Sometime back when I watched the trailer of ‘Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal’, I couldn’t help but dismiss it as a vaguely filmed soft romance with young faces like Dulquar Salman and Ritu Varma. There were these usual romantic bits, the friendship and ‘machi’ factor and some thrill bits associated with ‘actor’ Gowtham Vasudev Menon (more on that later). After watching the movie, I had to revoke my initial opinion!!
The movie is the cat and mouse game between Sidharth (Dulquar) and his friend Kaalis (Rakshan) and Meera (Ritu Varma) and her friend Shreya (Niranjani Agathiyan). The movie kicks off with Sidharth playing the yuppy IT guy who has an uber-cool lifestyle with girls and booze. He goes about the same way until his real ‘job’ gets revealed. Then, finally, we are feasted with some more unpredictable twists and turns.
Debutante director Desingh Periyasamy has managed to spin an engaging romantic con caper that was both fun and largely entertaining. The best part of the film was its inherent chillness. We get introduced to a couple of yuppy guys whom we think are happy go lucky, but we are offered more than what we bargained for with a twist in the tale. Then, as we are about to embrace a youthful journey about two young couples making merry in Goa, there comes another twist.
Finally, when we think that the ending might be a serious one, we are once again in for another con drama that outwits our senses in every way. The final touch with Gowtham Menon was the icing on the cake. The performances were not great (except for GVM) because this movie doesn’t demand it. All it required were actors who can be themselves without hampering the proceedings.
Rakshan who seems to have arrived from the small screen does some gimmicks that were spontaneous and fresh. For instance, the scene where he requests Dulquar to call his number so that he could convey the emotions through his ring tone was a sweet and funny touch. Niranjani, who has made her debut with this one also seems to have that natural charm, though her expressions were monotonous.
Ritu and Dulqar fitted the role well and they didn’t seem to be too stressed (as I mentioned, they only needed to be themselves). However, the pick of the lot was Gowtham Menon, surprisingly. How his role was conceptualized and executed was cheerful. He managed to have a great screen presence with his trademark classy style and 'punchy' lines! It was as if a Gowtham Menon 'spoof' was worked into the narrative!
The movie had some loose knots that defied logic. Also, some basic questions arise like why should a guy chase a fraudulent female even after succumbing to an embarrassment of his lifetime? The con gimmicks were also questionable at certain points. However, the movie has got some zing in the screenplay and a minty cool freshness in the casting, which makes it a well worthy family entertainer!
Verdict: Family entertainer!
Rating: 3 / 5
