Just as much as it is a compelling mode of entertainment, cinema is a tantalising yet vicious maze of opportunity, money making and involves talent combined with a lot of luck to evolve as a success story. Beginning to this arduous endeavour is creativity. However, not all story on paper translates into equally gripping experience on screen. But what if there is no story at all? Four new faces in the pivotal plot and many other equally talented new comers in every frame, with many of the leading stars thrown in as cameo, here comes Parthiepan, marking his stamp once again. But story? The quest for one is the theme of 'Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam'.
Thamizh (Santhosh ) is a highly talented, yet struggling director, waiting for his big break. His stories are very well appreciated, but that's the end of the story. However, he has an understanding wife Daksha (Akhila), who agrees to marry Thamizh and also earn for the family, until he finds his feet firm on cine ground. Along with Thamizh are Arvind (Dinesh), Shirley (Sahithya), Murali (Vijay Ram) and most Seenu (Thambi Ramaiah) who all are waiting for their big day in the cine industry, as the extraordinary talents themselves. And they set out to think and think every day on how and what is the story. They are battered for money, Thamizh's life is twisted out of shape, many a misunderstanding crop up, but there seems to be no end to this tunnel where they want to lock the right story that is both unique and appealing to everyone. In the effort to make an impressive movie for the audience, the team works relentlessly towards a script that should impress a big producer and earn them the ticket to fame. After all, is the impressive story ever realised? There lies the gripping mystery that Parthiepan leaves us to relish and expand our very own creativity on.
The winning formula of this movie is proper understanding of audience's psychology. The film, as touted, has a very bleak thread of story, but stands super strong on screenplay and Parthiepan's matchless narration. Thamizh and Daksha make one of the most understanding couple ever. Santhosh through his struggle to strike a healthy balance between a passionate yet unstable career and a romantic and almost eccentric wife, has portrayed the various shades of a man's emotional battle. Although Daksha's role might irk a bit, it seems to be the right decision to have taken at every stage. Vijay ensures hearty sparkles of laughter with his timely presence in comedy and equally strong dialogue delivery. Thambi Ramaiah is an extraordinary performer, and has been aptly chosen for this role. His role might seem to irritate and even villainous at times, but it's his presence that threads the whole story together, taking it in the sequence that it flows in. And Parthiepan's touch is a show stealer.
Rajarathinam deserves to be lauded for his spectacular camera and angles, including the right hues for each scene, setting the mood right in every frame. For a movie as convincing as this, without a story and only a theme, it takes the right man on editing for the right impact of the screenplay; Sudharshan is bang on his job. Taking the cake is the apt usage of so many leading stars, instead of scattering them over the same song. Speaking of songs, the film has only two complete songs on screen, thus making for a hinder-free smooth yet gripping screenplay. The underlying theme that seems to have been stressed is that every minute is uncertain and nobody knows what the future holds for us. Be it your instincts or your intuition that you follow, the future is a box wrapped tightly, that you wait in anticipation to open. Driving this point home in one of the most captivating screenplays of recent times, with hardly any concrete story to stick to and an unbelievable climax, Parthiepan has ensured that 'Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam' is one of a kind of an entertainer that glues you to the seat all the two and half hours, without any worry of the clock ticking.
Verdict : Thoroughly entertaining along the lines of uncertainty
Stars : 3
