Aadukalam Movie Review

Cast: Dhanush, Taapsee Pannu
Music: G. V. Prakash Kumar
Directed: Vetrimaran
Produced: Kathiresan
Release date: January 14, 2011

Directed by Vetri Maaran, Aadukalam takes place in the temple city Madurai and there are many expectations over this new film. Kathiresan is the producer for this movie under the Sun Pictures banner.

Music is composed by G V Prakash Kumar. Already audio was a huge success in entire Tamil Nadu.

1. “Yathe Yathe” – G. V. Prakash Kumar
2. “Otha Sollaala” – Velmurugan
3. “Porkkalam Tamil-Rap” – Yogi B
4. “En Vennilave” – KK
5. “Ayyayo” – S. P. Balasubramanyam , S. P. B. Charan, Prashanthini
6. “Warriors” English Rap – Yogi B
7. “A Love Blossoms” – Navin Iyer..

This uneven and shaky playground will invariably rank top for 5 straight weeks on Sun TV’s ‘Top 10 Movies’. Sun TV spamming is always at its best. Aadukalam will see more of it. “Enna Landha…?” “Indhaaru… Kondaepuduvaen…” – inspired by Paruthiveeran with dittoed dialogues – sans making little to no changes – could elicit applause since directors have identified them as applause generators. What’s in a slang (or accent) that makes it worth applauding? Consequently, we lead directors into penning easier mass recognition formulae.

Dhanush is a “cock-raiser”, mentored by an expert “cock-raiser”, Ealam Writer Jayabalan, but when Dhanush fields the “cock” he raised and wins, Jayabalan’s ego attempts to sabotage Dhanush’s plans of surviving in life with a railway canteen and also of marrying Tapasee (Irene). This turns into a bitter feud which Jayabalan attempts to seek revenge for, without Dhanush’s knowledge.

Dhanush’s maturity and professionalism in acting mutates him into slang and accent he never grew up with. His comical timing is perfect along with the double entendre of “cock… cock… big… big…” when he explains to the Anglo-Indian Grandma of Tapasee what his profession is. Dhanush, surely, is a show-stealer displaying profound prowess in acting – costumes, body language and hairdos of perfection to fit the bill. Vetrimaran’s staging deserves kudos but Tapasee (as Irene) performs the “walkathon” which any heroine does when loved unreciprocated.

When all is well, beginning with familiar sequences, the prolonged cliché-ridden status quo leads to the impending cockerel fight – more intense among human characters than roosters. When the normalcy of the first half turns into a fit of jealousy, rivalry, feud and intense competition, the director signals his arrival into the script, commanding every unit under his powers towards sheer execution. However, unfortunately, if only Vetrimaran had gone a little more confident of himself, he would have gone one (more) up after Polladhavan.

It is actually with the plot points working enough to stir anticipation (in the first half) that makes it worthy of applause. The moment he led it to some peaked anticipation, he won the game but in subsequent rounds, he pathetically lost to lack of confidence in adhering to the original plot. In the second half, the script literally searches for a plot in every street of Madurai where the film’s scenes actually take place. Winning in league matches, quarter and semi finals does not qualify one for the World Cup. Only the ultimate final match can fetch the Cup.

In Aadukalam, Vetrimaran pitifully loses in the quarter finals itself. The exhaustion of story in the first half has led the director to grope for a convincing plot by pitting characters against each other unnecessarily. Wonder why films need an interval block conforming to the popular misconception in Tamil cinema. This is no Mega Serial where you have to stimulate your audience to come back the next day. Theater audiences inevitably come back to the screens after performing minor rituals and snacks.

Any insecure director need not bother about the intermission since theater gates remain closed after the first half. And your loyal audiences too do not ask for your rival film Siruthai’s second half to play after Aadukalam’s first half. The second half is where Vetrimaran’s insecurity fully shows. If directors broke this jinx, they would qualify for “auteur” positions. Besides all these, joining the Madurai league does not cushion anyone, guaranteeing a pan Tamil Nadu status.

To alleviate this unwelcome trend, audiences could start to “Like” “I Hate Madurai Films” Pages on Facebook. The cluster of directors in Tamil Cinema creates a Madurai overkill which needs immediate remedy. Madurai would plead redemption from the directors who project the city as a burial ground. Aadukalam had at least one scene to show the real “Madurai” – the “Thoonga Nagaram” which offers “Mallipoo Idlies” at midnight when Dhanush and Tapasee go on their first date.

Madurai could well be explored from many other facets of life and emotions, not bathing its people in blood and feud. Aadukalam meanders along plot points in both the first and the second halves with the contrivance filling it up with further clichés. In search of a plot, the director pits Dhanush, Kishore and Jayabalan against each other some of which remind you of Pudhupettai. The film could be equated with another film as crude as Vamsam without any sort of sophistication in writing a script.

When Dhanush dances on roads after Tapasee says she loves him over another guy is a cliché followed by her subsequent confession of having lied, which is also a cliché. We very well know in advance that she lied. When Jayabalan pretends having lost Dhanush’s money, we know Jayabalan is conspiring. Jayabalan hands over a knife to Dhanush when he goes to meet Kishore – don’t we know here that Jayabalan will call and inform Kishore of Dhanush possessing a knife? The police arrest Dhanush when Tapasee decides to be with Dhanush – Another painstaking cliché.

Subsequently, she walks out back home after Jayabalan speaks ill of Dhanush behind his back and she slits her hand to blood loss (after her father asks her to move to Chennai) which is unwarranted – intended to bring about a twist or a plot point. Dhanush does not have to fight Kishore and beat him up even after he knows Jayabalan pitted each one against the other. Here, Dhanush makes no attempt to explain Kishore the truth. When all ends in a bad note, Kishore is left behind searching for Dhanush in streets when Dhanush merely takes a truck with Tapasee to end the film.

The climax, thus, is a loose end – left open with a lot of questions unanswered on Kishore’s assumption of Dhanush having killed Jayabalan. These questions are unanswered for the sake of convenience – taking rural audiences for granted who will definitely not question your values too in making the film. Finally, throw in Mr. GV Plagiarizer who gets away with Godfather’s music in scenes involving Jayabalan. This GV Plagiarism Kumar (GV Prakash Kumar) further gets away with ripping off ‘Yamma Yamma’ from Vallavan to even a Ramarajan song as gross as ‘Paechi Paechi’.