Balaji's Thots

After a week’s break since Maappillai kick-started the post-World Cup movie season, Ko hits theaters this Friday. It is one of the more anticipated films of the year and with good reason.

My high expectations about Ko are primarily because cinematographer-turned-director K.V.Anand is in the director’s chair. There are 2 main reasons why I am looking forward to a film by him. First, he is one of the few directors who makes original and smart films. Whether it was the nature of the revenge gotten by Srikanth in Kanaa Kanden or the methods used by Suriya to smuggle goods in Ayan, Anand showed himself to be a director who has his thinking cap on. As a result, both those films were smart and did not take the viewers for granted. Second, he is arguably the best director of action in Tamil cinema today. The foot chase, the car chase and the hand-to-hand fights in Ayan stood out from the improbable and CGI-heavy stunts we usually see and really got the adrenaline flowing and the trailer indicates some good action and stunts in Ko also.

While Simbhu was Anand’s first pick as Ko’s hero, Jiiva stepped in after Simbhu walked out of the project. Its definitely Jiiva’s gain. The actor’s career graph has had a sine wave-like flow so far. While his debut in Aasai Aasaiyaai made us feel that he couldn’t have become a hero if not for his dad R.B.Choudhary’s clout, films like Raam, Dishyum, E and Kattradhu Thamizh convinced that we had a good, versatile actor who didn’t mind taking on some offbeat roles. But since the atrocious Thenaavattu, he has jumped on the masala bandwagon with films like Kacheri Aarambam and Singam Puli (only Siva Manasula Sakthi provided a brief respite). While Ko, where he plays a photo journalist, is once again a masala film, one hopes that it will be significantly better than Jiiva’s previous masala ventures. Karthika, yesteryear actress Radha’s daughter, makes her Tamil debut with Ko after doing films in Telugu and Malayalam and will be hoping to have as long and successful a career as her mom. Piaa, who was introduced to us in Poi Solla Porom and also appeared in films like Aegan and Goa, is also playing a journalist in the film while Ajmal, who hasn’t been seen for a while, is also part of the cast.

After Ayan’s hit soundtrack, K.V.Anand has predictably stuck with Harris Jayaraj for Ko also. Aga Naga…, Amali Thumali… and Netri Pottil… barely make an impression while the melodious Venpaniye… and the fun Gala Gala Gala Gang… fare better. But Harris makes up for those indifferent songs with Ennamo Edho…, an enormously catchy and likeable number. The song is filled with catchy sections, like the echoing starting lines, the Edho Kuviamilla… hook and the Neeyum Naanum… segment. Even the rap bit in the middle hooks us after a few listens. This song’s an absolute winner and with Anand’s penchant for stunning locales and gorgeous visuals, I’m hoping the song’s picturization increases it appeal even further.

After a successful inning as cinematographer, K.V.Anand has 2 critically and commercially successful films under his belt as director. Let’s hope that he makes it a hat-trick with Ko…