Tamil Cinema got to thank a few TV shows for adapting the spoof genre or to laugh at their own cliches. S.N. Shaktivel’s ‘ITG’ has few shades of a popular TV show, but he had somehow penned a no non-sense script to evoke few laughters throughout the movie.
Plot:
Deepak faces many hurdles in his life as he finds it pretty difficult to crack the code at his work, because of a shrewd co-worker and he is not able to pay settle the debts to a local goon, ‘Soodu’ Baskar. After getting beaten fair and square every day, he tries to find some solace with the help of Alcohol, but in turn Deepak and his friends end up going to jail. The troublesome colleague and ‘Soodu’ Baskar dies in a mysterious way and ‘Naan Kadavul’ Rajendran calls Deepak over the phone to say that he has done his job. Who is ‘Rajendran’ and why he got to help Deepak accomplish his dreams forms the rest of the story with a few more subplots. But all of these are told in a funny manner, so that you might be laughing out real loud in a few scenes.
Cast:
Following the footsteps of Siva Karthikeyan and Ma. Ka. Pa. Anand, Deepak, a well known TV star has made it to the big screen as a hero. Since he is quite familiar among the audience, he doesn’t look like a newbie at all, and that is a major plus for him. Deepak, Kumaravel, and Sentrayan somehow paddle the movie till the interval and post which it is a one man show from, ‘Naan Kadavul’ Rajendran, who literally brings down the roof in many places.
Deepak fits well as a late night show host (sexual problems) and people identifying him as ‘Vetkkappadamal Kelungal’ Saravanan brings some chuckles. Kumaravel and Sentrayan gives fitting support to Deepak with their one liners. Neha Ratnakaran is cute and one must say that she has done a fine job, considering that she’s a debutante.
What Worked:
The comic elements throughout the movie and the subplots involving M.S. Bhaskar and Swaminathan have struck gold. The editing is perfect as the run time is little above 2 hours and the movie does not feature a lot of songs. Rajendran’s dialogue delivery and his antics shoulders the second half and makes us believe that the movie falls under the above average category.
What Not:
The film’s tepid pace in the first half and a bit more trimming towards the climax would have done wonders for this comic movie. Given the plot, the director could have been bit more imaginative to slam more clichés in TV shows.
Verdict: If you do not question cinematic liberties, then you can watch this once at the cinema hall.
Rating : 1.75/5
