'Kolamavu Kokila' - Hilarious Rangoli
One film that had all the right buzz going for it this year is 'Kolamavu Kokila' especially after the "Kalyana vayasudhaan" song featuring Nayanthara and Yogi Babu went viral. Does the film with novel and dark theme live upto its hype remains to be seen.
Kokila (Nayanthara) is a meek girl who is the sole bread earner of her family comprising of a good for nothing dad (R S Sivaji) a terminally ill mom (Saranya Ponvannan) and a college going sister (Jacqueline). In her quest to save her mother Kokila faces a dilemma whether to give up her modesty to rich men or take up a dangerous illegal assignment and earn the fifteen lakhs she needs. She chooses the latter and whether she succeeds or not is told in an entertaining manner with the laugh out loud moments few and far in between.
Nayanthara as Kokila carries the film on her shoulders more by her star power screen presence than her acting skills. The scene where she maintains her meek demeanor even as she orders the killing of two people gets the applause as well as her outwitting both the villains and the cops in the end. One cannot deny that at times her expressions border on artificiality and her character is written rather flatly. Yogi Babu as the one sided lover of Nayanthara on entry gets a thunderous welcome equal to the leading lady and he does not disappoint one bit. Right from pining for Nayanthara to getting caught in a huge mess because of her and trying to quit the scene he rules. Equaling Yogi Babu and even surpassing him in comedy is YouTuber Anbu as the one sided lover of Jacqueline and the hyper henchman Tony, both of whom are great finds for Tamil cinema. Its a different take too for Mottai Rajendhran who delights as the baddie who rhymes philosophy. Television anchor Jacqueline on debut has carried her role to perfection getting her own scene in the climax when she lures one bad man after another to his death. Saranya Ponvannan does her usual thing as the cancer stricken mother but in the second half she gets a flip of character that brings the house down. R.S.Sivaji, Harish Peradi, Saravanan, Arandhangi Nisha and the rest of the cast all have their bits to score in the screenplay.
The first positive of 'Kolamavu Kokila' is the fresh subject that breaks stereotypes and manages to stay dark till the end. The humor too is refreshing and mostly off the beaten track which makes it all the more enjoyable.
On the downside in between the hilarious sequences there are longer ones that defy both logic and clever writing to hold the audience attention. The reason that Kokila takes to such a horrific crime is weak and since her characterization is also flat we dont really travel with her in her journey. Both the criminals and the cops are pedestrian and there is no real tension to pep up the scenes when the heroes are on the run.
As expected Anirudh is the backbone of 'Kolamavu Kokila' both with his super hit songs punctuating the sequences as well as the background score that leans heavily on Spanish strings. Sivakumar Vijayan plays with lights to add reality while Nirmal's cuts is stylish without going too jazzy. Debutante Nelson has delivered a true blue dark comedy that works does bring the laughs but has not pushed the boundaries.
Verdict : Go for the hilarious comedy sequences that will have you in splits
