There are so many filmmakers who have really good intentions and genuine care for the society sustaining the interest of the viewer is utmost important to create the intended impact. Debutante director Era.Saravanan’s ‘Kathukutti’ is a film that aspires educate and entertain and drag our attention towards a few relevant issues. To know how well the aspiration has been achieved read on the review.
Arivazhagan aka Arivu (Narain) is an MCA gold medalist who takes up farming as his profession by choice. He roams around as a drunkard during free time and creates problems to others. But he has another side. He is also a socially conscious youngster who would stand up for the cause of farmers. His father Santhanam a perspective-oriented politician belonging to the opposition party sees his son’s activities as a threat to his long held aspiration of getting an election seat to contest as an MLA.
As the party leadership decides to nominate youngsters in many constituencies Arivu gets the MLA ticket as mark of honor Santhanam’s loyalty to the party. The ruling party also fields a youngster as their MLA candidate and he has the support of the local big shot who is the district Secretary of the party. As campaign trail moves favorable to Arivu, his competitor manipulates the suicide of a farmer and projects Arivu as the reason behind the suicide. Who wins the election is told in the rest.
First of all writer-director Era.Saravanan has to be praised with standing ovation for portraying some of the burning issues affecting Tamil Nadu in the way that makes the right impact among the audience. The film speaks about farmers’ suicide and the politics behind that. It also explains why farmers are left to end their life even in a state that has successfully implemented many freebie schemes. The film also deals with politics being controlled by people with money and muscle power. While doing so the film also does not spare the voter’s mindset of expecting cash for their vote. Special kudos for explaining the Methane Extraction project planned in Tanjore district and what would be its effects on agriculture, eco system and the health and life of people.
The film has dealt with so many issues yet it is entertaining to the large extent. The script has scope for romance, comedy, family sentiment and portrayal of human relationships and all these ingredients in the right and enjoyable proportions. Especially the portrayal of the lead hero and his family is commendable.
Narain as the lead hero has given his best having fully understood the needs of such a strong and multilayered character. His accent comes as a problem initially but after a point it fades away or we are made to forget about that.
The lead female character of this film is not just the arm candy of the hero and she is more socially conscious than the hero and she is saner and focused than him. She is the one who is more concerned about farming, nature and the preserving of ecological balance than aterialistic comforts. Shrusthi Dange can be proud of getting such a character at a very early stage in her acting career and also for pulling it off without any glitches. Her smile deserves a special mention. The film has extracted the best from comedian Soori after a long time. The film has many sumptuously funny moments thanks to the witty one-liners and dialogue delivery of this Soori which may sound repetitive.
Director Bharathiraja’s brother Jayaraj who has acted has Narain’s father, reminds his brother in looks and voice and his acting is not bad. The actor who comes as the heroine’s father and as the man who launches a one-man struggle against the Methane project gives a neat performance and makes the right impact that the scenes involving him are intended to make. Special kudos to the old woman who has acted as the affectionate grandmother of Narain.
Songs composed by debutante Arul Dev are listenable ably supported meaningful lyrics. Re-recording fits the bill. Santosh Sriram’s cinematography is adequate. More time of the first half has been taken to establish the characters and the setting of the film and the core point of the film begins only towards the interval. Especially the item number that comes at the beginning could have been done away with and there is an over dosage of the drunkard antics of the lead character. The film’s technical values may not be of great standards.
The film goes preachy beyond a point but that cannot be a big complaint as the film’s main intent itself is to highlight the problems faced by farmers and to campaign for the real welfare of Tamil people. This can be termed as a ‘Campaign Film’ without forgetting that this campaign is for the common good. Despite this the issues dealt in the film and its setting may be alien to a section of urban audience.
Nevertheless 'Kathukutti' is a film that should not be missed by every Tamilian.
Verdict- ‘Kathukutti’ wins as a film that would do well in attracting everyone’s attention towards some burning issues of Tamil Nadu.
