May 01 2012
Oru Kal Oru Kannaadi
With his first two films Siva Manasula Sakthi and Boss Engira Baskaran, director M. Rajesh earned a reputation for making light-hearted films where comedy and romance, in that order, dominate the proceedings. The formula worked twice and he makes no effort to deviate from it in his third film Oru Kal Oru Kannaadi. But it does feel like a step back as the mean streak in the humor and the feeble story take it closer to his first film SMS rather than the much more enjoyable BeB.
Saravanan(Udayanidhi Stalin), who works as an usher at Sathyam cinemas, falls for Meera(Hansika Motwani), who is training to be an air hostess. With his friend Partha(Santhanam) in tow, Saravanan makes several efforts to impress Meera but they have no effect as Meera accepts him as a friend but tells him that she has no feelings for him.
Though the movie has an interesting hook at the start, the backstory that leads to that point has no substance whatsoever. While Hansika’s role is shaped well, Udayanidhi Stalin comes off looking casual and cheap as he pursues Hansika and as he keeps flip-flopping on his attitude towards her, the absence of a real plot becomes apparent soon. After a point, the romance begins to feel like a plot device to bring Santhanam into the picture for the next comedy sequence!
The emphasis on comedy also ensures that the few dramatic points in the story are ridiculously contrived. The few opportunities that exist to add something to the story to make it more interesting are killed by being unrealistic and over-the-top((like the scene where Hansika meets a suitor), artificial and contrived(like the conversation between Udayanidhi and Santhanam that causes a rift between Udayanidhi and Hansika) or taking the easy way out to resolve issues that crop up(like the climactic resolution to the problem).
Director Rajesh definitely has a good knack for extracting humor from familiar situations. Neither the film’s story(a standard romance) nor its situations(usually Udayanidhi dumping Santhanam in favor of Hansika) are particularly fresh or unique. Still the dialogs are effective in making us laugh with a mix of wordplays, kadi jokes and gentle take-offs on other movies. Sequences like the one where Santhanam goes to Udayanidhi’s house after Saranya’s frantic call and the one where the two of them go on the flight where Hansika is the airhostess, are comic highpoints but most of the comedy sequences manage to feature at least a couple of jokes that work. The personal attacks, like the ones aimed at Santhanam’s girlfriend, are rude and don’t work well though.
The situation in Udayanidhi’s house is a perfect example of the movie’s decision to treat treat everything as comedy. Though the situation between Azhagamperumal and Saranya is sad and serious, the film never lets us see it that way since there are always some jokes to lighten the mood. Still, the scene where the problem is resolved is sweeter and more convincing than any scene between Udayanidhi and Hansika.
Udayanidhi Stalin is definitely not ready to be a full-fledged hero yet. He has a dazed expression whenever he is supposed to act innocent or cute and ends up looking silly instead. And he comes from the Bagyaraj school of dancing. Hansika looks cute and manages to be bubbly without being irritating. Santhanam is the life of the movie and his trademark dialog delivery helps elicit laughs even from jokes where the punchline is apparent. Saranya displays her subtle comic ability in many places. Harris Jayaraj’s soundtrack is predominantly romantic though its the lightly duppanguthu Venaam Machaan… that manages to be the most catchy. Adadaa Oru Devadhai… has some cute and funny images. Both Akila Akila… and Azhage Azhage… are nice numbers though Udayanidhi Stalin’s dancing doesn’t do them justice. Kaadhal Oru Butterfly… is a melodious number but again, the choreographer seems to have forgotten that.
11 responses so far
finally..! I guess this should be the longest gap you took to review a super hit movie after it was released..!! Udhay is definitely low on dancing but how about that little kuthu dance he springs up after Hansika was insulted by her supposedly fiance..?? The movie is a laughter riot and the plot was just excuse..! But not many complaining though..!!
//And he comes from the Bagyaraj school of dancing
hahaha. he looks like he should be in a beauty pageant with the guy who starred in the baana kaathaadi movie.
bb, agree with u that the overall entertainment quotient for OKOK was similar to that of SMS than BEB…Santhanam really did steal the show though he didn’t have much of a competition to begin with…
In Sun TV Style, “Moththathil OKOK…OK!”
He has a strong voice then all recent Heros. He was not fluent but he is better then Surya was with his dancing in Nerukku ner. For a debut was okok. It’s upto him to improve he showed lots of brain in choosing a project that will work for him that shows he is aware of his limitations.
He has piggy backed onto success but let’s give his due he has made a movie for his target audience who will vote for him in another 5 years:)
-KP
They steal our money and make movie and show “phleem” to us.
If somebody can respectfully ask where Mr.Udhaynidhi Stallin kashtapattu mootta thookkified to make just enough money to be able to produce a movie. Yenna pozhappu da saami. Vekkam ketta kudumbam…avunga padatha kaasu kuduthu vera paakkudhu namma ooru sanam.
Hi Balaji, whatz ur opinion on Ilayathalapathy’s “Thuppaki’ first look? And Billa 2 songs have become huge flops…
@sman
Thaatha sothu peranukku ! of course thaatha MK hard earned his money by writing screenplay to blockbuster movies such as ‘Pasakiligal, Kannamma, Uliyin Osai, Pen Singam,Ilaignan and Ponnar Shankar’
. He earned billion rupees 
Don’t you dare ask where did SUN TV and all the ‘*nidhi’ boys got their money. they all have ‘nidhi’ in their name itself !
If we can only watch movies made with ‘honestly earned’ money, then, I doubt we will be able to see that many movies
Same rule applies to lot of business too …..Not practical IMHO.
On the side note Vazhakku Enn 18/9 has got great review. OKOK is a OK movie which can be watched once, that too with lots of patience. Surely BEB and SMS were better probably because of the leads in those movies.
Prasad, movie was released a week late here in the Bay Area & then I couldn’t see it the weekend it was released. Hence the delay.
killer, u really don’t like Atharva, do you?
ram, Santhanam & Saranya were the only two who made the movie worthwhile. Yep, OKOK was just about OK.
KP, I think the standards for debutants has really gone up these days with so many newcomers working hard & giving impressive performances. Since this was a high-profile movie, his weaknesses stood out.
sman, as Karthik said, we wont be able to see many movies if we start thinking about the producers, actors, etc. So better to push that thinking out & just enjoy the movie
Giri, yeah its getting great reviews. I’m thrilled that it has released here. But have to wait till Sunday to watch it
—Bagyaraj School of Dancing—
What is that? Where is that? Who else has gone to this school? This is the first time hearing about this school.
Is there a youtube clip of the dance moves? Maybe with instruction.
ha ha ha..thats hilarious Jay. DOnt know if you really dont understand or you are just mocking the great “bhagyaraj school of dancing”. Incase you really need an explanation, then, here goes- there is NO such school. He means that Bhagyaraj has aweful dance moves like he is doing excercise and is comparinf Uday’s style to his!!!!!