Balachander, Bharathiraja, Bagyaraj... apart from the first letter of their names, these
directors share one other thing - they are all old-time directors who have failed to successfully
make the transition from their generation to the next generation. They all have some true
classics on their resume. But their last few movies revealed an inability to modify their style
to provide movies that appeal to the sensibilities of a new generation of moviegoers. The taut
thriller Julie Ganapathy made me think Balu Mahendra had
bridged the gap between his style and the ‘new’ viewers’ expectations better than the others but
Adhu Oru Kanaakkaalam makes me doubt that thought.
Adhu Oru Kanaakkaalam combines a very Balu Mahendra-esque love story and a prison movie.
The former reminds us of some other movies from the same director while the latter borrows
liberally from his own Mammootty-starrer, Yathra, which itself was a rip-off of First
Blood. So the movie raises a sense of déjà vu in almost every scene. But one thing that
the movie has going for it is that it doesn't have the loudness of many movies in recent times.
It is quite realistic and avoids special effects, superhuman stunt sequences and punch dialogs.
When we first see Srinivasan(Dhanush), he is in jail, serving time for murder. He escapes from
prison and convinces a lorry driver to give him a ride. When the lorry driver recognizes him as
an escaped convict and threatens to hand him over to the police, Srinivasan narrates his story
about his romance with Thulasi(Priyamani) and the circumstances that made him end up in jail.
Considering that the romance between Dhanush and Priyamani is the backbone of the entire movie,
it is given a very unconvincing start by Balu Mahendra. The two were childhood friends and haven’t
met in several years. But it takes them only a couple of days to fall in love. Worse, all we see
is adolescent lust on Dhanush’s part and some emotion bordering on sympathy on Priyamani’s side
before they turn into lovers. So the two never seem believable when they swear undying love to
each other.
But though the romance is unconvincing, the strong undercurrent of humor ensures that we don’t
think about it too much. I had several hearty laughs during the initial meetings between Dhanush
and Priyamani and the conversations Dhanush has with his friends. Balu Mahendra also has this
knack of generating humor out of serious situations and so even clichéd scenes, like ‘Delhi’
Ganesh berating Dhanush when he learns of his romance, had me chuckling. Unfortunately, Balu
Mahendra also tends to be extremely crude and some of the lines had me wrinkling my nose in disgust.
The second half presents scenes seen in every Tamil movie set inside a jail. We have sadistic
wardens hellbent on torturing Dhanush and sympathetic cellmates willing to lend him an ear.
Thankfully, Balu Mahendra drops the humor in this segment, which prevents the movie from turning
into a farce. So you don’t have to see the prisoners singing a group song while drumming on
their aluminum plates(Karunas does sing a song while drumming on his plate but it is a pathos
number that is soulfully sung)!
For most of the movie, Dhanush’s character remains realistic. He is no wimp and is heroic(as
he proves in prison) but realistically so. So it is a little jarring when the climax shows signs
of turning into something along the lines of the climax in
Chatriyan . But things thankfully get more down-to-earth
soon and the character of Shanmugarajan adds a little suspense after that. But considering that
the previous segment had resembled Yathra, I wish Balu Mahendra had retained the wonderful
climax from that movie.
Dhanush looks almost skeletal and the movie takes several digs at his thinness. But he gives a
good performance in a role shorn of the usual dances and fights. He is especially convincing as
the sorrowful convict. Priyamani is good too and has very expressive eyes. But I did feel that a
more expressive face would’ve helped in a couple of scenes. ‘Delhi’ Ganesh once again proves he
is a very natural actor in a clichéd, unsympathetic role. ‘Thalaivaasal’ Vijay appears in a single
scene and gives the impression that he is going to be the main bad guy but disappears after that.
As usual Balu Mahendra doesn’t resort to any regular duets between the lead pair and most of the
songs play in the background. Andha Naal Nyaabagam... is the pick of the lot and is
picturized in typical Balu Mahendra style as the song plays in the background and Dhanush and
Priyamani go about enjoying life as only lovers can. Ennaadaa Nenache... (which was part of the
soundtrack) is missing in the movie but Engo... (which was not on the soundtrack), a
song about a mother, is a good replacement. Though it talks about the usual love, sacrifice,
etc. that are part of all ‘mother songs’, it is somehow very touching. Unnaale Thookkam...
has a Ponmeni Urugudhe... hangover but this unnecessary item number picturized on Dhanush
and Tejasri is awkwardly inserted and is a black spot on the movie.
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