By the looks of it, the toughest job confronting tamil cinema
directors right now is coming up with a full-length comedy
which manages to atleast keep the viewer in his seat, even if not
making him roll around in laughter, for the full length of the
movie. We recently had Poovellaam
Kaettuppaar which preluded a very funny second half with a
listless romance. And now comes Minsaara Kannaa,
which jogs along easily before becoming enmeshed in sentiments
and cinematic cliches which make the last part of the movie
all but unwatchable.
Indradevi(Kushboo), a garment manufacturer, is an avowed
man-hater. Completely surrounded by a lady staff, which includes
her personal secretary Priya(Rambha), she has single-handedly
ruined competitor Vedachalam(Mansur Ali Khan). Kaasi(Vijay)
finds his way into her house as her driver and also into
Priya's heart. But he keeps sparring with Indradevi's sister
Ishwarya(Monica). Vijay entry into the house is soon followed
by other men including a gurkha and a cook(Manivannan). It is
soon revealed that Kaasi has his own secret agenda for entering
the house.
The first half, though never quite reaching comic heights, is
light-hearted entertainment that produces quite a few chuckles.
And surprisingly, Mansur Ali Khan and his trio of inexpressive
helpers provide many of the laughs. There are many amusing
lines scattered throughout and some clever sequences like Vijay
getting the gurkha salute him. There are two main twists in the
movie and both of these manage to surprise. R.Sunderrajan is
the bungling police inspector, around purely for the comedy.
But a later development involving him and his junior Anumohan
is a funny surprise.
The downturn starts once Vijay's secret is revealed. From then,
onwards, the movie stumbles from one standard tamil cinema
cliche to another. Kushboo's flashback, which describes why she
hates all men, is too serious when compared to the rest of the
movie. The same happened in Kaadhalar
Dhinam too. Do our directors sign a clause that requires them
to insert sentiments into every movie, irrespective of whether
it fits into the movie or not?
Vijay, normally impassive in movies like
Nenjinile and
Thullaadha Manamum Thullum
is more relaxed here cracking one-liners and ribbing everyone
around him. Rambha has nothing much to do while newcomer Monica
struts around in skimpy clothing. Not really good-looking,
her acting limitations too come to the fore during the emotional
scenes. K.S.Ravikumar continues his Hitchcockian tradition of
a cameo appearance but is just irritating here. Karan, who has
been in some weighty roles in movies like
Kannedhire Thondrinaal ,
is wasted.
Deva's tunes two nice melodious numbers Oodhaa Oodhaa...
and Un Paer Solla... though the latter reminds one of
Anbe Nee Enna... from Paandiyan. The snow covered
locales in two song sequences are breath-taking.
Not too much voltage in this Minsaara Kannaa
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