The coming together of Suriya the producer, his brother Karthi and director Pandiraj itself signaled something special. 'Kadai Kutty Singam' impresses with its perseverance in delivering its message of the importance of familial ties in a rural setting that is relevant to the rest of the world too.
Guna Singham (Karthi) is the only son of the twice married Rana Singam (Sathyaraj)born after five elder sisters. A hardcore farmer, Gunasingam goes all out to shower love on his elder sisters. The grown up daughters of his sisters Chellamma (Priya Bhavani Shankar) and Aandaal (Arthana Binu) are both vying for his attention. In the meantime Guna Singam sends Kodiarasu (Chandru) a caste obsessed local politician to jail for the honor killing of a lower caste boy. The hero also falls in love with Kannukkinyaal (Sayyeshaa) the niece of the villain. Problems arise in the family as the sisters are hell bent on getting one of the girls married to Gunasingam and externally the villain too is baying for his blood. How the farmer with the heart of gold keeps his family from falling apart and also subdues his enemy at the same time forms the rest of the screenplay.
Karthi is a complete package as the hero in this film continuing the fine form he hit with 'Theeran Adhigaram Ondru'. He spiritedly gets into the character of the farmer, and since his passion shows in his body language the long drawn speeches about the importance of agriculture don't sound like propaganda preaching. When it comes to sentiments his expressions play out like a symphony one moment melting with love for his sisters and the other showing angry desperation when they dont reciprocate. He has also excelled in the fight scenes transforming into a bull mowing several henchmen into the air to all corners of the frame. Sathyaraj as the family patriarch is a strong presence and like Kattappa, Ranasingham too is a memorable role for him in his career as a character artiste. Sayyeshaa the leading lady looks pretty and has tried her best to fit into the role of the village belle. Priya Bhavani Shankar and Arthana Binu excel, especially when they get to know Karthi's love for Sayyeshaa with the former going all aggressive and the latter bottling up her emotions. Viji Chandrasekhar and Banupriya as the mothers and Mounika, Yuvarani, Deepa, Inthumathi Manikandan and Jeevitha Krishnan as the sisters are the pillars on whom the entire screenplay hinges and its a standout performance by each one of them and all of them have ample scope to own atleast one scene each. Soori after a long time delivers as a comedian with most of his jokes hitting the target while Saravanan, Ilavarasu, Marimuthu, Manoj Kumar John Vijay, Ponvannan and co bring their vast experience into the mix.
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The first half is filled with many a lighter moment alternated by treading on issues like farmers plights, honor killing and contemporary politics. The large family and its many colorful characters power the screenplay forward. The second half after a lag with the dejavu feeling the villains give then thankfully moves into sentiment mode. The one long sequence in the temple where the entire family gathers for the great grandmother is excellently conceived and executed. In that episode the emotions play out organically and when each one true character comes to the fore the eyes of the audience wells up with tears. The dialogues are sharp and potent getting the applause for being topical as well.
On the downside, when conflicts are so convincing in the family itself the presence of the cliched villain and his villainy are unnecessary to the story. The sentiments after a point get repetitive and is tiring. Too much reliance on talking heads make the duration of the film seem even longer.
Velraj the biggest plus of 'Kadai Kutty Singam', with his choice of color, lighting and subjective angles transports the viewer into the green countryside. A couple of songs by D.Imman are hummable but his background score gives a sense of deja vu. Ruben packages the lovely footage he was given neatly but the length could have been sharpened. Pandiraj has once again chosen a strong story and has tried to tell it honestly to a great extent but not without commercial compromises. This success would surely be a boost for him to come out with more honest stories as he is one of the few in the current generation who has them.
Verdict : Go for this well told brilliantly enacted rural family entertainer that has something for everyone.
