Recent comedies have regularly been throwing logic to the winds for the sake of laughs
but Charlie Chaplin is probably the first movie where the lack of logic and
coherence extends to the very title of the film. Neither the characters nor proceedings
in the film have any connection to the master comedian of the silent era (in fact,
considering the sizes of Prabhu and Prabhu Deva, the heroes here, Laurel and Hardy
might have been a more apt title!). But as in movies like
Lovely and the recent Pammal
K Sambamdham, the success of the movie in making us laugh goes a long way in helping
us overlook the lack of logic.
Ramakrishnan(Prabhu) is blessed with a wife Mythili(Abhirami) who looks at every action
of his with a suspicious eye. Thiru(Prabhu Deva), a youth on the brink of poverty, is
helped by the couple and even stays in their guest house. Susi(Gayatri Raghuram) is
Thiru's lover. Ramakrishnan, in a weak moment, hires a prostitute Thilothama(Monal) at
the egging of his friend Viswam(Livingston). He ultimately regrets his action but not
before Thilothama shows up at the guesthouse followed by Mythili. Ramakrishnan saves
the day by introducing Thilothama as Thiru's girlfriend and Thiru goes along with the
plan.
The movie takes a long time(the entire first half actually!) to give us even the hint
of a story but once there, it never lets the fun ebb. It successfully employs the Crazy
Mohan formula of lies, cover-ups and mistaken identities to keep us laughing on a
fairly regular basis. The screenplay uses several clever ploys to create a spiral of
lies as Monal bounces between playing the wife of both Prabhu Deva and Prabhu depending
on the situation. The events at the wedding and in the hotel at Goa have been constructed
especially well.
I mentioned in the review for Vivaramaana Aalu that stand-alone
jokes that might sound funny on paper rarely work in movies unless they accompany funny
events that help set up the jokes. This movie proves this once again. The director
manages to find some ideas that are inherently funny(like Gayatri's regular
misinterpretation of Prabhu Deva's acts) and then adds lines that propel the scenes
forward and increase the fun. Admittedly, there are a few scenes, like Prabhu's visit
to the doctor, that are hilarious solely because of the dialogs. On the other hand, the
initial scenes involving Livingston aren't funny and his character comes off looking
mean-spirited rather than just weak-minded.
The opening of the movie tells us exactly where the movie is going but the length of
the climax and the amount of sentiments involved both test our patience. While the
happenings at the court are boring, Livingston's argument about Vindhya's responsibility
for his womanising ways is silly and distasteful.
Prabhu Deva typical innocent look and downplayed way of speaking help his character
here and he makes us laugh at several places. Prabhu too has his moments with his
wide-eyed expression of surprise and /or dismay being very effective(like when he
realises he has been talking to his wife and not Gayatri). Gayatri matches Prabhu Deva
in the dance sequences but her dresses seem vulgar for her figure. Abhirami is adequate.
Monal looks better than in her previous outings and displays a knack for comedy while
Livingston and Vindhya have nothing much to do. Newcomer Bharani comes up with some
catchy tunes that allow Prabhu Deva and Gayatri to show off their dance wares.
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