Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal, even that’s an excessive amount of. As a result of it’s simply an escapist male fantasy stretched on for too lengthy.
Rambo, a toddler led to imagine he’s jinxed, grows up trying away from the world for worry of burning it down. Kanmani (Nayanthara) is an impartial girl with two younger siblings to look after. Khatija (Samantha) is a girl pushed to be with an abusive boyfriend. One high quality Vinayaga Chaturti day, each these beautiful, sort ladies with issues of their very own, fall in love with Rambo.
Unable to decide on between the 2 — extra like desirous to have the cake and eat it too — he creates elaborate, convoluted, manipulative ploys to wriggle out of the state of affairs, as a person is wont to do, I suppose. Within the course of, as one would have guessed, he places them each, and the viewers, by means of by no means ending distress. But, the women present up again and again to repair his life, as ladies are wont to do, I’m advised.
As a bathe thought, Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal is a incredible concept. A person who believes that he’s so unfortunate that he must run away from his mom to remain alive will get love and success twice over. The chances are limitless. However Vignesh Shivan doesn’t present the talent or inclination to increase on that concept in any attention-grabbing means.
As a substitute, he depends on gimmicks. Casting Prabhu as a chat present host, dance grasp Kala as a longing spinster, Sreesanth because the loser abusive boyfriend and so on. to overcompensate for shallow, underwritten characters. There’s even a working gag about Rambo complicated the 2 girls into one thing, so he by no means has to take accountability for his actions.
He levels elaborate cons, not simply by Rambo, but in addition by Kanmani and Khatija to maneuver the narrative ahead. He creates a narrative the place nothing is what we’re advised it’s. For example, at one level, Kanmani claims to Khatija that Rambo has married her. In response, Khatija claims that Rambo slept along with her. Seems each of them have been mendacity. Such issues preserve occurring time and again. As a substitute of conserving us on the hook about what’s true, this deception will get predictable and tiresome.
This additionally impacts the tempo and nature of the movie itself. The camaraderie between Kanmani and Khatija itself is suspect, for it’s too simple. Redin Kingsley because the designated idiot is hilarious. However, these jokes really feel misplaced in a movie that in any other case isn’t heavy on jokes.
The one — two — good issues about Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal are the main girls. Each of them are drop-dead beautiful, somebody give the costume designers a bonus, please! Who knew a koodai (wire basket) on Nayanthara’s shoulder may look this good. Additionally it is an absolute pleasure to observe Nayanthara dance in ‘two two two,’ even when there isn’t as a lot talent as coronary heart in it.
I anxious, I need to admit, that Khatija will find yourself being projected as considerably of a unfastened cannon, given her wardrobe is trendy, whereas Kanmani, in contrast, is conventional. Glad that didn’t occur. And Samantha, for her share, carries her fashion unapologetically. However watching a two and a half hour lengthy movie for the wardrobes of the 2 stars is an excessive amount of to ask of anybody.
Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal needs to be a lighthearted comedy, however the jokes barely land. It must have good romance for the conundrum to work, however the love story depends lazily on age-old Tamil cinema tropes — you already know the beating villains who harass the heroine kind. It aspires, like many of the director’s works do, to pay homage to Tamil movies, however the pastiche is sporadic and lukewarm. It’s as if Vignesh Shivan, like Rambo, couldn’t make up his thoughts both, making a bland hotchpotch.
Like Love Panna Uttarnum from Paava Kadhaigal, Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal explores a social taboo — polyamory. However similar to the earlier endeavour, this movie too has no sense or sensibility to deal with any form of complexity. As a substitute, it simply sticks to clichés. Two ladies who’re “motherly”. Ladies checking out males’s emotional points. Ladies resolving life-changing issues as a result of a person couldn’t be bothered taking accountability. Ladies displaying up and getting the person’s whole household married. Ladies making Okay Balachander film-level sacrifices. Simply ladies doing all of the work for the person to appear to be the great man. Oh effectively!
